The Royal

Although the food itself was fine, we wouldn’t return. The service and the way our complaint was handled left us very disappointed after booking Christmas Day dinner at The Royal Hotel. The gaps between courses were extremely long, with little communication, and the children had to wait far longer than expected. It made the day stressful. No manager checked on us or explained what was going on, and our attempts to speak to someone went nowhere. By the time the meal ended, our plans for the rest of Christmas Day had been affected. We raised the problems afterwards, hoping for a fair resolution, but the replies felt dismissive. The goodwill gesture was only a tiny fraction of what we paid and didn’t reflect the disruption to our day. We’ve since heard from other local people who seem to have had similar experiences, which is disappointing when families save and budget for special occasions.

The main course felt mean on portions. I had two thin slices of turkey, while the others mostly had three, with about five Brussels sprouts, a few carrots and sliced parsnips, one small ball of stuffing, and one tiny pig in blanket. I think we each got half a potato, though a couple of us may have had one and a half. We were still hungry, and the mince pies were the smallest I’d ever seen, about the size of a 10p piece. Dessert was okay, and the tea and coffee were nice. We took a chance on going out for Christmas Day dinner, my first time doing that. Free parking was a good start, and the table looked nice with the sun pouring in. But there were no blinds to shade people facing it, which was uncomfortable. The appetiser and starters were pretty good, though there was no drinks menu. The wait from starter to main was so long that we wondered what was happening. The waiting staff took our order again, which surprised us since we’d chosen the meals well before the day and had confirmation of the booking and choices. There was another wait for pudding. Afterward, they switched off the music, which felt like a signal to leave, so we moved out quickly. Nobody in our party really enjoyed it, which was a shame since we’d had a nice Sunday dinner there in the past. At £95 per head, it didn’t feel worth it.

The staff were lovely and helpful, and the location was perfect. Breakfast was good, with several choices. The bathroom was nice and clean, and the rooms were as clean as they could get them, but the bedroom carpets were gross, with stains whose source we didn’t know. The bed felt too soft for me, though that may just be personal preference. The carpets need a professional deep clean or replacing.

Our Christmas dinner was awful, from the food and its presentation to the poor organisation. I’m reluctant to blame the staff: I’d guess most were 16-20 and inadequately trained or led. If I had to guess at the cause, I’d point to upper management or an owner taking a considerable cut while the event was so badly organised. We arrived, and the first course wasn’t served until 3.30pm, an hour later. The main course came after 4pm, 1.5 hours later than our arrival, and was warm at best, with small amounts of meat and vegetables. Dessert and the mince pies didn’t arrive until after 5pm. The menu said homemade mince pies, which wasn’t true. We got tiny, cheap-looking mini pies in foil, served cold on a small plate with no cream, custard, or other sauce. At 5.30pm, they simply switched off the background music. The message was clear: get out. If I’d known what was coming, I’d have wanted to leave five minutes after arriving. This was my first and last time risking a Christmas meal out, though I know plenty of places where I’d feel fairly confident about eating on Christmas Day. Very, very poor.