Spend your money elsewhere

Where do you start - in summary, this is a two star hotel.

I've had to stay here on three occasions courtesy of corporate days out to Goodwood events. Now I know a good Hilton (Maldives and Mauritius are two such examples), but this place stinks.

If your idea of a good £100 + per night hotel is:

cracked Formica bathrooms

masking tape holding down the carpet in the corridors

70's décor with lovely woodchip wallpaper, purple pattern carpet and Bernie Inn furniture!

Plastic flowers

Fuzzy TV pictures

no hot water

Lay-by cuisine

and generally dirty and dull, then its for you. If not run - unfortunately there is little in the area apart from Amberley Castle

Not one of the 20 couples staying in our group two weeks ago said they would ever stay here again unless they had to - that should tell you something.

Hilton - this place is a disgrace even after a £1 million refurb.

Nice location, give dinner a miss!

Having stayed at this hotel on previous occasions, we decided to venture back to see the result of the hotels recent make-over. No real changes were apparant, new curtains etc in reception/dining areas and a change of paint colour. This time we opted for garden rooms which were pleasant, although I found very hot and needed the window wide open at all times ( a fan would have been nice). Shower very weak, but generally clean and satisfactory. The evening meal which was included for the first night was very disappointing and certainly not of standard. Many dishes on the menu incurred a supplement, and also complimentary coffee and petit fours have disappeared and are now extras. Okay no big deal, but lots of extra costs seem to be creeping in, on what used to be all in on the Hilton breaks. The outdoor pool was extremely busy, and sunbeds seemed to be occupied throughout the day, although a pleasant facility. As for the croquet - well don't forget to ask where it is - it is sign posted in the grounds and listed in the hotel information, but believe you me, no staff at the Hilton knows where it is! Last year it was in an old rusty box, not set up, this time I was told it got lost! same goes for the table football - gone! And as for the Hamleys toy room - again, non existent, apparently if anyone askes a few toys that have well seen better days, get placed in one of the conference rooms! And as for the snooker room - yes we found it as it is well sign posted, we opened the door and found the table was surrounded by boxes and boxes of all archived paperwork, and endless boxes of stock room items, hardly inviting.... plus they want £5 charge to use their cues and balls! Yes, I would stay here again I like the location and the breakfasts are good, and the duvets soooo soft, but forget the dinners go to the Black Rabbit Pub in Arundel instead you will not regret it, superb views of Arundel castle and river and food that the Hilton could learn a lot from .......

A surprisingly comfortable Hilton with exceptional service and food.

We have just returned from a one night golf break at the Avisford Park Hotel. Our stay started off well with the lovely views of the fountain and landscaped gardens as we approached the entrance to the hotel. We were checked in promptly and despite being an hour early we were shown to our rooms, (just lucky I suppose). The rooms were lovely and clean with proper crisp white bed linen, not the prickly blankets that you normally get.

Drinks and bar snacks were expensive, but that was to be expected. We had dinner in the Cedar Restaurant which was just lovely. There was a good choice of dishes for all tastes and the service from the staff was just as good. The food was served piping hot and there was just the right amount of time between courses.

Our only gripe for our break was that state of the golf greens which I have been told "had seen better days"!! The golf course was one of the main reasons why we had chosen Avisford over other hotels. It was a disappointment. The other facilities like the pool and the gym were good as described. There was also a putting green and croquet lawn out by the terrace. It was good to see people actually using it all.

I had read in your previous review that the hotel was under refurbishment. This did worry me a little. However all was good by the time of our arrival. The lounge areas had been decorated tastefully and our rooms were fresh and clean of paint smells. This can only be a good thing if other Hiltons are to go by.

Despite the small glitch about the golf, the whole stay was a most enjoyable and pleasant experience.

Check before you book

The hotel is easy to find from the main A27 yet in a lovely secluded, country location with well tended grounds. Unfortunately our initial good impressions didn't last long. On entering the reception is was obvious that a major refurbishment programme was taking place - not due to complete until July 05. Involves total redecoration rather than structural building work but still disappointing that I wasn't advised of this when making my reservation (direct with the hotel itself). Both the main lounge and restaurant were closed and temporarily located to other function rooms.

Dinner was included on the first night and was excellent - if the food a little slow to arrive. Breakfast on the other hand was poor - the "hot" buffet was at best lukewarm on both days, even though we arrived almost as soon as the restaurant was open each morning.

Our room (no 24) was on the ground floor and was clean and tidy, if a little small and no sky tv channels.

Our main reason for complaint occured on the 2nd night when a function room immediately adjacent to our room hosted a birthday party which didn't finish until 11.30pm - singing, shouting, speeches clearly audible to us (my wife is 6 months pregnant so a good nights rest is essential!).

We paid £159 for the room for 2 nights with dinner on the first night. Good value in theory but ruined by the problems suffered. This is a very attractive country house that in the correct hands could be a wonderful hotel. Unfortunately Hilton seem to be more interested in squeezing as much revenue from the hotel as possible - rather than considering guest satisfaction.

If you are considering staying here then wait until July, check the refurb is complete and ensure your room is well away from any function rooms!

Where have the other Reviewers been Staying ???

I have just returned from a weekend at the Avisford Park and from the moment we arrived until the time we left I have nothing but praise. The drive in is superb,the grounds immaculately kept and when you check in the staff could not have been friendlier and more helpful.We stayed in the Sorrento Suite which was superb - well decorated,certainly not musty and with stunning views We had dinner in the evening and the food was superb and the service even better.My only criticism,and it is only minor,but some people may be happy,was that the service was too quick - no sooner had you finished one course and the next one seems to arrive. That is superb service but some people may like a break between courses.

The breakfasts are huge and as a frequent traveller around the world staying at many 5 Star Hotels - it is one of the only places where the self service breakfast has been - HOT.Every member of the staff we met was charming and polite and a credit to the Hotel.

Will I go back - you bet - a superb Hotel in every aspect.

Bargain Break

I booked a bargain mid-week break for my wife and I before I read the reviews on this site, and was concerned with what we might find on arrival. Sometimes when paying minimum prices you end up with the worst rooms. Not this time. At reception we were asked smoking or non-smoking, and ground, first or second floor. We chose non-smoking second floor and had an excellent, well-equiped room overlooking the grounds to the front. The bed was large and comfortable bed with a super duvet. A beautiful location, good accommodation, attentive staff, super indoor pool, an interesting dinner menu and a brilliant breakfast table, all for £70 pp db&b b&b. No, I don't work for Hilton, and never give top marks, but at that price, it is difficult not to!

Wheel Chair Accessible??????????????

Our room was very good for wheelchair access and the bathroom the best seen so far, BUT the only route to the bar and restaurant was OUTSIDE,

right around the site, during the first week in March, so all meals and drinks had to be partaken in our room which was dissapointing.

Also, the ramp into the disabled block was very steep and so uneven as to be dangerous.

Finally my disabled parking place was not reserved, causing great inconvenience one cold wet vening.

Go Elsewhere

I took my mother to this hotel last month (August 2004). We arrived at 3.00pm and was told our room was not ready and could we come back in half an hour. It was an extremely hot weekend and all we really wanted to do was get changed and have a dip in the outside pool. When we did eventually get our room it was very average indeed. No minibar, a view of some bins and extremely hot - no air con either.

I found the drinks over priced and when I asked for some peanuts or crisps I was told they did not stock them, but I could choose the tortilla chips from the snack menu - these were approx £3. Again, way too much for just a nibble with a drink. I would have thought it would not have been too much trouble to give complementary snacks to guests when they are paying nearly £5 for one glass of wine.

We dined in the hotel that evening and although the meal was not horrible, it was certainly nothing to write home about ... so I won't !

There were two weddings going on in the hotel this Saturday which made the bar area very crowded indeed and quite uncomfortable.

The breakfast was good, but at over £15 per person it should be.

My advice, if choosing a chain hotel, would be go to a Marriott, which I have used many times and found to be very accommodating and much more up to date in decor and surroundings.

This hotel has certainly put me off visiting a Hilton again.

Very disappointing

My husband and I stayed at the Hilton Avisford Park for 2 nights in May 04. We were very disappointed with the hotel as we though a Hilton hotel would guarantee a high standard.

We arrived at the hotel and we were surprised by how run down the hotel looked. The decor both in our room and other areas needed updating.

Our room was quite small and overlooked several bottle banks and the delivery entrance. It was a little noisy at times but not too bad.

We were not happy with the noisy extractor fan in the bathroom which couldn't be turned off at night. In addition the tap water smelt very gassy (not something I've experienced before).

The room service was very good and the food excellent.

Overall, I don't think the Hilton Avisford Park provided good value for money.

Think again?

We booked a suite at the Hilton Arundel for our wedding anniversary. The cost was £181.00 per night but you had to pay £15 each for breakfast (total of approx £210 per night). We were shown our "suite" that was right at the top of the main staircase. It was two large rooms. The lounge (if you could call it that) had a concoction of terrible furniture which smelled musty and the bedroom was pretty much the same. Wallpaper was hanging off the walls and paint cracking off the doorframes. We were not able to move to another suite therefore we left (never to return) and relocated to the nearby Marriott Goodwood Golf and Country Club Hotel which was great.