Farthings Country House Hotel & Restaurant Tunton

Attractive building in spacious, shaded grounds where dogs, ducks and peacocks roam. The rooms, of various types, are large and tastefully furnished. Not all have fridges, but there are common use fridges stocked with fresh milk for in-room coffee/tea. A nice touch. The food is excellent, every course we had, dinner or breakfast - worth the cost. The pleasant and adjacent Hatch Inn serves good dinners (except Sundays and Mondays), and has a congenial bar and patio atmosphere. Two odd things about Farthings - The peacock's dawn screeching can be alarming. And the owner/manager, John Hughes; he ignores his guests, reacts tersely if spoken too, and seems to regard them as irritants. ** The village hall, across the road, has Country Music sessions the second Saturdays of the month. Maybe worth attending - or avoiding..

I loved it here. My room was exceptional. The food was amazing - best pancakes I've had at a hotel. The dogs were lovely. My bed was comfortable, the shower pressure was good. I would find a reason to stay here again and would like to stay much longer.

Recently moved to Halstead and keen to try local restaurants. Sign identified it was under new management. Menu itself was in poor condition, selection of items varied. Chose platter for two, then duck in honey sauce and steamed vegetables. Assorted platter food was served warm rather than hot, both my partner and I selected different items, Having lived in Asia and visiting many U.K. Thai restaurants none of the presented food had the freshness identified with Thai food, the chicken sticks appeared very dry on the outside and over cooked, the filo parcels had been sat on one side allowing the oils to soak through one side of the parcel and an over powering taste of cooking oil depending where.the parcel was eaten. In fairness to the restaurant the dish was removed from final bill Main course was duck in honey sauce, again, the food served was barely warm, unlike the usual hot or sizzling temperature associated with Thai food. The steamed vegetables were a few strips of Bok Choi hidden under the sauce of soya sauce, not sure where the honey flavour was, or, over powered by the Soya Sauce. Part of my partner’s meal consisted of coconut rice, this was the highlight of her meal, most of her food was not eaten. Overall the meal was disappointing and certainly not upto the usual high standards of hot and spicy food served in Thai establishments. Although the sign outside did say the restaurant was under new management, no idea how new, but does not reflect the five star reviews given in 2022 & 2023 Unlikely to be visiting the restaurant again unless the new reviews identify an improvement to the overall quality of food

Hugely disappointing. Under whelming, Prior to our stay we had an email stating credit card invalid and the booking was in danger of being cancelled.To my knowledge I had paid ********** The email looked like a scam with a different reference number. I tried to contact the property to discuss my concerns and there was no reply. I eventually got through the following day and spoke to an abrupt man called John who's customer service skills were zero, all he was interested in was getting our card details. Thankfully he did ensure our requests were fulfilled. * The staff in arrival were very helpful and friendly * The room looked well presented, however it was extremely cold (despite a small fan heater) due to draughty windows and radiators/central heating not on. Consequently the room felt damp and smelt damp. * The full English breakfast we had the first morning was really greasy and my other half said "it's the worst I've ever had!" * There's no reception desk per se, I waited around for in excess of 15 for a member of staff to attend to a request. I ended up phoning the hotel to summon help and John answered, again his customer service skills wouldn't have been out of place at Fawlty Towers. Fortunately a member of staff appeared to help! * Sunday night again there were no staff about in the reception/bar area. After a wait a member of staff did arrive. I requested food only to be told the kitchens closed early at 7pm. Also informed in a snooty manner they don't do snacks/bar meals, only fine dining.

Very pleasant staff

Such a great smaller hotel with a cosy feel. They have obviously thought abut there customers and the staff were great. room very clean with a comfy bed. grounds were really well looked after and I'm sure in the summer months it would be a beautiful place to sit out & have dinner or some drinks. I really enjoyed the food. Dinner was very good and the breakfast was excellent. I will definitely be staying again if travelling close by.