Marriott Hanbury Manor Ware

As a conference manager, I was invited by Marriott to experience Hanbury Manor and was thoroughly impressed. In the past 15 months or so, I've visited nearly 100 hotels with my job and this was amongst the most delightful.

The hotel is a beautiful old building which has been extended very sympathetically - no ugly 1960s additions here. Reception is warm and inviting and the Oak Room next door a wonderful place to sit by the fire, I'd love to come back here on leisure at the weekend to sit there with a book.

The modern Oaks Restuarant works really well, and the lunch we had here was excellent. Zodiac Restaurant looked lovely, but unfortunately I didn't have time to sample this.

In our conference room, our tea breaks were excellent.

Bedrooms are either in the original house or the modern addition. Don't worry about being in the modern addition, this is still very pleasant. Early next year all the bedrooms will get the new Marriott bed. I've tried these in another Marriott - and the beds are fantastic! These new beds will make even the standard rooms at Hanbury a good experience.

All the staff I encountered were very friendly and helpful.

Not a choice for a contemporary experience - you'd need to try somewhere like The Grove to get that. But for a traditional country club, this is a great option.

Never before have I experienced such a fantastic venue. With views to die for and service fit for royaly. This is somewhere to recommend for every occassion. In case you havent guessed I loved the place! Food in both restraunts was amazing, with the choice and range in the Oakes Grill I'd challenge anyone to go hungry.

My wife and I (both 30) have just spent a night at this hotel and it was glorious. This is the first time I have been fortunate enough to stay at a 5 star hotel in this country, and I could get used to it!! The staff were fantastic, the rooms were lovely (spacious with comfortable beds and fully equipped), and the health center was brilliant - jacuzzi, mixed sauna, steam room in each changing room and a lovely pool. Everything was clean and there were even staff polishing the hand rails to the pool!!

I cannot recommend this highly enough. Yes, the meals are expensive and so is the wine - our meal (2 courses each) came to £85 with wine, but it was lovely and it was a treat. There is a lovely pub at the entrance to the long drive up to the hotel which we toyed with eating at, but in the end we opted for the 'extravagence' of the Oakes Grill.

For anyone contemplating whether they should go for this, we'd say do it - you won't be disappointed...

I really cannot fault this beautiful hotel and its excellent staff.

My Partner and I stayed here for 2 nights last October and it was magical experience from check in to check out. The Manor itself is stunning and really is like stepping back in time. Our room was beautiful, the bed huge and extremely comforatble.

What really made the stay for us was the excellent service from the wonderful staff. We were made to feel like royalty. Eveyone was so polite and courteous and no request was too much. In particular, the geneltman in charge of the restaurant (I beleive his name was Olav) made a great impression on us, he was a true gentelman and made us feel so special.

The food was exquisite.

The leisure facilities were excellent. I had two treatments (massage and facial) and they were reasonably priced and expertly carried out. I was even given several free samples of the products used.

My Partner played golf and said it was the best course he had ever played and still refers to it now.

I cannot fault this hotel. If you are looking for a complete luxury weekend away from it all with exellent service and facilities then I cannot recommend the Hanbury Manor enough.

Fabulous.

We stayed at Hanbury Manor with our two young children. On arrival we thought the hotel was lovely and the old parts are really nice. We hold an executive Marriott card which allows us to request early check-in and late check-out, something which we requested for this stay. We went to reception and were told that our room wasn't ready and could we wait half an hour. So off we went and had lunch in the grill restaurant, which was nice, liked the live jazz band!

Back to reception over an hour after we arrived, room still not ready. So off we go for a bike ride, there are some nice routes and the views are great. OK, two hours after we arrive still no room.....I told the member of staff that was not very impressed, she then explained that they had been fully booked the night before and were struggling to get the guests out of their rooms, and then get the rooms cleaned. While she recounted the events of the previous 24hrs, two guests came to complain that they had requested a maid service in their rooms, and at 4pm it still hadn't been done. The hotel simply explained that is was due to a lack of staff, which we all suggested was not the problem of the guests. However one member of staff said "well if you can find staff good luck to you". Is that really a 5* response?

After all of this, the room was fine, hotel nice and grounds fantastic. You get fluffy towels in you room to walk to and from the pool. Room service was good, but you pay for it. If you don't intend to eat at the hotel, be aware that you will not have a great choice in the surrounding towns.

I found this hotel to be wanting, we were quoted incorrect prices for both dining and the room rates, the rooms were unsatisactory and were also smoking rooms contrary to our request. A number of electrical fiitings were also exposed.

The health club , golf course and facilities were generally good, though quite overcrowded with a loud clientelle.

The Zodiac restaurant 'experience' consisted of been quoted (on website and telephone) a price £15 below what was offered per head. This is inexusable. Also without reprieve was the uninspiring and frankly unexciting food from a clearly talented staff. All menu items were fairly standard and unmistakabley generic, failing to live up to their own protracted descriptions, whilst the cold room and abcence of music did little to create an atmosphere (though credit is given to the efforts of the waiting staff).

Hanbury Manor has excellent potential, but I am afraid it is guilty of resting too easily on its laurels, and showing little passion for the guests enjoyment.

The Hanbury Manor looks impressive as you drive up through the golf course and grounds. The interior is very traditional, everything you would expect of a country manor house. Our room was extremely clean and had some nice traditional features and a large bathroom.

We ate dinner in the Oakes Grill and found it a little disappointing. It is the more modern and 'cheaper' of its two restaurants, however we expected higher quality food for a 5 star hotel. The wine list was expensive starting at £24. We were there on Easter weekend and the hotel was full, which might explain why the tables were arranged so close together that we were within touching distance of the people next to us. This made private conversation a little difficult.

Breakfasts though were superb with an excellent selection.

The only bar (excluding the golf club bar) seemed to be the cocktail lounge which is quite imposing and the ambiance could be intimidating for some people. Also very expensive - 2 G&Ts cost £15!

The Spa treatments were reasonably priced and the pool area was nice although there should be more loungers available so that you could spend time relaxing there.

Overall though, a lovely hotel, which I would visit again.

My partner and I stayed here for a night on 5th Feb 2005 and have to say that this really is a fabulous hotel. We stayed in a standard room in the main manor house which was plenty big enough and the bed was VERY comfortable.

The leasure facilities are all top notch. The swimming pool, jacuzzi , sauna etc are all free to use to hotel guests and are well worth making the most of.

We had diiner at the Oakes Grill restaurant which was fairly expensive (£90 with wine for a three course meal for two) but the food is well worth it.

We are having our wedding reception at this hotel in the summer and can't wait to return!

My husband and I were granted one night's child-free stay here by the Anniversary Fairy in December 2004. We paid for a superior room which was sited in the original Manor house and had lovely features including fireplace, beautiful stone mullion windows and gorgeous rear views over the golf course. Mini bar prices were ludicrous (£6.50 for spirits, £3 for water, £4 for small beer) but maybe that's normal for a 5 star hotel.

The Health Club facilities were excellent, breakfast buffet good and service attentive throughout the hotel. We ate in the Zodiac Restaurant which was wonderful. Wine was priced from £27 per bottle, the 'set' meal was £65 per head although we chose from the table d'hote menu - starters were around £16, main course about £30).

Our experience could not be faulted. This is a first class hotel in a beautiful setting. My only minor gripe concerns the poor quality and condition of the bathroom towels - what a shame.

Enjoy your stay.

This is Marriott at their best..and they always set a high standard.

The house is a mock-Jacobean mansion built in the late 19th century, surrounded by rolling lawns and a golf course.

The rooms are a good size and are furnished in period style. The food is superb....the breakfast is the best I have eaten anywhere ever. Lots of wonderful fresh fruit, delicious breads, smoked salmons, bagels, cold meats as well as the traditional English cooked breakfast.

The service is discreet, courteous and prompt.

The oak-panelled drawing room is wonderful for afternoon tea or just relaxing and unwinding. There is a gym and pool - the pool is a sensible size big enough that you can actually swim in it.

The car park is a little way away, but there is valet parking which is well up to the hotel's standard of prompt efficient service.

A wonderful place to stay and relax - I'm not a golfer but I suspect that if I were I'd like the golf course too.