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I booked a weekend away at Hartwell House to celebrate my partners 75th birthday. I had told the reception on the phone when I booked that it was my partners birthday on the Saturday. What a lovely hotel with amazing staff. It was like going back in time. Wonderful service and a real experience. We arrived early (12 noon ) check in is 3pm. Very warm welcome. On checking in we were told that we had been upgraded, which we were very happy about. We would have been happy just to walk around the magnificent grounds for a couple of hours whilst waiting for our room to be ready. However we were told our room would be ready in about 30 minutes, a very good start. We had a tour around the ground floor of the hotel by a helpful porter, who pointed out some really interesting points in this old building. Then we had a light lunch in one of the lovely lounges. In no time our porter came for us to take us to our room. Room 6. What a fabulous room and upgrade. It had a massive four poster bed and so much room to walk around. The only gripe I had with the room was the size of the bathroom and the shower is over the bath and not that powerful. At home I am used to a power shower. However my partner was delighted with the bath and as the weekend was about her, I didn't moan about such a trivial thing. The grounds are amazing, we went for a long walk and when we came back the fire in the lounge was most welcoming. We had afternoon tea there and then went up to get ready for dinner. We went into the dining room at 7.30pm and were quite surprised as there were only about 8 other people in room. However by 8.15pm the place had started getting busier. A lovely touch is the complimentary canapes served before our dinner. The food was delicious. Served with real panache. One thing that could be improved is the choice of vegetables served. it was not a great selection. We met a really nice couple inn the restaurant who had come down from Liverpool to celebrate both of their birthdays as well. After dinner we went into one of the lounges and had a drink with them and spent an hour chatting in front of a roaring fire. Breakfast the next morning was delightful with a good choice. After which we went for another walk to explore the amazing 90 acres of parkland. After lunch we went to the spa and chilled there until 5.30pm. That evening we went into dinner and it was nice and buzzy. Two of the waiters came up to my partner to wish her a happy birthday, a very nice touch. Again the food was excellent as was the service. If you feel you want to be spoilt with some old fashioned service I can highly recommend Hartwell House.

The hotel's renovation proceeds well, with the vast majority of the building looking very smart with excellent facilities. I had to point out to the hotel, as is the case in many hotels globally, that changes in facilities and policies leave all textual information (eg. the online guide, menus, notices etc) out of date. I read the small print and asked for everything it promised but was not present. I asked for the missing sofa bed, safe, bathrobes, chocolates etc. The staff work tirelessly but are short handed for the task. While I was there new staff were being hired so all these matters are being addressed. I am indebted to duty manger Raj KC who went above and beyond in helping me cope with my problems, as an elderly man with fading eyesight and hearing, and medical challenges typical of my age group in Britain, in sending a 30 kilogram item I bought to the North West. I very much appreciated his advice and assistance and wish him all the best in his future career.