Matfen Hall Hotel, Golf & Spa

We were last here 2 years ago and we were blown away with the changes to the place in this short space of time. Some stunning spaces. Loved the clubhouse and Cloisters. Spa was the only area really needing attention (though by no means bad) - but they have already started building a new one! We ate in every place and loved every meal. Emeralds was very good. Desserts not to the same level as starters and mains (same in Cloisters). Pastry on our rhubarb dessert was burnt and hard. Some stunning courses though - bread and the most amazing chicken skin butter, lamb and scallop dishes real standouts. Staff all friendly. Can't wait to come back.

Really beautiful hotel and loads of facilities Jim spa and restaurant and really great breakfast and the staff are really attentive but not over the top and the hotel is spectacular to look at and walk around u will not be disappointed can’t wait to return

Disappointing experience. Lovely building that has been beautifully renovated, but no customer care / limited guest experience. No formal welcome on arrival, no discussion or guidance on package booked/facilities/dining etc. Other guests appeared to be as confused as us…(ie. helping each other to locate towels in spa), certainly not what would expect of a luxury hotel. Real shame as beautiful place with lots of potential if manager made aware (info@ appear reluctant to provide details) Did intend to return and use for further business in north but will skip.

Really disappointing that we haven’t even arrived yet and we have been informed that there are no reserved spaces in the spa for treatments for hotel guests. They only reserve some spaces on Fridays. Wish we had been informed before booking this five star hotel, as special occasion.

Booked in for Sunday lunch on a cold February day. Received a warm welcome, but instead of asking if we wanted an aperitif in the beautiful hall, we were whisked through to the dining area. Seated at a table with wonky legs and ordered. After mentioning the wine was corked, and yes we do know our wines, we were informed that was just the taste. Heavens above! Food-wise, the lunch was, at best, average. Tough beef with soggy vegetables and roast potatoes that had sat overly long. All in all, Matfen needs taking in hand. The investment in the furnishings and decor has created a warm and welcoming place, you can’t fault the cleanliness, but the front of house dining and service is amateurish.

We have stayed at Matfen Hall on numerous occasions both before and after the refurbishment but as we hadn't stayed since the new Cloisters restaurant opened we decided to stay on a bed, breakfast and dinner basis. Check in was great, we relaxed in The Great Hall with a complimentary drink while our cases were whisked away to our room. We were escorted to our room (18) by a lovely member of staff called Alan who I have to say is a credit to the hotel. Our room was lovely with the biggest bathroom I've seen, free standing bath and huge shower! The bed was very comfortable and the bed linen top quality. The window overlooked a little courtyard and we had a door which opened straight out onto the terrace with great views of the golf course. We had our evening meal in The Cloisters, and the food was very good and service generally fine. The only complaint I have is that we walked into The Cloisters and there was one member of staff, concentrating on a computer screen who didn't acknowledge our arrival at first and after standing for a minute she did acknowledge we were there but continued to look at the screen. In the meantime another couple arrived and stood behind us waiting to be served also. Another member of staff arrived and to our surprise ignored us completely and proceeded to show the couple who arrived after us to their table. By the time we were shown to our table, the other couple had given their order and had drinks and bread. I guess we had our invisible cloaks on! I can't fault the service or food after this. Next morning we had breakfast in the Cloisters and again the food was lovely. I had a big bowl of granola, greek yoghurt and honey followed by a cooked breakfast. Like other reviews have stated, the service was a bit hit and miss. Our order was taken quickly and drinks including tea and juice arrived promptly. There was a long wait for our cold items which was puzzling as it was only the granola and a box of Frosties. My husband ordered white toast and after a wait, the young waiter brought a wrong order of brown toast and croissants to our table. We queried it and was told " well it's definitely for your table" it was actually the order for another table, who were very frustrated as they had asked for their toast order twice. We had a long wait after the cold items and nobody checked on us until I grabbed the waiters attention to ask for more tea, it was only then he asked if we wanted our hot breakfast. The breakfast when it did couldn't be faulted. All in all we had a great stay and really liked the turn down service, it was lovely coming back to our room after dinner to find the bed turned down curtains closed and water provided next to the bed. The only negative is that there is a slight lack of attention during breakfast service and the young staff seem very inexperienced. That said, I can't wait to revisit.