Lainston House

Very average afternoon tea,the main issue was poor service.Once tea was served, everyone disappeared,no chance to ask for extra tea .Had to go searching to get bill . Waiting staff totally disinterested . Certainly not worth the money or the service charge added .

One of the worst afternoon tea I have had, mainly due to the service we had to ask for things all the time, coffee , tea. extra sandwich ect. there was a table of 8 or so next to us, which seemed to get all the service, we had to keep getting up to ask for things not once did anyone come over to us, to see if anything was alright or if we needed anything, until I made them aware, very poor, poor selection of sandwiches, just salmon. will not be returning you want 5 star go to chewton glen, as this is not 5 star.

My friends and I family treated me to a pre wedding afternoon tea .. a beautiful location … with excellent service and staff very attentive.. the private room was decorated and was so beautiful arranged it made you feel very emotional…the tea and food was superb thank you Lainston for helping create such a wonderful occasion would highly recommend

Having seen Tom Hamblett on Masterchef and been very impressed with his dishes, the opportunity to experience a 3-course meal at Lainston was too good an opportunity not to take up. £85 for 3 courses, extra for additional sides, drinks and service at this level is pretty decent value, as long as the meal lives up to expectation, and it went way beyond that! We’ve been lucky to experience many 3-star Michelin and fabulous meals and restaurants all over the world, and whilst the theatre and starched service is not on the menu here, the food was amongst the best we have had in a very long time. The service is really friendly, the right side of familiar and the crew we experienced certainly knew the dishes and their wines. From the moment the home made breads and butters as a complimentary palette wetter were brought, it felt this was going to be good. Lobster (£10 supplement) was simply sublime. The scallop starter was possibly one of the best things I have ever eaten, to combine scallop, cauliflower, ponzu and raisins in a dish is audacious and it paid off! We both went for the signature beef fillet with beef tartare and roscoff onion stuffed with brisket - incredible. The additional side of truffled new potatoes were absolute perfection too. Desserts were simply outstanding - olive oil cake and the now legendary peanut and chocolate slice with banana ice cream. I can still taste it. We were celebrating a birthday and our anniversary, and we also got a little chocolate cake with a Happy Birthday, a very nice gesture in a high-end place. To top it all off we met Tom in person afterwards; you could tell he had been burning the oil for the last few months but was so humble, interested in what we had ordered and what we liked. We have vowed to try and celebrate our anniversary wherever he is cooking next time as he really is an exceptional talent.

We stayed during one of the hottest days of the year. Our room was at the end of the building and in the second floor. There was no lift, so we had a long walk and climb to our room. The ensuite toilet facilities were good, but everything thing else was a big disappointment. The room, had no air conditioning and a very noisy ceiling fan. The windows could only be partially opened and consequently my wife and I had three very uncomfortable nights. The room was at the top of an annex to the main building. I've seen better granny annexes. My wife had mobility issues and no allowance was made for this. The bed in the web site was a four poster; our bed had an uncomfortable metal frame. We made the mistake of booking booking meals, at the hotel. They were a bit too avant garde for my taste. The room needs to have a re-furb as it does not compare well with many business class hotels.

Had a warm welcome and good front desk assistance throughout. Bedroom was not easy for getting the right temperature. And, lighting was not well located. The shower looked great but why no shelf for shampoo, body wash and conditioner? Breakfast was quite good Overall, a generous Excellent rating