Afternoon Tea at Down Hall in Uttlesford - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

I invited a friend for afternoon tea at Down Hall, drove up from London . The place looks really nice , and is in great condition . We were seated at a smell table in a large , very nice room . But it was impossible to sit at that small low table as there was a bar at shin level that made it impossible to sit properly without hurting your legs. I called the waiter and asked to get us a decent table . He didn’t seem to be terribly enamoured to having to set up another table .. he took our plates, glasses and cutlery and put it on the chair !!!! in order to retrieve the tablecloth . He didn’t talk, I helped to set up the other table . Overall, the actual afternoon tea was nice , sandwiches so so , but the cakes and the scones were fabulous . All in all a nice experience , bar the unprofessional actions of the waiter . Probably should have said something , but didn’t want to upset my elderly friend …

Excellent afternoon with friends. We had afternoon tea in a newly refurbished area of the hotel. (Apparently still waiting for a few finishing touches). It was beautifully decorated, the tea was lovely and the staff very attentive. We were even given boxes to take the cakes we couldn’t finish home.

Went for afternoon tea, total disappointment!! Completely overpriced and the food wasn’t even great! I’ve had better afternoon tea at my local coffee shop. They also charged full adult price for my daughter who is only 15 - complete waste of money!!

As a group of friends celebrating Christmas we were split into two groups, this was not acceptable as it was booked way in advance. The atmosphere was non existent, no background music. The food was awful- sandwiches barely filled and overcooked scones, cakes were fancy with very unusual filling - of which most of us didn’t like. A glass of sparkling wine accompanied our tea at an extremely princely cost of £62.50 in total per person . We declined to pay the service charge. Staff were over stretched and lacked any warmth. Overall a very disappointing Christmas celebration , spoilt totally by Down Hall.

Afternoon tea was poor value for money. Our group wasn’t seated together as booked. No atmosphere, the waitress was nice but dealt with all the tables on her own. Sandwiches weren’t great and the cakes were awful apart from scones. All in all it was very disappointing and was charged first class prices for fourth class quality. The final insult was to be charged £11 for a glass of Prosecco equating to a bottle price if £66. I suspect that 14 local families would never want to repeat this experience

I had booked afternoon tea for a friend to celebrate a milestone birthday. I had considered booking a hotel in Central London but decided instead to book Down Hall and we were not disappointed it was really lovely with a calm, relaxing atmosphere the food selection was great and the staff that attended to us were delightful! Would highly recommend!

Moved in locally thought I’d check it out. Stayed for a bottle of vino to listen to the singer in the garden. Only met 2 staff. June, who’s the loveliest person you could ever meet. Made us feel like we never wanted to go anywhere else! And Nicole who bought the wine, an absolute diamond! Can’t wait to come back! Thanks guys! Appreciated. See you soon

It is my birthday today and my hubby booked the experience, It was excellent, I was well looked after by Bailey and her team and I could not fault the service. Very professional and even surprised me with a little bday treat. Thank you Bailey and Down Hall , I will surely be back

Went to Down Hall for afternoon tea today. We had a private room which was beautiful. A waitress introduced herself and said she would be looking after us. She brought in a few large teapots with two tea bags in each. Tea was very weak. Food delayed by half an hour as they were sorting out dietary requirements which were sent through prior to the day. Service very poor, had to keep looking for waitress when more tea was needed. Scones not good

Had the most lovely afternoon, the staff were incredible, professional, caring and immaculate, food was lovely, delightful experience.

The room looked lovely, until we saw where we were being seated. They had obviously got greedy and overbooked so had added 2 regular dining tables with chairs to the room. Instead of sitting in comfortable armchairs or squidgy sofas we were sitting upright on conference room chairs as if sitting down to breakfast. First the restaurant manager didn’t say sorry and basically said like it or lump it, then raised it to the operations Manager. He was rude, defensive and told me he had been to many 5 star hotels for afternoon tea and sat on chairs like this. Again no apology and told it was this or nothing. All rather embarrassing when you are trying to celebrate a friend’s 60th birthday. The food was lovely and the rest of the young staff were really helpful but the set up and management were appalling & had clearly received training to avoid saying sorry and admit fault at all costed. They knew they were in the wrong and were deliberately being awkward. We were finally moved to a lovely setting but we were towards the end of our afternoon tea so a little too late to make up for a spoiled afternoon.

We had booked the afternoon tea for a friend’s special birthday treat. Having arrived we were shown to our table which was very disappointing. Other guests we seated at comfortable looking armchairs and appropriate sized tables. Our table was clearly an “add on” to maximise the numbers in the room; it was a standard dining table accompanied by conference chairs. When we expressed our disappointment we were told we should have requested a comfortable chair when booking! A Manager came to speak to us and told us it was “first come first served” and we had been “unlucky”. She advised she would escalate our concerns to the Operations Manager who also came to speak to us. He clearly has not been given the appropriate level of customer service training as his tone with us was shockingly belligerent and defensive. It was all a bit embarrassing to be honest and we just decided to continue with our afternoon as our concerns were clearly not being taken seriously. That being said, a nice young waitress moved us to a far superior table once other guests had left, which was lovely. The food and cakes were tasty and we eventually had a pleasant afternoon.

Had afternoon tea here today. Lovely hotel but we were alone in the room so no atmosphere. The room looked lovely but not practical to eat. Lounge chairs are comfortable if you are only drinking but to eat they are too low for the tables making eating difficult. The sandwiches and scones were lovely, the cakes were just ok. Had to ask for tea, and table was started to be cleared before we were finished. It was just an ok experience, in my opinion a bit overpriced so I probably wouldn’t return. I have had much better for a similar price.

We went for afternoon tea as we were given a voucher. We booked a table for Saturday afternoon and pre-notified them we needed gluten free and egg free due to allergies. We arrived and were given the afternoon tea menu. This had no options and a queens jubilee cocktail on offer. There was an upgrade offer of champagne for £10 which we declined. The gluten free bread contained egg we were then told so this made a mockery of afternoon tea with no sandwiches. After we finished we were presented with a bill for £19 But we had a pre paid voucher for afternoon tea! The queens cocktail was £4.50 each. Tea at the weekend is an extra £5 each But we were not told this so we had to complain to the manger. Admittedly they did knock this charge off. Come on! Supposed to be a nice hotel. Sort out your food allergies. Sort out your charging to be explained and plain and simple.

Warm welcome on arrival. Beautiful setting. Very attractively presented selection of cakes, scones and sandwiches. Downside that ruined the occasion was a large piece of plastic in one of the scones When we complained the scone was merely taken away and replaced with another. No explanation given. Also, when we went to the toilet together we were accused of leaving without paying! Again, staff didn’t really care about how unprofessional this was. They apologised but didn’t seem to care.

A group of 6 ladies went for afternoon tea in the summer and were very disappointed, and after complaining, we were invited to go back to try again. We were seated in a lovely room, very comfortable, with actual tablecloths this time, and could not fault the service, and the food was delicious. Plenty of tea and coffee on offer and food plentiful. So much better than last time, and pleased we tried it again.

Myself and 4 friends had a lovely afternoon tea. Very good sandwiches and cakes. The only thing that could also be offered are some cake alternatives for those who suffer with diabetes. I mention this because when my friend booked she asked if there were...

A great collection of cakes, sandwiches and scones with tea in front of the fire.. plus a glass of bubbles. It was my wife's birthday and they also gave her some happy birthday chocolates.

I had booked this afternoon tea for 5 of use for my mother in law's birthday. We arrived and were promptly seated at our table and our server who was lovely came and greeted us and asked what tea we would like. The tea and...

We had won a voucher to have afternoon tea here, which we have held since before the lockdowns. Using this on a Sunday, we were seated in the main entrance quickly and a fair amount of time had passed before the food arrived. We had...

Had afternoon tea with 4 other members of my family. Delicious. The staff couldn't have been nicer. It looked lovely and it was fresh and tasty, especially the scones. Good selection of teas to choose from too. Will return very soon I hope.

the gluten free menu as published on the hotel's website is only an example of what could be offered, not actually available.

Went today for afternoon tea but we were very disappointed. Waited 45 minutes to get anything to eat or drink!! The staff didnt appear to know what they were doing. When it arrived it looked lovely but to be honest there was nothing special about...

I made a reservation for Mother’s Day 2 months ago. One week before Mother’s Day I received a phone call stating that they have decided to take full payment ahead of time and anyone that couldn’t pay would be cancelled. Mother’s Day is very special to me, I lost my own mother as a child and lived through many sad lonely mother’s days up until I finally became a mum myself. I spoke to a manager because, I felt it unfair to make this demand at last minuet especially as I couldn’t make arrangements elsewhere. The manager explained that due to the COVID19 outbreak they are expecting last minuet cancellations. They are unwilling to take the financial hit and so are not offering flexibility. If you get ill or cannot attend, you still pay. They went ahead and cancelled my Mother’s Day afternoon tea, if I refused to pay upfront they’d find another that would/could. So unfair

I can with a friend for afternoon tea here and I couldn't fault it, the food was fresh and the scones still warm, absolutely delicious, lovely friendly professional staff and what gorgeous surroundings! Will be coming again!

I had been looking forward to this especially after enjoying such fantastic treatment at the spa. I was sadly disappointed Enjoyed my Prosecco Fab that you can have as many sandwiches as as much tea as you wish and the scones were ok but the...

This was for our belated friend. We were well looked after well. Our sandwiches, tea and coffee were topped up regular. We even had a box each of left over cakes to bring home.

Everything about it was very good... the staff... we were made very welcome. the service... attentive and pleasant. the food. Sanwiches were fresh and tasty as were the scones and desserts/cakes. Sanwiches and tea were both replenished and without extra cost. We weren't rushed and...

We had afternoon tea just before Christmas. Food was great and sevictwas excellent. The waitresses were very attentive. Tea and sandwiches were replenished at no extra cost. We were asked if we wanted to take home our uneaten items which was a nice touch. Definitely...

Spent an enjoyable couple of hours at the spa and was really looking forward to a relaxed tea reading my book. The food was very good but the location was very disappointing. I was sat in the middle room of three. Bar on one side...

We were treated to Afternoon Tea and thought Down Hall looked interesting from their website. The façade of the building is disappointing and parking was amongst rubbish bins! We were seated in a noisy lounge area that had a party gathered in it. Originally offered...

Excellent afternoon environment for tea, but you’ll pay through the nose for it, a huge premium too!

Tasty well portioned afternoon tea. Excellent setting and great service. Would highly recommend a visit for a local grand afternoon tea.

Having afternoon tea is always nice, having it in grand surroundings is what it deserves.

We really enjoyed our visit to Down Hall. It is a beautiful venue and the grounds are lovely. The afternoon tea was great and the service was very attentive.

As previous review of whole experience, the afternoon tea was excellent. Good variety of sandwiches including vegetarian options.

We visited on a Saturday and were really impressed. Afternoon tea is served at tables in a restaurant nicely laid out with white tablecloths. The staff were really welcoming and friendly and offered us refills of tea and extra sandwiches. The sandwiches were very fresh with tasty fillings and both my husband and myself thought the scones were the best we’d had, very light. There was a nice selection of unusual cakes. We’ve also had afternoon tea at the Swan in Lavenham and thought that Down Hall was better. Definitely worth a visit.

Absolutely shocking awful experience. There was no recollection of our booking for 9 people. We were seated on low settees that were uncomfortable to eat from. The service was nonexistent very slow and no offers to refill tea pots we had to find staff to serve us. The food was a disappointment the bread on the sandwiches was dry and one sandwich was actually made from the crust slice of a loaf.There were ants running across our tablecloth and fruit flies in the room.We asked to see a manger which took 30mins he was extremely rude and did not want to hear our complaints. Eventually he agreed to waive the bill to his credit. The cost should have been £32 a head so we expected a much better experience from this well respected hotel. Do not go there for afternoon tea

Went for tea with friends whom I hadn't seen for over a year so I knew we were going to be chatting for a long time! We were the last to leave and we're never rushed to get out. The tea is beautiful and loose-leaf which was an added bonus. Extra tea was t charged for. We ordered two high teas and that was more than enough to feed the three of us. The sandwiches were a bit dull but the rest was lovely. All tasted fresh and good. Extra clotted cream and Jan was given. Waitresses attentive and helpful. Generally a good place to sit and relax.

Great treat for two friends birthdays. Freshly made sandwiches, light cakes and scones and hot flavoursome teas or coffees. Staff in a plenty but left as to natter with no rush to get us out.

Estábamos buscando un té por la tarde alrededor de las oficinas y nos encontramos este precioso lugar. El servicio es muy agradable. Pasteles y sándwiches bien poco scones con crema fresca estupenda y mermelada. Exactamente lo que queríamos en un precio decente. Quiero volver y pasar allí la noche próxima vez

Cheap cakes, definitely pre packed, cold tea/coffee, no staff, poor quality sandwiches obviously made earlier. So disappointing and over-priced. Certainly not worth the cost.

Nos paramos para media tarde de té en un sábado y nos quedamos impresionados con el Down Hall y sus alrededores. La partida, nos sorprendió encontrar el salón de té bastante tranquilo. Había una lista razonable pero no amplia selección de tés. Probé el Lovers...

Precioso edificio en buen orden, magníficos terrenos, buen aparcamiento, fácil de encontrar. El personal era muy servicial y amable, agradable salón de té. Copa de champán, canapés, bollos, mermelada, tortas con un montón de poco té. Todo muy bonito.

Fuimos para el té de la tarde. La habitación estaba descuidado y muy antiguo, olía a mala comida y el sabor propios pasteles fueron comprados en supermercado islandia y ha dejado al descubierto durante unos días (en otras palabras estaban sin sabor). No volvería aquí otra vez y pasar 25 libras. Lo único bueno fue el té, que no es difícil!

El té de la tarde encantadora con buen servicio sat I frente a la estufa de leña. Felicidad. Sólo necesitas para servir leche caliente con un cafetière

Loved it, would go back tomorrow, give yourself the afternoon to relax, enjoy a glass of bubbles...or two!

Excellent food and customer service, they make the best scones I've tasted in a long time. Delicious sandwiches and cakes with refillable tea.

Afternoon tea was a disgrace , cheap and nasty cakes with four finger sandwiches fruit scones two raisins in each plain stodgy scone no cream cakes . Iceland or Mr Kipling an evenly sliced battenburg very disappointed even the setting of the the room was plain with no feature had to listen to the waitress appaligise to customer for calling him madam .teapot placed on table no cups cake display layed on table no cutlery most disappointed

Now with the mishap with my hot choco and marshmallows last night I was not eating in the afternoon tea with my friends. I'm glad I didn't, they also managed to mess that up.

Very helpful and friendly staff. It was a birthday afternoon tea family gathering. The staff tend to leave you to your own devices but were attentive when it mattered. If you prefer a more corporate feel then this is not the place to come. Overall it is more relaxed, informal and welcoming. The extra mile was provided with taking group photos and organising a special round of chocs singing 'Happy Birthday'. Jeanie and girls very helpful in this regard to make it a lovely afternoon.The afternoon tea itself was priced in line with other local establishments. The overall quality was good.We drank a couple of bottles of Prosecco, which were well priced.The venue is separate from the rest of the house which is reserved mainly for wedding guests.The venue is grand enough but not too big and importantly retains its own character.

Went with friends and family to celebrate 60th Birthday for Afternoon Tea. We had a Great Time, staff very friendly and helpful. Sandwiches and Cakes presented very nicely.Nice Atmosphere would recommend.

Whilst Down Hall is an impressive place the walk from the car park is less so. It's a bit like coming in from the tradesman's entrance.The lady who served us actually was the best thing about the afternoon teaExtremely pleasant and very helpful. As for the tea I really have had better. Sandwiches - not much flavour clotted cream not enough to go round and for the price a tiny pot of jam the cakes whilst small and delicate just did not pleasure the palate in any way. In fact they boxed the rest up as it seemed a shame to waste them. Lots of tea and coffee but then I would expect that at least. Overall expensive for what it is. Someone who hadn't had a cream tea before may be delighted however you really must up the anti if you want people to return Sorry to be so negative but I feel an afternoon tea should be a fantastic treat.

Beautifully presented, quiet and cosy, cakes are freshly made and taste wonderful and the sandwiches are really tasty

Service slow and disinterested staff food appalling never going back there are much better afternoon tea venues than this miserable place

Not as the brochure picture. Tatty presentation and not special in any way. Ham sandwich was chunky, and contained cucumber. Cake was very odd in the sense it was scruffy in its appearance, not unpleasant but left you not wanting to finish it. Coffee distinctly ordinary and certainly not value for money, my wife had cake and I had one round of a disappointing sandwich. £25 .

My mum and I treated my elderly grandma to afternoon tea and due to her age we were at a loss for where to take her as we aren't from the area and due to her age, can't take her too far from her home. I found Down Hall on the Internet as its local to my grandma and we weren't disappointed.The good:*Really friendly staff - constantly checking if everything was ok, boxed up our remaining cakes and gave us good info on the hotel and surrounding area*the food was lovely - I'm a huge scone fan and these definitely didn't disappoint *extremely reasonable price - we had the champagne afternoon tea and it was under £30pp (really good champagne too!) *beautiful surroundings - the tea room is beautiful and cosy, and the grounds are superb The bad: *nothing! Will definitely go back- it made my grandmas day and it's so lovely to see a smile on her face (especially as she's very fussy with food!)Thank you Down Hall for a lovely experience :)

I had afternoon tea today at Down Hall and it was wonderful. The tea was much as it is anywhere else, very nice, but the attention and service was brilliant. We sat for hours taking our time drinking and eating and there was no feeling of being rushed, just the staff making sure that we had what we wanted and asking if we were okay. We old friends had a thoroughly lovely afternoon.

Great setting and a fine high tea. Scones, cream and strawberry jam with as much tea as we liked. There was a small birthday celebration going on too and it made for a fine, inclusive afternoon.

My friend took me here for my birthday. It was midweek so was very quiet in the hotel, so whilst afternoon tea was peaceful there was much atmosphere for us. If u would like it to be quiet then go midweek for sure. The afternoon tea was ok, not he best I have had. Scones were abit hard and not hot, but sandwiches were good. Sweets were ok too but not the best. Overall it was a nice experience. The hotel is gorgeous and the grounds are lovely, so that made up for the tea.

Took my mum out for (a birthday) afternoon tea at Down Hall today. I've never been here before and I booked it blindly if I'm honest. We had an absolutely fabulous time, the ladies serving (Jane and Jeannie) were fabulous and nothing was too much for them. Food was beautiful and the tea was in plentiful supply. If you're looking for a relaxing and picturesque afternoon, this is the place for you! 5/5 loved it!!! Will definitely book again! Thank you x

We had a lovely tea with a selection of sandwiches, cakes scones with cream and jam. All were delicious but we couldn't Finnish it all. They kindly boxed up the cakes to take home! Lovely setting in a beautiful house.

Last time we had cream tea at Down Hall we were in the main entrance area...a grand setting but lots of foot fall through it... this time we were in the restaurant where it was relaxing, peaceful and lovely and cool as it was a very warm afternoon.We had the champagne tea, as we were there for a special occasion, and liked the mint flavoured macaroons which came with it.The bread for the sandwiches was lovely and fresh and we got 4 fingers each, smoked salmon, cucumber, ham and, egg mayonnaise. All went down very well.We had a plain and fruit scone each... nice crispy outer, soft fluffy centre... Tiptree strawberry jam and a generous amount of clotted cream came with those.We all thought the tennis court presentation for the cakes was excellent - super novel idea for Wimbledon fortnight - we enjoyed playing a game as we ate the cakes! All were first class... the white chocolate mousse my favourite but the little bug finger cake was very good. The lawn coloured Battenberg delicious and the strawberry tart very good. All were beautifully presented.The staff were very friendly, and so obliging, nothing was too much trouble and they happily refilled the Early Grey tea pot a couple of times, and I could have had another cafetiere of coffee - I got enough for 3 large cups.We thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful of our cream tea and would definitely go back again.

You need to book in advance for you afternoon tea, we tried to upgrade to a traditional instead of cream tea but were told it was fully booked and too busy. On arriving the tea rooms were half empty…we asked again and were told no again which is a real shame as everyone around us had traditional tea and I wanted to give my american partner the whole experience.We waited 15mins for someone to come over and ask us what tea we wanted, then when it came we had no cups or cutlery. Took a while to get someones attention to take care of this and another 20 mins for our tea pot to arrive which had T BAGS !! not what was advertised and very embarrassed. The staff were concentrating on making a large group of women their priority and ignored all the rest of us 'couples'. The scones weerre amazing and homemade. The staff were poorly trained and so slow, we kept having to get up to get someone to notice us, eventually a lady came over and when I asked why we had general t bags in our tea she explained they had run out of loose tea, she then on hearing its was my partners first time went and found some loose tea for us and gave us a little explanation with a timer which is what we should have had in the first place. We were in the tea rooms 2 1/2 hours as service was so terrible and slow, we had to go and find someone to try and pay.This experience was embarrassing for me as I'd talked so much about the British Afternoon tea to my american partner. There should be trained staff who know what they are doing making ever ones afternoon tea an experience not just the bigger groups. It was really disappointing :(

We were treated to an afternoon tea as a gift and were served in the bar lounge which was fine, choice of different teas but had to ask for top ups of hot water. Food was good, service could have been better, expensive for what it was,

I have had afternoon tea at Down Hall several times over the past few years.First experiance very good that's why I went again.. However having gone again on Saturday 9th April I have to say the experiance this time was very disappointing.Allowing for the fact that it was obviously a busy day, a wedding in full swing, guests booking in for the weekend and so on none of this should have impact on other guest. Clearly it did. The tea was booked for 3pm for 17 people. When the food did arrive it was "ok". That's the only word that springs to mind. Maybe mediocre would be kinder.a stand shared between two people seemed to be the set up. However the final stand put down next to three of us to share had the same amount of food as for two people. I at this point got up and went to ask just what was going on. Needless to say eventually another plate arrived.Four finger sandwiches , two scones with cream & small pot of jam enough for one scone only and by comparison to previous visits some very disappointing pastries.when we requested fresh tea it took 1/2 hour to arrive although the fresh pot was far better than the first very weak brew and the second pot of coffee requested never arrived.All in all while the company was great the tea was disappointing and at £21.50 per head very much overpriced for the quality and service.

Very disappointed, we went to celebrate a special birthday. I am gluten free so mine came up separate to the other 2 mine had the most unattractive looking cakes, whilst the others looked lovely. My scones were so crumbly I could not put the cream and jam on them. No one explained what my cakes were. Service was shocking. Tea didn't get refilled we had to go and ask that's when we could find a member of staff!!!!! Disgusting afternoon tea..

It's was my special birthday treat from my family what a waste of money !!!!! The food was really poor 4 finger sandwiches per person no top up... No service they didn't even pour the first cup, we ran out of tea had to ask at main reception no one to be seen .. It was the same for other people having afternoons tea they where looking for staff !!! The worse place I have been to for afternoon tea

I booked a special anniversary afternoon tea for friends. The grounds were lovely as was the hall. The lady dealing with my booking was very complacent. She didn't even pass on the information that one less person was attending, and so I had to re-arrange the place setting with the manager allocated to us that day. When you are spending £28 ph for 22 people, it makes you nervous. I was disappointed, and when you have recommended the venue and organised it for someone else, its not a nice feeling. The sandwich fillings were OK, and the cakes, were just a small selection of clumps. So poor presentation. The scones were the star of the show. I think it was very expensive at £28ph for the standard and quality of food provided. The service was very good, and very attentive staff. Thankfully the evening meal tasted much nicer.The fact I paid for 22 people, booked three executive rooms and paid for 5 people to dine that evening, you think you would get a small token as a thank you, or a free meal for the star couple at a later date. Clearly not. Left overs you could take away. You really need to drop the price or up your game.Linda, Hertfordshire

My daughter bought this for me as a gift for Mother's Day. Booking was quick and straightforward. The setting is an amazing country house with beautiful grounds which I'm sure we would have appreciated more if the weather had allowed. The tea was more than plenty for the two of us, and they even supplied us with a doilied box to bring home the cakes we couldn't manage (much appreciated by my son & husband!) Very attentive staff, we were asked several times if we needed anything and had an endless supply of tea. Would definitely recommend it, and I'm looking forward to another treat!

Went here for afternoon tea with friends for a celebration birthday. The grounds were lovely as was the hall so I was expected a nice afternoon tea. I was disappointed with the afternoon tea, the sandwiches were quite poor quality and the fillings left a lot to be desired. The scones and cakes were ok but weren't very fresh. I think it was expensive for £28. I have had afternoon many times before and all have been a better standard of food.The service was slow and at no point during afternoon tea did a member of staff approach us to ask us was everything ok. Wouldn't recommend this afternoon tea if you are expecting high quality.

Visited for afternoon tea after a massage treatment at the Eden Spa. Booked for 3:30pm. Very welcoming, seated straight away and offered a selection of tea. Recommend the Assam :) Along came our food. Sandwiches were delicious especially the smoked salmon and ham and wholegrain mustard. Although some corners of the bread were slightly dry. Scones were beautiful but very filling. The chocolate profiteroles was very different, was expecting fresh cream inside but was more like a thick grainy custard. Not tickling my tastebuds I must admit. Lemon drizzle was ok but far too lemony for my liking. Battenberg was far too almondy, but slices were small enough to just try a nibble. Did prefer the finger sandwiches and their fillings. Lady I think her name was Jeannie?? Very kind, chatty, and was always available if we needed her. Asked if we wanted to move over near the fire if we pleased as it was slightly chilly, lovely thought but we were just fine. She was ever so kind and a lovely lady. Thank you for your hospitality. Filled in a questionnaire that we were informed about, but the lady was not pushy about it, would be lovely to win and to come back :) Thank you

Tea, sandwiches and cakes all nicely served by trained staff. Sandwiches a little disappointing. No extra hot water provided to top up the pot.The gathering of women not suitably dressed for the surroundings of a fine hotel somewhat detracted from the experience. Generally, just not like the old days!Not particularly good value.

Bought my mum and auntie here. The room was beautifully furnished and the food was impeccable. Our waitress Jeannie was one of the best waitresses we have had serve us (we have been here several times) she was so friendly and helpful and nothing was too much trouble. Looking forward to coming again

Came for afternoon tea for a friends birthday. Staff were friendly to start off with but then wouldn't leave us alone and constantly insisted on talking to us. It was extremely annoying and I felt embarrassed that the staff seemed clueless as to the impact they were having. Staff seriously need to be trained and properly supervised.Sandwiches and scones were good; cakes were plastic. Left a bad taste as charged us £5.50 extra for one tiny portion of three extra sandwiches! Would not return and would not recommend.

Very lovely service throughout out time at downhall today, celebrating my birthday. Very much ruined by the 10+ business people sat on their lap tops making a lot of noise. Couldn't hear our selves talk. Presumed they would be there for 10 mins not throughout our afternoon tea for 90 mins! The lady who served us, Jeanie, was fantastic. Please have your meeting rooms ready so not to ruin other peoples stay there!

This hotel management appears to see afternoon tea as a way to increase their income with very little effort.The room we were sat in overlooked the road into car park, the gifts around the Christmas tree were tatty and poorly wrapped, the Victoria sponge square was dry, neither the scones or the goats cheese tarts were served warm and the carpet was worn. All in all a very dissapointing visit. Our first and last.

We visited as part of my birthday celebrations. We were seated in sofa's rather than at a normal table. This I felt was ok for drinking tea but not comfortable for the eating. The food was lovely and you couldn't fault it. The service was very slow. I had to go looking for a member of staff to get another pot of tea. When the waitress came back she poured hot water in to the pot over existing tea leaves and not a fresh pot. I know we are tea drinkers but there were three of us and when the waitress filled the pot to a certain level you only had enough for one cup each. However when we did have service it was very good.

Our visit for afternoon tea was a present from a family member. Location and waiter were very good. Food was terrible. Sandwiches were mostly bread with no filling, Scones were very dry and past use by date. VERY DISAPPOINTED. In retrospect we should have complained on the day.

An absolute dream of a place. Discovered it on a Discount site. We live only a short drive away and never knew it was there. We're so please to have found, we were treated really well, the "Tea" was delicious and we will definitely return.

Took my mum there and although the food was good I can't say the same for the service which is a shame we were seated and we were served more or less straight away but then left no one came to check all was ok or to offer more sandwiches or tea

Lovely surroundings, staff excellent!, tea ,sandwiches, scones, cakes all excellent!Garden excellent!..

Es una gran experiencia tomar té en este lugar con tanta tradición.El lugar en general es muy bonito, cuenta con unos jardines hermosos y unas salas para tomar el Té muy amplias y cómodas.Los scone recién horneados son espectaculares.....

We had an enjoyable afternoon tea but I think there's lots of room for improvement. Plenty of parking on arrival was a good start since there were 18 of us meeting around 2 o'clock on a sunny Saturday in June. Once inside the main building nobody greeted us so we sort of wandered about looking for the afternoon tea area. Luckily one of the group had been before so took the lead. I was expecting to be blown away by the surroundings but if I'm honest I thought the dining room was rather tired. The menus were sticky and staff slow to take our order. Strangely our food came first - beautifully presented - and drinks about 10 minutes later. However, when the drinks did arrive they were regularly topped up. The sandwiches were a little dry but the scones heavenly with plenty of jam and cream. Lots of nice cakes and fancies but no spoons for the mousse. I ended up using the spoon I'd stirred my tea with! Not expensive at all but similar afternoon teas elsewhere significantly cheaper.

what a lovely romantic place, full of charisma with gorgeous land!We've sit outside on the terrace with beautiful views around us. Choose the light bar menu, I had a very tasty prawns with salad and ball of chips, well presented, and not overpriced, well recommended!

Beautiful house/hotel. The afternoon tea was sumptuous. Well worth the money. The sandwiches and cakes were all fresh and there was as much tea as you could drink. The waitress was lovely and even gave us a guided tour of the hotel.Highly recommended

My only criticism is there was too much to eat! Seriously though, one more sandwich and one less cake and it would've been 5 stars. Plus we had a late tea (4:30) and one particular member of the staff seemed like they were banging and clanging cutlery to annoy us out, but we were not perturbed and finished our tea and cakes in the lovely surroundings.

We were lucky enough to celebrate our Wedding here some years ago.A thoughtful Christmas gift gave us the chance to return.It was a brilliant sunny day that made the gardens and buildings all the more splendid.The waitresses were charming and we were fêted from start to finish, with a special 'Anniversary' selection brought to our table. The food was delightful ... we overcame the shortage on the sandwich front ... by having chips later on the patio.Comparisons to our Ritz Afternoon Tea would be unfair, the Ritz has an ease and poise backed by military precision, attention to its customers every need, and you need deeper pockets.

we took afternoon tea at Down Hall recently and found it to be very good indeed - not cheap- but a lovely experience and done extremely well. All the food was presented and served beautifully and tasted great- we had a great time

Came here as part of a group of six for afternoon tea for my friends birthday treat as she is getting married here next year. The grounds are beautiful! Cannot fault the location at all. Plenty of parking which is not always the case these days. The waitress was very slow and talkative. She talked for a long time when really we wanted to have a walk around. She started talking about the mistakes that staff had made which didn't look good for my friends wedding next year!! The selection of teas was short, when having afternoon tea I kind of assume there will be a tea menu. There were only standard everyday teas. The scones were amazing but I did have to ask for more jam and cream as we had been given two each. Sandwiches were nice too. The cakes were lovely but not enough for everyone to have one of each so I feel like some of us may have missed out. Tea was refillable to have as much as we wanted which I expect at afternoon tea however the sandwiches were not. Overall the location, decor and grounds were the highlight.

The hotel had kindly donated a prize of Afternoon tea for 2 people to a local charity..The place has a magnificent driveway leading to the hotel and the hotel is lovely..The afternoon tea was so pretty with sandwiches and cake selection and pots of tea.. We will go back again soon for an evening meal

This is by far the best afternoon tea we have had and we have been to several quality hotels and venues providing afternoon teas. Nice little touches and excellent service. Thoroughly recommend

Lovely atmosphere and the food was good enough but certainly didn't merit the price. I'd say approximately 30% overpriced. I was told the charge included service but it doesn't so be warned.

Everything ! Generous servings, good selection of tea, warm friendly service , nice ambience .good value for money .

absolutely delicious, and filling!! take a large appetite. Staff were very helpful and knowledgeable about the hotel and the area.

Very pleasant afternoon.Scones were the highlight of the tea and were very fresh, light and fluffy.Only improvement is there could be more tea and coffee offered at a regular basis and milk jug kept topped up.

Lovely Down Hall at Christmas to celebrate a big birthday for family. The setting is excellent. The afternoon tea was awful. 4 tiny sandwiches. Scones were nice but top tier of stand consisted of ginger bread men and a lot of other unappetising cakes/biscuits. The tea between six of us was served in two big teapots with tea bags in! No choice of fine teas. Had to ask for a refill. The price £25 per head. Never again. Sorry Down Hall but it is not good.

Went for afternoon tea yesterday, it was a work's do. It was on my recommendation that we went as previous visits had been good. Wish I'd kept quiet! We had booked the xmas tea, without Prosecco as most of us were driving (this is priced at £21-50) an e_mail was sent to downhall 2 weeks ago confirming the tea and we had to pay prior to the day. We were charged £25 each? When we arrived it was not the xmas tea when we asked there was total denial on what we had requested the staff member denied receiving the e-mail a d we were told there were no supplies to give us what we had asked for. But as a gesture of goodwill we could have a glass of prosecco each (who h as it seems we had already paid for!!!!) Also we we're not even asked what tea or coffee we would like just given bog standard beverages. And had to keep asking for more milk tea etc. Very disappointed.

We visited here for an afternoon to celebrate my mother in law and husbands Aunty's birthdays. Although the food was delicious and the freshly baked scones were to die for, I feel that unfortunately (although the lady was lovely) the service was really poor mainly through being quite inattentive. We waited ages to be seated and once our food and out were left for long periods of them. We could have done with some top ups of tea and water but there was nobody around to ask. However, can not fault the food as it was delicious and nicely presented.

Lovely afternoon teaPlenty of food and very goodStaff very friendly and helpful Lovely setting. Good valve for money