High Tor Hotel

We stayed here for the illumimations in Matlock Bath and really enjoyed it. The rooms were small but well equipped, and the hotel was nicely decorated. We’ll definitely come back!

The room was clean and reasonably comfortable, but the bathroom door kept sticking and we stubbed our toes on it several times. There was no spare toilet roll, nowhere to put anything in the bathroom, and a noise from there every half hour or so overnight. On Friday evening we found reception unattended and the inside doors locked. A note said to phone for reception staff, so we did, and a young man came down around ten minutes later. He struggled to find the booking because he searched under the first name instead of the surname. The room was in my husband’s name, even though I’d booked and paid. He gave us no information. When we asked about breakfast, he just pointed to a notice with the times. Since he didn’t mention booking a slot, we thought we could just turn up. We also asked about the restaurant, but he didn’t know anything. The restaurant and bar were behind a door that stayed locked all evening, and there was no information about opening hours, so we ate elsewhere. At about 9am Saturday the breakfast room was locked and no staff were around, so we went somewhere else. We skipped breakfast on Sunday and checked out around 7:30am. We’d been told there would be a box at reception for the keys, but it wasn’t there, so we left them on the desk. The hotel was very clean but unwelcoming. They were ready to take our money, but didn’t provide a service. We won’t stay again.

We booked again for my birthday because our stay at The High Tor in 2019 had been faultless. Since then it’s changed ownership, and what a shame to see its current state. The windows are falling apart, there are cobwebs everywhere, and the grounds look overgrown and run down. On 4th October 2025, we waited nearly an hour to check in because there were no staff on site. The bar was meant to stay open until 9pm, but when I went for a bottle of wine at 8:40pm it was locked and the staff had gone home. At breakfast the next morning, the coffee machine wasn’t working and the woman there didn’t know how to fix it. We waited nearly an hour for breakfast without coffee. The few staff we saw gave very poor service. Avoid at all cost!

We’ve just come back from two nights. The location is amazing, the rooms are beautiful, and the staff are lovely. Breakfast was wonderful. Thanks to everyone who made our stay special 😊👍😘