Brocco On The Park

This was my third stay, and it'll be my last. The lady at reception apologised and said she'd needed to reset the boiler. She asked me to email Harry the manger, which I did straight away. Three days later, I still haven't had a reply or any explanation, apology or offer of compensation. I arrived last Thursday at 11pm and Rodney checked me in without any trouble. At first the room looked lovely: there was a coffee machine, fresh milk and a piece of cake as a welcome. Then the pigeon loft room's blinds let in too much light. The bar fridge woke me when it switched on, so I got up and unplugged it. Around 4am, several doors banging woke me, followed by the bin men banging and shouting. At about 6:45 I turned on the shower and found no hot water or central heating. It was January and snowing outside. I tried calling reception but got no answer, then had to take a freezing shower. That's completely unacceptable when you're paying good money for a room. I'll take my hard-earned cash somewhere else, and if you're reading this, I suggest you do the same.

We drove 40 minutes for my son's birthday, and my elderly in-laws took a 30-minute taxi ride to join us. It was supposed to be a special birthday breakfast together, but we won't be going back. We should have realised something was wrong when ours were the only two bookings there. Well done, Brocco! We arrived promptly at 10:30 as booked. At first we were the only table; another group of four arrived shortly afterwards, so there were 11 of us altogether. The waitress was lovely, though she looked stressed while dealing with what seemed like trouble in the kitchen. We ordered coffee and breakfast at about 10:45. After 45 minutes with no food, we were told there was only one chef. There were still just 11 people in the restaurant and no other bookings. We asked about our order and were told it would come soon. Another 15 minutes later, I went to check and found all our food sitting on the pass, going cold. The other table said it had been there a while. Three dishes had hollandaise sauce, which nobody wants to see sitting out like that and which is also a health risk. We were told again it would be out soon. Ten more minutes passed before it started arriving. It was stone cold, so we refused the whole meal and left. The other table left then too. We were there from 10:30 until noon. I can't understand how a restaurant could fail to serve seven breakfasts in 90 minutes. The waitress was absolutely lovely and had no support. There was no senior staff member to speak to, and no manager. She's too good for that place.

The restaurant was delicious for both dinner and breakfast. We had a lovely one-night stay, with friendly staff and a great room. The bed was comfortable, the decor was lovely, and the complimentary cake on arrival was a nice touch. Highly recommended.

We went to Brocco for a birthday dinner and left disappointed. We didn't stay overnight, so I can't say anything about the rooms. The dining room felt sterile, with pale grey, glass and wood, and not much warmth or character. The menu sounded good, but the dishes weren't done well. The ingredients seemed cheap for the price, and the cooking felt dated. French classics mixed with Asian influences could have worked with better ingredients and execution. Staff were polite but seemed nervous, and there didn't appear to be many of them. It wasn't the experience I expected at that price.