Chewton Glen Hotel - an Iconic Luxury Hotel

We have stayed at Chewton Glen several times in the past and while the hotel is beautiful, the restaurant food and service was very disappointing. We took the parents to Chewton Glen, a first visit for them, as a birthday treat. We bought them a voucher for dinner , bed and breakfast, and they returned the favour so we could all go together. The voucher cost was £825 per room. Not cheap. We wanted them to have the same experience we have had there in the past and enjoy a lovely birthday dinner. Firstly, the restaurant staff were mostly indifferent, just going through the motions with no attention to detail, with the exception of one waiter and the sommelier. They just seemed uninterested and bored. The woman who showed us to our table wasn't particularly friendly and informed us the the scallop starter had sold out. This was at 7:30pm. There were only 4 starters in total, so we all picked from the remaining three. That kind of limited menu is fine if the quality is high. However, the starters were "okay" and not worthy of the price. Two of us had 4 prawns each, which lacked in flavour and were dry and underwhelming. My partner enjoyed his starter of Tuna. I ordered a bottle of Sancerre to be told that they had run out of this also! This being said, we were all happy and looking forward to the evening. Our dinners arrived, and were "plonked " on the table, with no regard to who had what dinner... we moved the plates around to accommodate. I had the Halibut T Bone, which hadn't been defrosted properly so the inside was like undercooked egg white and the outside was overcooked. We had to send it back. Whilst waiting for my replacement dish to come, my father in law had the Dover Sole, which was filleted at the table...nice touch, but that too was overcooked and had the texture of rubbery Calamari. My partner had the Beef Rib, which was plain and dry and his mother had the Fillet Steak, which came well done, very dry, when she wanted a medium. If we were in a average pub chain restaurant, we may have accepted that it just wasn't the best but not when you are in a 5 * restaurant, with the high end price tag to match. Disappointingly, we had to send the entire table of food back. We didn't order anything else except coffee, which was lovely, as there were yummy truffles and macaroons on offer. My father in laws birthday dinner was not special, or edible, which was a great disappointment. The sommelier gave us a bottle of wine as an apology, but no response from the kitchen. We have stayed in many 5* hotels and have never returned a single meal in any of them. We arranged to speak to the Manager the following morning, and were hoping for an explanation, or just to look for a reason so we could visit again, as we have had lovely memories in the past at this hotel. Sadly, he didn't have a reason, so we will not be returning. After returning home, the hotel tried to charge us another £600+ directly from our card stored on their sys

Stayed at Chewton Glen as a treat from our parents. Whilst the room was amazing and the customer service was exceptional the value was poor. With meal, drinks and stay over £800 this does not compare well with other stays we have had. The meal was good however we were informed the sharing steak was unavailable only for the family behind us to be offered the same dish.

Absolutely wonderful stay, nicest hotel we've ever been to. Luxurious bliss.

Beautiful hotel. Every member of staff was excellent. Super walking in beautiful grounds, on to the coast and to Christchurch. Tasting menu at hotel restaurant was extremely good. Lower key dining at James Martin’s Kitchen was also great. Look forward to returning.

The chewton glen is located in the picturesque new forest and easy to find. We were warmly welcomed for afternoon tea and served fresh and creative cakes, sandwiches and scones which were delicious and plentiful. The staff are fantastic and we felt very welcome. Very special place.

Staying just one night in one of the lovely Croquet lawn rooms gave us 2 full days at the CG and we made full use of it. Coffee outside followed by 9 hole golf in the morning, spa in the afternoon with buffet lunch, tour of the kitchen gardens, champagne on our ground floor terrace and then dinner in the main dining room, and that was just the day we arrived. Huge breakfast the next day followed by putting on the croquet lawn, spa with buffet lunch again and a walk down to the sea. Although obviously the CG is not cheap, I thought that it was very good value as there was so much to do. Although I'm not sure about the changes to the lounges, it still has an overall luxurious feel and all of the staff are very well trained and give excellent and friendly customer service. Charging my EV car for free was also a nice touch as were the water and fudge when we finally checked out and the goodies in the room. We were delighted with our early check-in and late check out and our upgraded room was fantastic. Of course I am sure I could be nitpicking and mention some minor negatives but the overall experience was as good as it gets and we can't wait to go back again a few months. Not sure we would eat in the main dining room next time, perhaps we will try the Kitchen.