The Nutfield Priory looks really lovely on the website and also in reality. It is such a shame that at least half the staff don't care. We arrived on Easter Saturday lunchtime hoping for a delicious lunch. Instead we had to wait in the bar for one and a half hours for a really mediocre plate of sandwiches. Finally at 3 pm we asked to go to our room and we were told that the computer was down and therefore they could not contact housekeeping. The girl at the front desk was so unhelpful and particularly uncaring that I sought assistance from someone else who went up to check if the room was ready and then finally by 3.15pm we gained access to our room after our long awaited and really disappointing lunch. The room was really large and at first glance quite attractive. We booked one of the last remaining suites with a really lovely view. (We later found out the grounds had been sold some years earlier.) After we settled in we thought we would go for a walk round the grounds. There are none! They had been sold. There was nowhere to walk within the grounds of the hotel except car park to car park. It was a great disappointment! The seperate Spa was newish, ugly and dirty. Don't go there! The one redeeming feature of the hotel is the evening restaurant. The food was very good. It was very expensive too. For two of us the bill came to £180 for 4 courses and a good bottle of French wine. Finally the last straw was the bedding. We were really disappointed that under white cotton sheets everybit of our bedding was sponge or polyester. I haven't actually encountered this in a four or five star hotel before. It was really quite horrid. We will not return as you may guess and cannot recommend this hotel especially because half of the staff were surly to say the least. Go to the restaurant for an evening meal but avoid staying the night!!

Me and my partner decided to go away for 1 night during Easter. We have used Handpicked hotels in the past for the quality of the hotels. This time we went for Nutfield Priory.
We arrived at 2:30pm and got a very cool welcome from the receptionist (no hello - just "name"? . We were then told that due to their systems being down we could not check in (check out is 11am and check in is 3pm). We knew we were there 30 min early on the off chance that the room would be ready so we said fine and that we would wait in the communal areas (they have roaring fires in the lounge and grand hall). The receptionist then said "no, it is better if you go to the leisure center" (separate building a few minutes walk away). I then said that i rather go to the lounge - he then again said that i should be going to the leisure center because it would get busy in the lounge later on??? Hmm.. i again said that i rather go to the lounge which is what we did and it was perfectly comfortable to sit in front of the fire in a sofa. Not sure why the receptionist kept on insisting on us going to the leisure center. Before we went to the lounge i asked when he would think our room would be ready and we were told in an hour. His attitude was so wrong and not suited to be working in a customer facing role. You really want a friendly welcome and to be greeted with a Hello and a smile..
So, we waited in the lounge reading books.. an hour went past.. the receptionist walked past and we asked if our room would be available soon. He mumbled something inaudible and hurried off.
We then had a group of people next to us who where there to look at the venue for their wedding. The sales manager had shown them the private dining rooms and then said she had a selection of bedrooms in diffferent categories to show them.. Hmm... so there are rooms ready for them to view but no rooms for us to check in to?? Very mysterious.
Sent my partner to reception again to check on our room status. He came back and said that they had said "in 10 min or so" but they were checking in other people?? After a while i then had enough and went to reception (it was now 5pm - we had been there for 2,5 hours).
I spoke to a lady in reception and i expressed my disappointment with us being kept waiting for 2,5 hours.. without having been even offered an apology or complimentary drinks or anything to ease the wait.
She hurriedly checked us in to a room - very nice room - the Swift suite which was gorgeus - but that is beside the point. We arrived for our break in a good mood but after all that happend we did not feel that positive any more.
We did not have dinner in the hotel so can't review the restaurant. We did have breakfast in the morning which was OK but not great.
The hotel, rooms, view and grounds are absolutely beautiful and i would love to go back but they really need to do something about the staff working there.

We contacted the hotel at the last minute for a much needed break and they were very helpful and professional on the phone.

On arrival, we were greeted by Gary on reception and he was extremely helpful, accomodating and welcoming. We were taken to our room, by another really helpful member of staff, Peter. They couldn't do enough for us and were lovely to my 5 yr old daughter. The room was gorgeous and the beds really comfy.

Breakfast was very nice, with a good choice. The building itself is lovely and very atmospheric inside, with beautiful paintings and leaded windows.

My daughter and I would love to return, very soon !

I booked a weekend break at the Nutfield Priory for my partners b-day. Looks great when you approach, the check in staff were helpful. Arrived 2.30 was told room was not ready, and they would call my mobile when it was. Went to the bar, waited 10 minutes to be served as there was no one around. 3.30 came and went, with no call and when I went to the desk they happily gave me the key. Got to the room, looked fine, the wine I ordered was there but our bags weren't. Went and collected my bags from reception.

Had a wander over to the spa what is adjacent from the hotel. If you are expecting a real spa, you will be very disapointed! On entering the place it was like visiting my local swimming pool/leisure centre. Not inviting in the least. There are much better spas in the area and after going to somewhere like Rowhill Grange, it doesnt come close.
We had a table booked for 8.45pm for dinner (booked a few weeks previously). We went down for dinner and sat in the main area for 15 minutes before having to reapproach the staff for a drink and menus. 9.15 drinks and menus arrived. 9.30 Others around us were getting agitated also about the lack of service and reservations which had been and gone, so we asked if there was any chance of having our table. We were told they were staggering the tables for the chef, at which point we asked shouldnt that happen when they take reservations!
9.45 Got taken into a half empty restaurnat and sat at our table, along with many other disatisfied diners.

10pm Starters arrive, three times! Yes they couldnt even deliver the right starters to the right tables, and shambles. 10.30 Main course arrives, by now we had had enough and had gone past the point of hunger, coupled to my partner needing to be down for breakfast at 8am as a massage was booked for 9am. Everyone in the restaurant thought it was some kind of joke.

Breakfast was fine, good infact, and my partner enjoyed her massage. On checking out we complained about the terrible service throughout, at which point other guests chipped in, so we were asked to wait in the lounge area for the manager.

The manager apologised and was receptive, but when I pointed out that I had prepaid for the weekend and a 3 course dinner we couldnt eat, she offered to knock the drinks off the bill. I replied that I was happy to pay for a massage but that was all, at which point she agreed that she would reduce the bill but only to what I had prepaid (£140). Wanting to not waste any more of our weekend, I agreed and left feeling robbed.

I would not recommend this hotel to anyone, I have received better service from Travelodge and that only costs £30!