The Barnsdale, Rutland

We booked very last minute when we found the Settle in Sunday rate. What a find! I hadn't spotted that a family room is actually 2 adjoining rooms both with ensuite bathrooms. The rooms were very comfortable. My daughter loved the bunk bed. The lion and book were a lovely welcome gift. Our extras were also happily received. We were happy to sit in the reception area with our glasses of wine, read the paper and play a game of chess. It's great that you get access to the outdoor swimming pool and spa area. Children can only use the pool from 9-10 and 4-5pm. This means coordinating breakfast and a swim in the morning. We got up in good time to enjoy our breakfast first. There was plenty of choice for breakfast. We will happily return when we have the chance to treat ourselves again.

When you spend over £400 for dinner bed and breakfast you start to question the quality of what you get. So here are 3 observations: 1. This is a lovely hotel with friendly and attentive staff. We had a nice, spacious room overlooking a field. 2.:Dinner cost around £150 for 2. We each had starter and main, one pudding between us and 3 glasses of wine. I don’t mind paying this if all of it is high quality, but 2 out of 5 dishes were not great: - a duck salad which consisted of fried, quite greasy duck pieces plonked unimaginatively on a bed of lettuce - a crab linguine with soggy pasta ( no excuse) 3. I’ve stayed in this hotel a few times and one of the things I most enjoyed was a freshly cooked English breakfast. They’ve now gone self service, with soggy scrambled eggs and bacon congealing in heated pots, and DIY toast and coffee. I wouldn’t mind this in a Travelodge at £100 a night, but not here. IT’S A MISTAKE. I am going to visit Rutland again in August, but I’ll probably be staying elsewhere.

Had a wonderful stay at The Barnsdale, welcomed by friendly staff, delicious lunch, comfortable room. Location is great for Rutland Water too. Jewel in the crown has to be the Spa from the lovely ladies on reception to the amazing Rebecca- what a fabulous treatment, thoroughly recommend!

Service was very slow, presumably because there was a wedding on that day. Received only half hour drinks orders. That which arrived was two £8 each alcohol free cocktails, presented in a glass not much bigger than a shot glass with copious amounts of ice. In fairness when we told them we weren’t happy and we were leaving they didn’t argue or disagree with our experience. Shame as it’s a nice setting but won’t be back.

We stayed at Barnsdale Hotel for one night and unfortunately, our experience was far from the standard we expected — or what the hotel promotes online. The room we were given was shockingly unclean. Traveling with our 3-month-old baby, hygiene wasn’t just a preference — it was essential. Sadly, the state of the room made us question how thoroughly it had been cleaned, if at all. We’ve stayed in many hotels before, but this was particularly distressing. We raised the issue with the receptionist at check-out, only to discover that the reception area itself was also dirty including a lampshade filled with bugs and cobwebs. First impressions really do count, and in this case, they were not good. Another issue was the constant banging of the main entrance door, which echoed into our room and made it extremely difficult to get our baby to sleep. Soundproofing or soft-close hinges are surely not too much to ask. The breakfast was no better — missing basic items like scrambled eggs, mushrooms, and even cups for juice or water. The plates were cold, and the heavy cast iron serving pots were awkward and unsafe to handle, especially with no proper place to set down the lids. Overall, our stay was uncomfortable, unhygienic, and poorly managed. We expected much more based on the hotel’s presentation online. We’ve formally raised these concerns with the hotel and hope they take feedback like this seriously. Would not recommend, especially for families with young.

It saddens me to see the poor reviews as there are so many good points about this hotel! It is not perfect but the issues were minor and if management take note of the comments could easily be resolved. We were fortunate to enjoy good weather which meant the (heated) pool was much appreciated during the late afternoons, a big thank you to the staff at the spa who were polite and kind. We visited Barnsdale Gardens (just down the road) and cycled around the reservoir during our visit - a memorable few days.