Hillbark Hotel & Spa

Myself and my partner stayed here Friday 15th and Saturday 16th, as a belated Valentines. We have stayed in multiple 5* hotels and consider ourselves to be quite fussy but fair with reviews! Arrived at this extremely grand setting and were quickly greeted by a pleasant young girl who took us to our room, a suite. The room itself was very pretty, great views and a Jacuzzi bath. Have no idea what the standard rooms were like but the suite was okay. I'm going to summarise the problems rather than waffle on! 1. No minibar whatsoever, no complimentary snacks, nothing. 2. Every time we opened our door we were immediately greeted with a member of the reception team asking if they could help and what were we doing, found it quite invasive and a bit 'much' as felt like I couldn't even have a wander or take pics of the place 3. I ordered salmon and eggs for breakfast on the Saturday, the eggs were clearly cooked using the microwave method which was disgusting for a '5* £28 breakfast'. Also, the cold platter they served us had soft/stale pastries on it. (Hillbark, what were you thinking?!) 5. I woke up with a headache, my boyfriend went down to 'reception' to find someone, ended up roaming around the entire hotel for about 20 minutes looking for somebody 4. The 'spa' is not a spa. It is a treatment led space where you must book treatments, and that's it. So do not take a bikini etc. as there is no swimming pool, no sauna, no steam room etc. All in all I'd give this hotel a 4*. They need to tone down the over familiarity and concentrate on the facilities of this place. Do not go to this hotel if you are looking for a spa break style trip. We came away a bit deflated to be honest! The phrase 'style over substance' springs to mind.

We visited for afternoon tea at 1415hrs as a gift from parents. Staff were nice and friendly although not very attentive. The food arrived and consisted of a plate of dry sandwiches, a selection of stale cakes and some exquisite chocolate compote which I loved! Sandwiches were crab meat, Cheese salad, coronation chicken and cheese and tomato. The bread was stale and the fillings were dry and of a low quality. However, the cup of tea was probably the nicest I’ve had for a long time. We (stupidly) didn’t complain at the time as I was unaware that it had cost a whopping £33 EACH!!!! £66 pounds for a selection of dried out sandwiches and some stale cakes. It also came with scones and clotted cream which hadn’t come out with the platter and being sceptical as to their quality, we didn’t want to waste more time there waiting for more stale food. We asked the staff if we could take them home and she kindly wrapped them for us. We smiled and thanked the staff, had a quick look around the function rooms that smelt like cats wee and left. When we unwrapped the scones at 1800, they were more like rock cakes. They went in the bin. After stewing on this all day today and having been told how much it had cost, I called to complain. The chap I spoke to was very pleasant but tried to argue that the sandwiches had been made “fresh” that day and couldn’t offer an explanation. He did apologise once but it didn’t quite cut it. I clearly wasn’t going to get anywhere so I gave up. I’ll spread the word in an attempt to save others from being ripped off instead!!!

Having been to this hotel in the past, I was looking forward to a premium event. Unfortunately the only real premium was courteous staff and decent food. The hotel is tired and undeserving of a 5 star rating. Indeed online rating lists this as four star, which begs the question, has the Hillbark themselves decided on past glory and historical ratings to continue advertising themselves as 5 star. To example this, was several broken doors and one door with 5ply wood cut to resemble the old world shape of the door and which was a clear attempt to satisfy either security or reference as a bad fire escape. Tiles are loose on the floor, the carpet was old and worn. The atmosphere within the building is definitely rustic. To justify high drinks costs (including a £19 charge for three cokes and a bottle of cider) because the hotel is 5 star tells me that the customer is a cash cow and not a guest. No hand pull beers meaning a monopoly charge for what was a decent choice of bottled beers but very average budget pub still table wine.

As you turn the corner and see Hillbark Hotel for the first time, you experience the magic and splendour of this marvellous building. The interior architecture is exquisite, with delicately carved wooden sculptures and stained glass windows. The rooms are comfortable, with bathroom facilities that include a jacuzzi. The food at Hillbark is exceptional. The croissants are the best I’ve had outside of Paris. Everything is made fresh onsite and this is reflected in the taste and presentation. The staff are also very friendly and greet you warmly when driving into the car park. I haven’t used the spa facilities but this has been recently refurbished and I’m sure is as high standard as the rest of the building.

We attended a large family meal at a private event and had a fabulous evening in gorgeous surroundings. We were seated around a large, sociable, beautifully dressed, oval table with the resident pianist playing delightfully in the background. We enjoyed some delicious food and excellent service. The stand out for me was the Eton mess desert with the lemon curd! Would highly recommend.

We were married at Hillbark in late November 2023 and it was the perfect venue for our wedding. This review is a little late because we've only just returned from honeymoon! The hotel was absolutely stunning and the elegant Christmas decorations were perfect and it felt really special to be married in such a beautiful and historic building set in beautiful grounds. Charlotte and Lauren were amazing in providing lots of good advice and support in the planning and run up to our big day to ensure it ran smoothly. They simply went above and beyond what was expected and exceeded our high expectations and we'll always treasure the special memories we have of the day. The food and service was excellent and we were married in the Great Hall which is simply spectacular, especially by candlelight! We were also able to use other rooms and the Contessa Bar, which are equally beautiful, for other parts of the day. Our guests were wowed by the Hotel and we had the most wonderful day and would highly recommend Hillbark to anyone looking for a special place to be married or for any other important occasion.

We had the pleasure of being invited to a wedding in this stunning hotel but it is definitely a case of ripping off a captive audience. £7 for a small bottle of beer ( no beers at all on draft as they don't actually have any bars) £12 for a medium glass of poor red wine and £10 per glass for a 2/3 full glass of prosecco ( Aldi prosecco costing £5 45 at time of writing... 5 Star hotel and all they have is Aldi prosecco ). We enquired how much a bottle would be and were told £32. When we finished our initial drinks we went to buy a bottle and we're told it was now £40 by a different member of staff. It was like they were making the prices up as no tills just card readers. I know venues make a decent mark up on drinks but between 500% and 1100% is pure profiteering. This seems to be the case across the business as they want £200 per head for a tasting menu in a 3 rossette restaurant compared to other local 3 rosette establishments charging between £78 and £110. ( even 3 Michelin Star L'Enclume, possibly the best in the UK only charge £250 ).

Stayed and dined at the Hillbark yesterday. Food on the tasting menu was amazing with some outstanding dishes packed with flavour. Accompanying wine first class and service by all staff excellent. Cosy, elegant and stylish bedroom to top it all off. Highly recommended 👍

We had the tasting menu. If I could have given 6 stars, I would have done. The food was sublime, the best tasting menu I have ever had. Everything looked fantastic and tasted amazing. The problem is ever finding anything to match the experience.