Elan Hotel

We are staying here in Rhayader in wales for trip from Essex this has got to be the worst three lamb curries I’ve ever had absolutely tastless ! When asked at the end how was it we was honest and said the chef needs to taste the food before sent out.

Stayed here for 4 nights in July, was the busiest season for them, and TOTALLY LOVED our stay, the food, especially home made curries were amazingly delicious. The bar staff were very kind and attentive throughout and the cleaning ladies were excellent too, breakfast was amazing only downside would be the car park entrance is a little narrow, wonderful owners, overall a very pleasant stay and beautiful experience.

Facts only: £100 per night. Friendly staff, clean rooms, good location. Broken shower, broken toilet roll holder, blind in bathroom broken. Dirty curtains. Room not serviced on second day, cheap breakfast ingredients, cold plates hence breakfast cold. Limited TV service.

We walked in as a family of 4. To be told by the bartender we should have booked, I realise that this is ideal but we had travelled 15 miles over a ridge walk on a 3 week long trail across wales and had no idea when or if we would’ve passed by here on time. Regardless we were left to stand at the bar for 30 minutes - waiting for a table! The place was empty. The staff outnumbered the patrons and still we were ignored, walked past 4 times and left waiting with no word of sorry or acknowledgement. The bar staff seemed ignorant and from the brief words spoken extremely rude. To the dark haired Barman, maybe this is not your calling as despite regulars coughing and pointing you just ignored us and we heard the scoff as we left.

Stayed here for 2 nights in July, we couldn't get our car down to their car park, which was full with 5 cars, so had to pay to park and move it after 2 hours. We were told we could leave it by the football ground but it didn't look very safe to us. No housekeeping done, had to take toilet paper from their public toilets along the corridor, for £100 a night, expected the coffee/tea/ milk to be replenished and the beds made!! Had soup for lunch on the Saturday, we both ordered vegetable, and they were completely different and the rolls were the part baked ones that are finished off in the oven but they put them in the microwave, they were awful. Location was the best bit about it, the bar staff were friendly, but would never stay there again.

Went to eat at the Hotel Bar staff were lovely but omg the food was dreadful . Overcooked tasteless and three of our meals inedible I refused to pay for them and showed the lady the uneaten food . Pity as we have ate here in the past and it was fine . This completely spoiled our evening and felt the need to buy snacks in the nearby convenience store to fill them up

I regret to say that my recent dining experience at the Elan Hotel Restaurant in Rhayader was extremely disappointing. My partner and I decided to try their stacked burger, priced at around £17 each, expecting a premium dining experience. However, what we received was far from satisfactory. The burger itself was severely burnt and overcooked, rendering it practically inedible. The bacon was undercooked, the chips were from frozen and lacked freshness, and the accompanying salad was minimal at best. Feeling dissatisfied with the quality of our meal, we raised our concerns with the owner. Instead of addressing our valid complaints, she dismissed them by simply stating that the burger was "big," insinuating that the exorbitant price was justified solely by its size. Credit to the ladies behind the bar however they were great. Overall, the quality of the food did not match the hefty price tag attached to it. Our experience at the Elan Hotel Restaurant was nothing short of disappointing, and I would caution others against expecting a premium dining experience at this establishment.

Our stay was for one night 8/4/24. Very disappointed with this hotel (if you can call it that!) We drove from Ireland to Rhayader, and had booked this accommodation well in advance. We had arrived around 6pm, tired and hungry, so we were looking forward to a nice meal that the website had boasted about. The barmaid told us that the owners were not there, the chef was not in that day due to a hospital appointment, so therefore the restaurant was shut on that evening. It would have been common courtesy for the management to have notified us of this in advance of our arrival so that we could have made alternative plans, but this was obviously not a priority for them. The barmaid did not seem at all bothered by announcing the restaurant was closed, not even an offer of some bar snacks, but clearly there were none of these available in the pub. When we asked about alternative eating places in the area, the places suggested were all closed. So, for future reference, if anyone visits this place, do not visit on a Monday!!!! Our room (No. 2) was adequate, the bed was comfortable but upon every move it squeaked so not much sleep that night! There was no wifi. There was no local parking so had to park some distance away from the hotel. The best the barmaid could come up with was to park in the cattle market. The only thing we had to look forward to was the cooked breakfast, and that was nice. Read less

Visited on a Monday night, 18.3.24 for an evening meal with a friend. The website stated the chef had curated a menu using fresh and healthy ingredients etc. I later found out this wasn’t the case. The place wasn’t overly busy but the poor lady on the bar was rushed off her feet serving customers, taking orders and taking food out. Soup of the day resembled baby food and the bread roll was rock solid. Partially tasted and left the remainder. I suspect both the soup and roll had been microwaved. Chilli burger and chips next. The chilli smeared on top of the rock hard thin burger resembled diarrhoea. The chips were just about cooked. Again only partially ate and left most of this. I did have the started knocked off the meal but In hindsight I should have asked for something off the main too but didn’t want to make a fuss. The chef should have been embarrassed to have sent the food out. I left hungry and called the local shop and brought sandwiches. I did contact the hotel after the visit who replied saying that is common for food to batch cooked. Then went on to say the chilli was tasted from the same batch I was given and was of good quality, this taste test was done about 3 weeks after my visit. Hardly fresh. No real sincere apology from the reply as the staff did not agree with my comments about the food. Of course they aren’t going to admit to sending poor quality food out. One star for food based on my experience. With staying in the area a few days I would likely gone back had the food been any good.