The Family Tree

The Family Tree put on a really good Christmas lunch for our walking group at a fair price. I’ve been disappointed by Christmas meals at other places before, but this one was a pleasant exception. I organised the group, and people seemed happy with the food; nobody has complained to me. If Putin doesn’t drop his bomb, we may well come back in a year.

The place is lovely and clean, and the food is nice. We always come for breakfast. Most of the staff, especially the young lads, are amazing and quick. It’s a different story when the tall older lady is serving. She takes ages to get the order and gets it wrong every time. I’m not sure she knows her way around the computer pad, a traditional notebook and pen might suit her better. We dread coming in when she’s working. The few times she wasn’t there, the other staff were fab and the food came quickly. Highly recommend the food!

We got almost no sleep because the bathroom smelled strongly of mould and the plumbing kept squealing at 11:30 pm, 1:30 am, and 4:30 am. By morning we were so uncomfortable we skipped breakfast and just wanted to leave. We’d booked a King Deluxe Room, one of the larger upstairs rooms, because the listing showed baths and it looked more comfortable than the cheaper Traditional Room. We don’t have a bath at home at the moment because of renovations, and I’d recently had surgery, so we’d hoped for a restful stay to recover. When we arrived, the family were hosting a private birthday party for their child. Nobody greeted us, and we stood awkwardly at the entrance until an employee kindly took us to our room. Once we realised it was the wrong room, I showed them the Hotels.com photos confirming our booking, but family members gave conflicting explanations and were dismissive. We spent over two hours on the phone with Hotels.com, while they and the hotel blamed each other for the mistake. The correct room was clearly empty. Hotels.com even offered to pay the difference so we could move, but the hotel wouldn’t cooperate. We try to support local independent businesses, so this was shocking. The Family Tree showed little care and wouldn’t take responsibility, ruining what should have been a peaceful, restorative stay. Hotels.com later refunded us because of the hotel’s dismissive response. Extremely disappointing.

The Oak Room was lovely, and the grounds are absolutely stunning. I slept so well in the comfortable bed, one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time. The staff were friendly and accommodating throughout my stay, and breakfast was an excellent full English. I’ll definitely recommend staying at The Family Tree, and I’ll be back.