We wanted to spend a pre-Christmas holiday in York, and York lived up to its` reputation, just great. In fact, York saved us from checking out early, as there was so much to see and do, and we were happy when out in the city. The staff at The Grange were very helpful, though mostly inexperienced, but that seems to be normal in a lot of places these days.
However, we were not prepared to put up with really bad service and had reason to complain on the first night. When we went down to the bar at 7.00 for pre-dinner drinks (on the time that we had reserved), there was no-one to serve or greet us, not a problem if only a few minutes elapse, but not good if the wait is extended. There were a few people waiting for attention and looking lost, but generally, it was quiet in the bar and restaurant.
We waited and waited, and finally got our aperitifs.
Much later,our order for Dinner was taken, and finally after a further half hour, we were invited through to our table, where we sat, and sat, and sat.......... for half an hour before the first course arrived - with one wrong order, which had to go back to kitchen. It was now 1 hour and ten minutes from giving our order. We complained about this delay, after all it was not rocket science to produce our starters of soup for one person and a slice of game terrine with salad leaves for the other, to be told we were in a queue! Why were we told our table was ready if we were going to sit waiting for half an hour before food arrived? We continued through Dinner, with more irritations too numerous to list. Anyway, we spoke to the duty manager after dinner. She dealt with our complaints with charm and politeness, and for the rest of our stay, service improved, although the food was often cooler than desireable due to delays in getting it from chef to waitress to guest.
Lack of supervision from management showed up throughout our stay. Inconsistencies happened all the time. At breakfast, one waitress would bring hot water with tea - another day, another waitress, no hot water; some days enough coffee to drown in, some days enough to fill only one cup. No-one in management could ever have sat through a meal, or they would have found the problems.
And now to housekeeping. In our room, dust remained for days and had obviously been building up before our visit. Furniture was tired, old - yes antique in a few cases, but very worn, veneer stripping off etc. black dirt all round the carpet, skirting board areas, a very bad stain on the bed throw, hospitality tray just a couple of inches above floor level, yes you read that correctly, just above all that dust around the carpet! A heat-burned lampshade - maybe not important from a cosmetic point of view but a detail which could cheaply be rectified by buying a new lampshade, and more important, a fire safety hazzard if someone is putting too high a wattage bulb in the lamp.
On the whole, the faults with this hotel are as a result of lack of supervision of inexperienced staff. A waitress should not lift the cup from the saucer, hold it to the side of the table, and pour out the hot coffee as I saw done. It is only a matter of time before someone (staff or guest) gets scalded. That is bad
management. The friendly staff really do need the support of good training from managers, it is not their fault if they are not given this support.
Reading other guests` reviews, it would seem that some have found it acceptable, so I would guess it is a lottery whether you get a clean quiet room. We were in room 11 at the back of the hotel, not quiet because of the music downstairs, definitely not clean. Hopefully,if anyone else finds themselves in this room, management will have done something about the above comments to improve your visit.. We shall not be testing that theory, and will not return.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
No way!
I recommend this hotel for:
A romantic getaway, Older Travellers, tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young Singles, An Amazing Honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older Travellers, Great pool scene, pet owners, Families with Small Children, Families with Teenagers, tourists
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Museums / Cultural / Historical sites, Shopping, Other