Northcote

Well, how do I start? Incredibly slow to begin with despite an almost empty lounge, we've seen the employees having a laugh by the bar before taking our order, and that's a continuing arch throughout the evening. When we were seated, we've waited about 10 minutes for a single snack that was tasty but it took another 10 before we have received our first starter, so after over an hour we're onto our second starter, which is disappointing. You can overhear staff talking and laughing in the corridors but there's barely any sign of them looking after guests on the floor. Food in the end was average, but I guess with the executive chef leaving it's going to be like this, and if it wasn't for the terrible service it could've been a decent evening. Can't recommend, sorry.

We stayed at Northcote Manor in February. From the minute we arrived the staff were polite , friendly, caring & very attentive. Our room was very comfortable with lovely extras, like the apples in a bowl, tea & coffee making facilities & the homemade shortbread. The food was exceptional starting with the breakfast with a great choice of cooked food & the wonderful dinner at night. Every course was exquisite & the wine choice extensive. Nearly every other guest staying had been to the manor before which shows how lovely it is; we certainly will be going back!

The attention to luxurious detail at Northcote is second to none (bar, maybe, a 5 star hotel in Japan). Not just the restaurant with its stunning five course dinner and best breakfast ever, but also the hotel with its very comfortable rooms (11 & 16 included a Ruark radio). Ultra professional staff - no weakest link. Our new go-to treat destination.

This was our second consecutive New Year’s Eve stay. This review is purely for the hotel and I’ve left a restaurant review on the dedicated page. Rachel is the hotel manager and was very professional and helpful with an enquiry about the fire in the room not working, and we also benefitted from her expertise during our dining. Thank you to Rachel for her consideration. Upon arrival, we tried to plug our EV in to charge at one of the points in front of the restaurant, and the same charger as did not work last year did not work again this year. We mentioned that the charger didn’t work and hadn’t done last year either, and were told it’s a “Tesla only” charger. Last year we were simply told it wasn’t working. Not getting into the details of it on review, but we also watched two Tesla drivers not be able to use the charger at various points, and the car we drive is compatible with the charger installed, regardless of being a Tesla charger, so this is potentially something that might benefit from looking into in more detail, to maximise guest experience. Despite having said we stayed previously less than 30 seconds prior, the person on reception asked if we had visited before, which we confirmed. My partner asked again about the charger and was told there were some in the other car park, which he drove to, to drive back to get the access code, which hadn’t been given in the first instance, to be given an incorrect code, to drive back again to get the correct one. It’s a small thing but a simple sharing of the correct code proactively would have been appreciated, particularly driving back and forth during the heavy rain. The room was very clean - room 3 - although could benefit from some TLC, with some furniture items marked and in need of maintenance/replacement (including ceiling lights with cracks emanating from the fixtures). The bed was very comfortable and we both slept well after the NYE meal. The bathroom was clean and both shower and bath were of a good standard. It was encouraging to see vegan, PETA-approved toiletries in the bathroom. When we checked out, we asked to settle the bill, having prepaid for everything bar one cocktail. The card machine was handed over with no verbal confirmation of amount to be paid (which I appreciate is standard in many places but when you don’t have a prompt to check the amount is correct either, it’s not great), and was out by over £100 and had to be amended. We enjoyed our stay very much and are considering joining for Christmas in 2025 as a larger group booking.

The hotel had more of a corporate feel than on our previous visits - we have come here quite a few times in the last 30 years. For example, the interior decor seemed rather grey in overall tone and a little bland, not-to-say just a bit tired in places. Our room, on the ground floor, although large and comfortable, needed some attention to little details, some of which may seem nit-picking, but are important given the price being paid. These included a couple of flickering bulbs, low battery on TV remote, a small (admittedly initially unnoticeable) crack in the sink, missing grouting to tiles, an empty pack of shower gel & some badly executed trim around the bath. Such things betray the lack of a personal touch / attention to house-keeping that we felt the place has always had in the past. On the outside, there are EV charging points in the car park, installed since our last visit. Breakfast service was attentive without being intrusive. The staff were especially good with our young grand-daughter, who had been well-looked after the night before by a local baby-sitter while we had dinner.

Having dined here before my expectation was high. Lisa Goodwin Allen is an exceptional chef. However, on my recent visit with my husband the quality of the cooking was lacking, which makes me think it was Lisa’s night off. I started with squab pigeon which, whilst extremely flavoursome,was awkward to cut with sinew down one side. Not a Michelin quality dish- I then had a piece of Halibut which sadly was slightly over cooked and swimming in an extremely pungent parsley sauce. Very disappointing. Not the usual standard at all. I did mention the meat being on the tough side to the female server, who just apologised for my not liking it. Standards should not be allowed to drop when delivering a Michelin experience. Fish doesn’t need a strong punchy flavour as my husband also found with his starter Scallop.