Cliff at Lyons

Rejuvenating stay. We enjoyed out stay and the staff and location was amazing. We will be back again. Staff were friendly and helpful.

We hosted a large family event in the Orangery. I’ve been going back and forth as to whether to write this review, but have decided to do so because for the amount we paid, I felt the experience was a bit disappointing. The good: the venue looks beautiful. If you’re seeking nothing but nice photos of the place, you’re on to a winner. Although the cost of hosting an event here was very steep, we decided to go for it as we really liked the look of the place and it was a special day for our family. Cliff charge a venue hire fee in addition to the cost per meal. Plus there’s a compulsory 12.5% service charge on food and beverage. So it mounts up. Even the kids’ meals and baby bowls are expensive. First issue on the day: the Orangery gets incredibly warm. We’re talking make-up sliding off guests’ faces and feeling too hot in a light summer dress. The heat was such that most of our guests had to go outside for air between each course, which broke up the party a bit. And that particular day wasn’t even that sunny outdoors. I dread to think what it would be like on a very hot day - I don’t know how a bride would manage! The annoying thing was that there were aircon units dotted around the Orangery which could have helped, but they were all turned off bar one. My family also noted some vents which appeared to be closed. Don’t know why the place was not properly ventilated or cooled when there was the means to do so. The event manager I dealt with prior to the event was mostly helpful and accommodating. However there was one oversight which negatively impacted our day. Our baby daughter can’t yet sit up in a highchair. Prior to the event, I had asked for a space at the table to be left clear between my husband’s chair and mine so we could put her pram in between us. When we arrived, this had not been done. I spoke to the event manager on the day (a different person to who I’d previously dealt with). He had obviously not been told about this request - it had been forgotten about. I asked about moving the chairs. He mentioned that this would mean changing the whole table plan and indicated that it would be an imposition. So we just left it. Our daughter ended up stuck behind our backs in a walkway. Her pram was in the way of both waitstaff and guests. If there had been a space left between us, she would have been happy as she could have seen us and we could have taken a moment to eat while still interacting with her. As it was, she had to be taken up and held throughout the meal as she understandably got lonely not being able to see us. Such a simple thing but the oversight really impacted our day, and I felt sad that there was no space left for her at the table as the day was supposed to be in celebration of her. The starter was lovely, the main was ok. For dessert I ordered churros. They were tiny, dry and burnt - almost inedible. I could see that other guests left them unfinished as well - disappointing when we paid so much for the meal. We’d preo

We had our wedding on 17th of May. The venue was Cliff at Lyons. Right from the start we had full support from Janie, our POC with CAL. She guided us through all the necessary preparations and was always there for every question we had. She was the best person for the job and made our wedding day easier to prepare and more special than we could have hoped for. Thank you, Janie. The hotel itself was a fairy tale. The ceremony was in the orchard, the drinks reception in the Lyon's Den and the dinner in the Orangery. Everything was lovely, the staff was polite and professional and Arun (the person filling in for Janie on that day) was on top of everything. It was truly the best day of our lives, and we can't wait to come back more often. Carmen & Octavian