Peckforton Castle

Food a little disappointing at breakfast especially continental. Nice staff throughout hotel. Fabulous room and setting.

Just got back today from a weekend away with my wife at Peckforton Castle and I'm gutted to say it fell flat. We were wowed by the location and on first arriving it looks truly idyllic. Entrance and hall ways are very harry Potter, and the stairs all add to the fun. However the moment we opened the door to our room I couldn't believe I was in a 4 star hotel. We have been very fortunate to have stayed in a number of premium venues but I felt I've stayed in better travel lodges than this room. Bed very small, ensuite falling apart and shower door would not shut(see pics) the curtains were drapes so fixed and would not close fully due to the style. I would say a highlight was the wine cellar bar, beautiful layout and very friendly bar lady who had just started a week ago. Dinner was at 8, I was looking forward to this as we are very much both foodies, I was very surprised that we were not given a proper bread roll or type, only an amuse Buche a small cube of bread with a portion of butter much larger that the bread itself and then for some reason another type of butter.. not enough bread to use it on. It was very tasty though. Then starters of pork cheek, looked great and tasted amazing, took along time to come, then there was an even longer gap for our mains, again was A very skillfully made dish which we both enjoyed. Yet again we waited for deserts, each time the waiting staff came it was with an apology for the delay we were both falling asleep. Desert was the low point, both falling very flat, the chocolate mouse was lacking flavor and the textures on my parfait did not work for me, the crumb destroyed what would of been a lovely dish. This is when the waiting staff seemed to disappear, no offer of coffee etc no one came back to get our plates even after sitting for what felt like an eternity. So at nearly the 2hours 45 min mark we decided to get up and leave as did another couple. We did see someone at the entrance and we signed for the bill, no asking if everything was ok. Breakfast was equally as flat and certainly not memorable. Seemed like a real lack of choice compared to other Halls and hotels we have stayed at. If I had paid for this (it was a £300 gift) I would of been very upset. If your looking for the wow factor across all elements then this is not the place. It has huge potential but could definitely do with looking at how the Hand picked hotel group do things.

The castle looks stunning from the outside, however, the shine and bling disappears as soon as you find your room. When we arrived to check-in the receptionist asked us if we were all right with stairs (I am 75 and my wife is 71 and live in a bungalow) so my wife said that we were not, the receptionist found us a room on the 1st floor with lift access. Thankfully it was a large family room and not one of the turret room up six fights of stone stairs like some other guests were offered.........but the room itself was very dated and tired etc and the bathroom needed a complete refurbishment. We were only there one night and on the evening eat in the ground floor 2010 Brasserie - poor food offerings, cold and windy, staff were sullen and not interested. For some unknown reason my wife's cutlery was magnetic which made eating an experience! I showed the magnetic cutlery to the waitress who was not interested by saying "never seen that before" and walked off. Breakfast was served upstairs in the restaurant and was only okay. My wife and I were ready to leave and return home, so overall not an enjoyable experiance.

fabulous place a**osphere decor & surroundings all perfect. bedrooms & bedding superb. breakfast buffet first class, fresh no dried out offerings. main restaurant food & service was good, brasserie food was a bit hit & miss, service good. But would definitely stay again & again. but be aware it is a wedding destination. so expect a function to be on when you stay.

This hotel promises a lot from it's commanding appearance, but unfortunately once checked in It disappointed on so many levels. Room was large (Broxton) But was very tired and not very clean, located in one of the turrets it had exceptional views across the Cheshire plains.but sadly we could hear every conversation from the adjacent room which shared the turret. The staff where all very polite however felt their hearts 'weren't in it' with a lack luster and sometimes apathetic attitude. On the hole. Sadly Disappointing.

The castle is wonderful and in a great setting - very peaceful. Food in the upstairs restaurant is stunningly good, a real experience. The rooms are quiet (sandstone walls two feet thick will do that) and very tastefully appointed. They are also unusually dark at night, as the castle is set in a wood. An excellent nights sleep - a great rarity in most hotels - is pretty much guaranteed here. All the staff were tremendously pleasant and helpful, in particular Tia on reception and Michelle and Phoebe in the dining room.

Went for my sisters 40th birthday. I’ve been twice before. The experience of having afternoon tea in a castle is lovely but i don’t think the afternoon tea was worth the money what we paid. We actually left still hungry. But it’s worth it for a nice treat and experience. The grounds are beautiful.

Been here twice now. First time was with my bridesmaids which was organised by my husband for afternoon tea and on the most recent occasion organised by myself for my husband for afternoon tea (phew!) The grounds are lovely ! Beautiful location. It is awkward though when you bump into the bride which I've done on both occasions. The afternoon tea is average and not the best we have had but it is still delicious! Great few hours out !

We were recommended this hotel by friends who had their daughters wedding there a few years ago. We found a Wowcher deal which included DB & B with dining credit much cheaper than the advertised prices for this hotel. Check in was very easy but things didn't start well as we headed to the bar for drinks. We only ordered a pint of beer and a coffee from a guy who didn't seem happy. The coffee was almost cold alas so we asked if we could have it hotter please even though this took the guy ages to make. We thought they would microwave it (which we would have been happy with to be honest) but they completely remade it. It meant we were stood there for over 20 minutes which we noticed inconvenienced another couple wanting to settle their bill. It did seem ridiculous having to wait so long especially as we noticed other guests later getting a waiting on service. My wife decided to raise it with the manager who on hearing our story was somewhat outraged to be fair and apologised stating that shouldn't happen. She immediately removed the cost of the drinks from our account. From here all went well having ordered more drinks from the waiting on staff. We had booked the 1851 restaurant upstairs from reception but on arrival the menu was quite restrictive and not to our taste so we asked if we could dine in their other restaurant? They duly obliged as there was availability. What a difference for us, so much more choice and much cheaper to be honest. The deal we had included a £30 dining allowance each so we didn't expect to top that. The meal we chose was gammon steak which we both said was the best we had ever had, together with a starter and a pudding each we only went over the £60 limit by what we estimated as £5. The room was much like you would expect in a castle but with modern conveniences. A perfect night sleep on a very comfortable bed. Exceptional quality we thought. Breakfast next morning was exceptional also with a choice of continental or hot breakfast or both if you wished. Next came checkout, asking how our stay was so we said it was good overall. We were told the bill account was just over £100 which I questioned. They had another look, printed the bill out and said it was just over £54. Again I questioned it saying I should owe about £5 allowing for the £60 dining credit but the manager who overheard what we were saying got involved. The total included a discretionary service charge of 10% with them saying it is discretionary but they presented the bill to us including it. At this point we needed to get away and didn't want to argue further as there was a queue forming behind us. We thought it best to sit down and work it out when at home so we paid up. This we did and so there were items on the bill that we hadn't eaten together with 3 pear desserts again there being only 2 of us. I asked a very efficient young lady called Elen to recheck and come back to us. She agreed and apologised for the errors and promised she would look int