CBH The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow

This attractively decorated hotel has good food and excellent reception staff. The white cloth Gallery restaurant is worth the extra charge although the limited choice may be an issue if you are staying a while. Bar staff are efficient although some haven’t been properly trained. The best staff are the foreigners and women although Georgi was exemplary in the restaurant. Less good is that there are design issues resulting from the age of the building: the shower tends to get the whole bathroom floor wet. We were woken on two separate nights by clomping on the ceiling from a staff bedroom above. If I could change one thing it would be to get rid of the clapped out and unhygienic liquid soap dispensers in the bathrooms. At this price, surely you can offer soap?

Stayed at the cavendish on Friday 7th November for my birthday, what a beautiful hotel, the surrounding area is lovely, had a nice walk to Chatsworth house for the Christmas markets. Had some amazing food, we had dinner on Friday and afternoon tea on the Saturday. My wife is a coeliac and she said it was the best gf afternoon tea she had. Will be returning.

Poor service - nobody replied to my email before arrival. Staff are under trained. Hotel closed public bar for a private function and was clearly over stretched - I waited 45 minutes for a drink. I expressed disappointment on the experience when checking out and was promised the manager would call or email. He never did - 3 weeks have passed. Lovely environment. Good food. Fundamentally overpriced and lacklustre service. Almost a very good hotel but distinctly average at best. I cannot recommend it based on service and price.

We wanted to spend a couple of days exploring Chatsworth and so where better to stay than in an hotel on the estate? The hotel is in a lovely setting, with fabulous views. However, we had booked the Townhouse Suite at almost £500 per night b&b, thinking it would have great views and peace and quiet. The space inside is fine - two floors with a sitting area and a large bedroom. However, the suite overlooks a car park - so much for being in the heart of Chatsworth! What's more, it's next to the large bin area for the restaurant. And on the first morning of our stay we were woken by the bin lorries collecting the rubbish bang outside our windows. And then, when we wanted to leave the suite for breakfast, another bin lorry turned up and completely blocked the exit to the suite - meaning we were trapped inside. Thank goodness there was no fire or emergency. The Townhouse Suite is also facing the main road and we were awake from 4am each morning listening to lorries thunder down the hill. We did ask if we could move to a quieter room with a view, but the reception staff said the hotel was fully booked. We ate in the Gallery restaurant on the first evening. This started well - the amuse bouche, brioche and starters were excellent. However, the waiter opened the red wine we'd ordered and asked if I'd like to try it just as we were enjoying a glass of champagne. Erm, no thanks. Then when the mains arrived my main course (beef in a vanilla and peppercorn sauce) had so much vanilla in it that it tasked like a pudding, it was so sweet. I think there were seven tables in total occupied in the room, and I heard two other people complain to the waiter about this. He just remarked that 'that's the vanilla' rather than taking them seriously. When the starters and mains were delivered the waiter gave a detailed description of the food - exactly as we'd read on the menu - while the food went cold. However, when we ordered the cheese it was just placed on the table with no explanation as to what the cheeses were. The lady on the table behind us had the same issue and asked what they were only to be told in an offhand way 'Red Leicester, cheddar, traditional blue'. The breakfast was good, and on the second night we ate in the more relaxed Garden restaurant, which had much friendlier service. So, overall, the hotel is in a fabulous location, but be careful which room you book, and what you order in the restaurant.