Ty Newydd Country Hotel

Ty Newydd has lovely grounds and plenty of old hotel charm. It isn’t a Travel lodge or Premier Inn if you’re after somewhere new, but we had a really nice afternoon tea there, a gift we were lucky to receive. Everyone was professional and friendly, and nothing felt like too much trouble. Karen handled our phone booking and explained how to use the third party voucher. Emma greeted us when we arrived and showed us to our table. Lowri brought out the generous spread Clare had prepared: sandwiches, crisps, hot pastries, breaded chicken, bread, cakes, scones, jam and cream, with tea and coffee. Before we left, I spoke with Emma and Steve about buying vouchers in future, and Emma introduced me to Jordan, who was working on vouchers you can buy directly instead of through a third party. At £16.95 per person, it’s remarkable value. We’d recommend a visit, and it would make a lovely gift for friends or family too.

The lunch itself was the worst part. The beef was tough, there was a slice of what I presume was turkey underneath it, and the vegetables and potatoes were badly cooked and poorly seasoned. My plate had one Brussels sprout, a burnt sliver of parsnip, overcooked carrots and peas, half a burnt roast potato, two boiled potatoes in their skins, and another half potato I couldn’t identify. The stuffing was like a bullet, and everything was swimming in Bisto-style gravy. I tried a bit of each and stopped. Some of my party ate more because they were hungry and felt it was a shame to leave food they’d paid for. We’d paid £94 each for Christmas Day lunch, and I felt robbed. There was no real welcome at reception, just a vague point toward the dining room and a remark that our table would have our name on it. Nobody checked our booking, so it seemed anyone could have walked in. The prosecco was room temperature and sitting on a hastily covered reception table. Before the soup, we got a mini loaf roll with no choice of flavour. It was left on the side plate about 20 minutes before the soup arrived, roughly an hour after everyone had sat down. More than 100 guests were expected at noon, and the wait left the bar busy. Some of the younger staff struggled, though others were better; I think they needed stronger hospitality training rather than blaming the staff themselves. Other guests told me they’d been the previous year and had a much better meal, with better cooked vegetables and trimmings served separately for the table. They said the owners were different then. I can’t imagine any chef taking pride in what was served this Christmas. The new owners should be in another business.

We’d had a very good Christmas lunch at Ty Newydd the year before, on the weekend before Christmas 2024, so this year’s meal was a huge disappointment. Our whole party was unhappy, and I won’t be going back. The standards have clearly fallen badly, which I can only put down to management. We were at our table shortly after noon, but dessert didn’t arrive until after 3:30. Around 3 pm people had had enough and wanted to leave; dessert started coming out around 3:15, and some guests were already leaving and asking to take theirs with them. My wife’s elderly mother just wanted to go home. My wife had booked a vegetarian meal in advance, but it came 10 minutes after everyone else’s, when we were already halfway through eating. The main course took at least an hour to arrive. Everything was plated up with gravy already poured over it, and the food was bland. I had only two sprouts, and others got none. Before that, we waited a long time for bread rolls, and the soup took so long that everyone had finished theirs first. The rolls looked sad, and the meal was meant to come with soup. There seemed to be too few staff on the floor, they were very young and looked inexperienced, and nobody seemed to be directing or managing things. I also waited ages at the bar because the young man serving didn’t know how to make a cocktail from the menu for my daughter. Another staff member eventually had to do it. A glass of prosecco was sitting on a shabby table when we arrived, and there were no non-alcoholic drinks for people driving. Considering the price per person, Christmas dinner was absolutely dreadful.

I booked Christmas Day lunch for me and my mother-in-law, at £95 each, and wish I hadn’t. The bread roll was nice, but the soup only came 25 minutes later, after I’d finished eating the roll. I asked for another one, then waited for the butter without complaining to the waitress. The main meal took ages and looked like a really bad ready meal. I was hungry, so I ate most of it, but the dry desserts weren’t to my taste. I’d been looking forward to the cheese board, but it was another letdown: a small white plate like one from a cheap snack bar, a few crackers, two very thin slices of Brie, two thin slices of cheddar, and two pieces of Red Leicester thrown onto the table. I would’ve liked coffee and a mince pie for Christmas. Such a shame, but we won’t be going back.