Thorntonhallhotel Reviews 6

Honestly the worst experience of my life, you couldn’t pay me to visit this place. The filth in the spa was a health hazard, food and customer service were appalling.
Please make sure you read the Google reviews which are horrendous also, ran by pirates

We attended Thornton Hall Hotel & Spa for a pre-paid Christmas Day lunch, expecting a premium dining experience. Unfortunately, it fell well below acceptable standards.
While the reception and waiting staff were polite and professional, the food itself was extremely poor. With the exception of the beef, the meal was not of satisfactory quality: the turkey was very dry, the gammon excessively salty, and the vegetables undercooked. Overall, it felt like dated mass catering rather than a Christmas Day meal commensurate with the price charged.
There were also basic maintenance and hygiene issues. Our table had a protruding nail, which nearly resulted in a drink being knocked over, presenting an obvious safety concern. In addition, there was no running water in the ladies’ toilets during service, which is unacceptable in any hospitality setting, particularly on a busy Christmas Day.
We raised a formal complaint with the hotel. After a significant delay, the only offer made was a refund for a missed meal, with no acknowledgment or compensation for the overall failure of the dining experience itself. This was disappointing and left the impression that customer concerns were not taken seriously.
Based on both the experience and the handling of the complaint, we will not be returning and cannot recommend Thornton Hall for a Christmas Day dining experience.

Awful customer service.
I was gifted a voucher for an afternoon tea for my 50th birthday. Unfortunately before I had a chance to use it my dad passed away, then my uncle six days later then my aunty four months after that. We also had 4 other bereavements last year for family friends. Understandably the last thing on my mind was to book an afternoon tea. I hadn’t realised it had expired last September so I contacted the hotel to see if we could extend it and also pay extra for our son to join us. I explained what had happened and the response was a a one sentence No it’s expired sorry. Not even any offer of condolences. Really upsetting that anyone can be so cold hearted. I had a number of expired vouchers that we weren’t able to use for numerous places, every one of them extended for free without hesitation And were so kind. We had our vow renewal at the hotel in 2022. I’ve also organised a big corporate event there and have stayed many times and gone for dinner. The way they have treated me with this is disgusting. I am local to the area as well so none of my friends or colleagues will be going there again. Since I told people on social media about this I have had so may people telling me of the awful service they received. Really gone down hill. Let’s hope they go bust or get night out and employ better management.

I booked this hotel specifically so that my son and I could use the swimming pool. After receiving my confirmation, I noticed a small notice stating that guest are not allowed to use the pool on the morning of checkout, despite checkout being at 11am. I called the hotel immediately to explain that I would not be arriving until 6pm and using the pool the day after was the whole reason for our stay. I expected having the room until 11am would naturally allow us to use the facilities as you would expect to use a hotel gym before checkout during a normal stay. The duty manager Joe was completely unaccommodating and showed no understanding of our situation. Although the restrictions may be listed it is certainly not obvious when I booked the stay. Instead of trying to help or offer any kind of solution, he was dismissive and even accused me of threatening behaviour simply because I said I would leave an honest review about the experience. This was unprofessional and unnecessary. Based on this interaction alone, I have offered the reservation to someone else and would not recommend this Hotel at all!

Paper thin walls, got no sleep whatsoever thanks to the couple having very loud relations next door until 1am. Hotel said..oh sorry and set off the fire alarm at 8.30am! I would never go back

We held our wedding at Thornton Hall Hotel in September 2024 and, unfortunately, we cannot recommend it based on our experience. While the venue itself is beautiful, the service and organisation on the day were extremely disappointing and fell far short of what was promised — especially given the significant investment we made.

Despite paying for several upgrades and extras, many of these were either delivered poorly, not delivered at all, or caused unnecessary stress and disruption to our day. Key issues included:
- Food: We paid extra to upgrade to a tapas menu, but the execution was not as agreed — many guests missed out on parts of the meal and vegan guests were mistakenly served meat dishes. Children's meals also weren't as agreed, and our child with allergies missed out on an agreed dessert. On top of this, the food service was significantly delayed, which was extremely stressful as we had already planned for a late meal and guests were left waiting for long periods.
- Venue Space: We paid an additional fee to move to the larger Torintone Suite based on assurances of private use of the bar area. However, the space was not ready in time for our guests, who were instead forced to use the public bar.
- Entertainment: Due to delays caused by the venue, our live band lost an hour of performance time — a huge shame and something that cannot be replaced.
- Extras: We hired external vendors for garden games and a pianist, but poor timing and poor organisation from the events team meant we couldn’t properly enjoy both.

In addition, it was clear that the event coordinator on the day had not been given a proper handover. He was relying on outdated notes from earlier planning meetings and lacked key, up-to-date details about our arrangements. This caused unnecessary confusion and stress right before the wedding started. To make matters worse, his attitude was rude and dismissive; he did not acknowledge or apologise for the mistakes that were evident throughout the day.

While we eventually received a partial refund after a long and frustrating complaints process, the amount offered does not fairly reflect the number of failures or the considerable stress and upset caused — both on the day and afterwards. It took several weeks for the venue to even respond to our concerns, and when they did, their attitude was dismissive — claiming we would have to “agree to disagree” on many points, and stating they could not comment on certain issues because "the event coordinator was not there at the time," which only highlights their lack of professionalism. This is simply not an acceptable way to handle a customer's once-in-a-lifetime event.

The saving grace of our day came from our independent suppliers — not the venue. Our incredible photographer went above and beyond to help find missing flowers the venue had lost and helped coordinate many parts of the day when the venue team fell short. Our venue stylists made the room look absolutely beautiful, our evening band were fantastic, and our pianist made the ceremony truly special. Thanks to them, the day was not a complete disaster — but it is incredibly disappointing that so much stress and upset came directly from the venue itself, when it should have been seamless and joyful.

We would strongly advise future couples to be very cautious. Beautiful surroundings mean little without reliable service, strong organisation, and genuine care — all of which we sadly found lacking.

We would not recommend Thornton Hall Hotel for a wedding or any important event where service standards, communication, and professionalism are key.