Marston Farm Hotel

The renovation work made an already disappointing afternoon tea even harder to enjoy. The room was screened off by a draylon curtain, and workmen nearby were swearing, talking loudly and drilling intensely for most of our visit. I mentioned it to the waitress. The noise was so bad we packed up the rest of the food and left. Nobody had warned us the work was happening, even though afternoon tea should be a calm, relaxing experience. Anyone visiting should expect workmen and loud machinery, which I believe will be there for the foreseeable future. The tea itself was very sparse, with nothing homemade and very little effort evident. The three small cakes seemed shop bought, the scone was overcooked, and there were only three tiny triangle sandwiches with basic egg mayo, cheese and cheap ham fillings. We also got one tiny packaged scotch egg and half a handful of soft crisps. They served plain white conference cups on decorative china saucers, with mismatched plates and tarnished cutlery that I had to wipe. I'm shocked we weren't told about the works. It was a birthday treat for my husband and me, and I'm going to ask for a refund. I'm not happy.

The cakes were nice and the scone was lovely, and there was a nice old teapot. The room felt dingy, with threadbare carpet, and the cups and saucers were cheap white corporate ones. There was only one teaspoon for two people. For the sandwiches, each person got two quarter triangles and one tiny roll, filled with cheap wafer thin ham, cheese mayo or egg mayo. The mini scotch eggs were cheap and nasty.

The bed was comfortable and well made, and I slept really well. The courtyard was beautiful, and the dining area beside it was nice. My first room was very cold, but after I asked, they moved me somewhere much warmer. At breakfast, the beans, tomatoes and mushrooms seemed to have been sitting on the plate all morning. They were only half cooked and lukewarm. As for checkout, I was told late checkout until 12 would cost £10 for every hour after that, which was fine. But it would have been better to sort out the details when I was leaving. At 12, someone knocked while I was resting. I had to get out of bed and have an awkward conversation feeling dazed, and I decided to pack and go instead of taking another hour. Having the manager and another young woman at the door felt a little intimidating and caught me off guard. The staff were very, very nice otherwise. It is an old building and some things weren't working, though those could be fixed. It was OK apart from that. With a hot breakfast, I'd have given more stars.

The scones were the best part of our afternoon tea, absolutely divine with clotted cream and strawberry jam. The rest of the food was very good too and nicely presented, with sandwiches, a pork pie, savoury eggs, lemon cake and Victoria sponge. We were asked several times if we wanted more tea, and the service was great. The place is being renovated, but that didn't get in the way of our visit. My daughter and I had a lovely time, though the Google directions were unclear and it took a bit of common sense to find the place, lol.