Cliveden

Totally Pampered

We felt like we were house guests of the Astors! The staff were totally helpful throughout our stay - from opening our car doors, parking the car and delivering our luggage through to giving us free souvenir brochures. Everything was done to help us feel the essence of the history of this stately home. And the view from the restaurant where we had breakfast was breathtaking (but it was certainly helped by the lovely weather early that day).

Traveller's tip on getting the most out of your stay

Make sure you look at the massive book about Cliveden that will be on a table in your room - especially the bits covering last 200 years. I found them fascinating in my quest to understand the background to the Astors’ ownership of the place.

Impressive

The hotel is beautifully restored. We were even up-graded from the queen that we booked to a king size bed. The air-conditioner in the room eventually worked but it took a while. Overall I had a very good experience and would go back. My main complaint was the drinks service in the lobby and the restaurant. Although there was a bar in the lobby there was rarely anyone around to give an order to, to re-order from or to give a bill. This may have to do with the fact that there are several rooms one can use but there should be a system. We ended up going to the bar for self-service. The restaurant had a three-course dinner only. There were choices for each course but I found them limited and the dishes not fully described on the menu. If we had been told when we booked, we would have gone elsewhere. The service was spotty with long waits in between courses. At these prices one expects near perfection and this wasn’t close. The breakfast was scheduled for 7:00 am but didn’t really begin until 7:30 am, possibly a problem for catching a plane at Heathrow.