Afternoon Tea at Hillbark Hotel in Wirral

What can I say except sublime! The cakes where fantastic. There was plenty, but not too much, chocolate and the choice inspired (the six of us all had a different favourite). It’s not just the food though, the building is gorgeous and the dining room is a very special place to have an afternoon tea.

We actually had Sunday Roast rather than afternoon tea but perhaps it’s a new thing they’re doing. It was great anyway. We chose beef beforehand (the idea is you share with your party.) The surroundings and decor are unique. Mock-Tudor manor house with quite racy artwork that they somehow away with! Set near Thurstaston Common, it’s well located for country walks. Food was excellent, service and staff very friendly and professional. If anything it was a bit too formal for my kids in their hoodies and tracksuit bottoms! Nonetheless I would recommend a family Sunday roast here to anyone. The afternoon tea towers also looked good on neighbouring tables.

Enjoyed the history tour (plus afternoon tea ) at this iconic Wirral landmark .Dominga gave us a general outline of the history of this part of the Wirral including the Viking connection as well as a full history of the house itself and its doppelgänger at Potsdam near Berlin .A fascinating insight into the history of ordinary Wirral folk and the rich entrepreneurs who invested their wealth in houses such as Hillbark .Excellent

My daughters 22nd birthday and graduation both happened during lockdown so it has been a bit of a disappointing time for her. So we had a garden party for her and 5 of her friends with afternoon tea delivered by Hillbark. It was SUPERB! Beautifully presented in individual baskets, gorgeous finger sandwiches, scones, cakes and treats - and let’s not forget the special gin! They thoroughly enjoyed them! And it didn’t break the bank. Made the day very special. Can not recommend more highly. Big thanks to Amanda Jane and all the staff for organising it all.

Booked for my father to attend as this was aimed at those in their 70s and 80s with the ideas if a history of the house, lunch and music from 1930s and 50s. We where told local care home had been contacted. The history side was ok but the dining room/ main reception was freezing. Most of us kept out coats on. Breath could be seen. Totally ridiculous bearing in mind the age range. The tiny heater was beyond useless Christmas lunch was cold, veg very underdone to the point of being raw. Awful. Pudding not much better, custard had a thick skin. One lady was celiac and was told chef had made hers special. The pudding was so over microwaved the poor woman needed a hacksaw to cut it. Only to be told by the hostess that chef did his best and she commrnted something along the lines of it must be difficult to eat out being so awkward and difficult to please like it was a choice.... unbelievable. Property is lovely but they need to pay for decent heating and a chef. Closely resembled faulty towers in the farce dept.

Wonderful festive afternoon tea. Beautiful way to end Christmas week in style. After a very hard year due to a family member illness my sister treated Dad Na I to our afternoon tea. Yes at £33 high end cost but for me worth it. You are meet by the door and warmly welcomed. You possible can’t eat everything and please save room for the scones. They will pack up what you leave for you to take home. I wanted to celebrate Dad’s 90 in July but circumstances prevented so I’d mentioned that on booking and to finish our tea happy birthday played and an extra treat appeared. Made it very special to Dad. I can’t thank the staff enough. It’s well worth a visit and it’s Chris decorations gorgeous. Well done and thank you to all at Hillbark.

I love Hillbark and of course the food is good. It just doesn’t wow me and for the price I think there’s better options

My husband and I came here on Sunday 8th September for afternoon tea with friends. Loved how we were met at the front door by a member of staff. We were taken to a gorgeous room to wait to be shown to our table for tea. The manageress came to speak to us here, and made us feel extremely welcome; she was funny and engaging. The service was very good, the sandwiches really tasty and the cakes devine! We were served tea and coffee, and offered water and prosecco during the tea. It was finished off with warm scones, jam and cream. Absolutely delicious. I've had a number of afternoon teas, where the cakes make up the majority of the tea and can be a bit of a sugar overload. This was very well balanced. Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, didn't feel hurried by the staff and the setting, including the lovely gardens, was perfect. Thank you!

Well what can i say, this is one of my favourite places to go for a special occasion, having lived in Greasby all my life I have on some occasions popped in to the Hillbark, always had our "special occasions" up here, daughter's 18th, Mum and Dad's Anniversary etc., and always been treated with a smile and a friendly greeting. Have always been treated like special friends, and nothing has ever been too much trouble.Took the family up for afternoon tea, and again we were treated with such care to attention, food was amazing and plentyful, (and we are greedy)!!!! The Hotel is very old, and I for one like this about the building, the character, the heart of the Hotel itself and the amazing history behind those walls. Such a treat.On a separate occasion I have literally just turned up, for a coffee and a scone and have received the same enthusiasm from all the staff who are all too willing to help with anything you require, which goes to show whether you are spending a fortune (which we have in the past) or on something as simple as a drink and cake you are treated exactly the same.The grounds are impressive and truly breathtaking. All the staff are approachable and have a smile on their faces. I can only assume that the hotel is a lovely place to work in.Well recommended. Go on treat yourselves, whether it is evening meal, afternoon tea, or a simple treat just to yourself. I for one have recently just took my book up there, and sat and read outside.Will be returning soon, and looking forward to the impressive Christmas decorations that always are put up, well done to all the hard working staff that make this place a truly amazing hotel to go.

Me and my family came a few days ago for afternoon tea and what a complete disgrace the manager is! I believe her name is SAM and she should not be in a managerial position at all!! She spoke to my husband like he was stupid, she served a very poor, stale plate of sandwiches which when my husband complained called him a liar and said they were fresh that day! They were vile and inedible to say the least!! Sam then went on to speak to her very underage looking staff like they were pieces of dirt! The hotel itself is quite dirty in places and I find it hard to believe the 5 star rating!! SAM YOU SHOULD BE SACKED AND AFTER READING THESE OTHER REVIEWS I THINK PLENTY OF OTHER PEOPLE WILL AGREE!

My partner booked here for afternoon tea for a family member's surprise birthday. It was clear from the moment we walked in that there were nowhere near enough staff and there was still dirty cups and glasses everywhere from the night before. The service was initially provided by one lad who was very pleasant but clearly couldn't cope with a party of 21 on his own which he was left to do. Eventually a manager (Sam I'm going to guess reading the previous reviews...) joined him and she assisted in serving. Service was at best ad hoc, I got a coffee with gone off cream and everyone had to wait for an age for anything with us eventually getting up and getting our own drinks where we could. When one of the party asked about the 'gentlemans' tea the manager spoke to him like a piece of dirt advising that there is an etiquette of course and gentleman's tea is served after the platters of fish sandwiches. It was a very awkward moment. Two of the party had a fish allergy and all food was served together which meant they were rightly very concerned about eating anything (the restaurant had been notified about this). The restaurant then said they had only been notified that one member had a fish allergy - I am staring now at the emails on my partner's phone where the hotel acknowledged that there were 2 people... When challenged the manager admitted she was short staffed but denied speaking down to any member of our party. The meal continued with some members of the party being offered drinks and others completely ignored. When challenged about this at the end she completely denied it accusing half of our party of lieing and stating she had CCTV to proved that she had asked everyone. Whoever this woman is, she is certainly doing wonders for putting people off ever returning to the place. I have never been accused of lieing before at a restaurant or hotel by staff, it was comical. The food itself was actually pretty good, it's a shame really. I rarely if ever come on trip advisor, but I feel people should have the chance to read this before they decide to book anything here. Avoid like the plague

I attended my step sons wedding on Sat 31st August. Around 50 of the day guests stayed overnight. The rooms for what they were were very expensive. The venue and surroundings are beautiful.The wedding ceremony itself was lovely and the setting and the meal afterwards very nice.Most of the staff worked hard and most were there all day. Now to the night time! The night time reception buffet was a disgrace. It never came out until 10pm!! Pasta, salad and a couple of chicken wings! hardly a buffet.The dj never turned up until 8.30 pm so the couples first dance was around 9 pm! The drinks prices are extortionate £15 for 2 single vodkas with coke! Speaking of drinks while my step son was having his first dance with his wife a member of staff a woman with long black hair was lifting table cloths up looking for "smuggled" in booze! my step daughter asked her what she was doing and that's what she said "just checking you wouldn't beleive what people smuggle in!" . My step daughter replied she wasn't surprised the price of the drinks you charge. Disgusting . The Next morning we all went for breakfast, what a farce that was.. 3 staff 2 of those who were barely out of school and a very loud brash blonde haired woman. Some tables were unlaid there was no organisation. No continental breakfast laid out. Had to ask for tea & coffee waited 20 mins for that. Awful. The breakfast when came after 40 mins wait wasn't worth eating. Hardly anything on the plate very very poor. Some of the guests had to wait even longer as they ran out of bacon and someone had to go to the shop to get some! The carpets in the dining room were filthy and stained and there were marks all over the walls. Appalling. No way is this place 5 star. Your only saving graces was a lady on the front desk with red hair I didn't get her name but it could have been Sarah was brilliant and a blonde lady behind the bar was very nice too. I would not recommend any one to stay here never mind spend your hard earned cash getting married. Just totally and utterly terrible,

The venue is beautiful, the food was amazing, a couple of the FOH team were incredible. Unfortunately the ops manager Sam is an absolute disgrace to the business. Not sure who she thinks she is but the way she speaks to her guests / paying customers is bang out of order. Why book a wedding party till 1am then worry about other hotel guests, surely if your boots our that big you'd manage the hotel and private parties better. Having 23 years of hospitality under my belt I'd never Speak to anyone the way she did and then have her team (in particular the lady with blond ponytail) back her up even tho she'd been parting and having a laugh with all the wedding guest throughout the night with the Essex lad (who by the way is incredible at his job) I feel like Sam has put a massive downer on the whole night and not only ruined it for myself and husband, but for my friends who just spent a load of money having there wedding, choosing your venue over many others to have it end this way. I hope you enjoyed spoiling a happy couples moment with your family bulling tactics and abuse of power.

Literally feel like ive thrown my money down the drain after the other day. Took a family member out for afternoon tea and it cost 66 pounds for the both of us we just had a classic afternoon tea. Says online 25 pound each... why was i charged more. Then our tea was horrendous. Like drinking dish water with milk in. Then our scones was not cooked in the middle . All soggy!!!! I feel totally let down by it all and i wont be returning sadly! It looked lovely on photos!

Afternoon tea for an anniversary, what a disappointment! There were fourteen of us on three tables put together. My table had five on it but we only got one stand which was probably afternoon tea for two, at a push three. You can ask for more, but extra sandwiches took ages to come, five people are obviously going to eat more than twelve finger sandwiches! The cake selection was poor! Where were the homemade pastries as advertised on the website? There were three or four cakes and three chocolate brownies. The stand had three sloe gins, two lemon possets, two chocolate mousse, two chocolates and one baklava, how do you share that between five? When the scones came, again three put on our table, there were five of us! When we asked for more we were told there were some further along the table but there weren't enough there either! We were also told to wait for the jam and cream from the other end of the table, some was brought when we objected! The jam was vile but the lemon curd was delicious! We were paying for an afternoon tea each and therefore should have been given one each. I was at The Grand in Brighton for afternoon tea in March and expected Hillbark to be on par with that, how wrong I was! I won't be returning. What a shame that the afternoon tea was not worthy of a 5* hotel.

I love afternoon tea but it is always expensive. On the Wirral you can choose all sorts of places and prices. I chose Hillbark as it was a gift for family. This is my assessment: 1) Poorly trained staff. They were nice but didn’t have a clue what they were doing. 2) Pre-made sandwiches dried up on the sides 3) Hard cakes that were a couple of days old (I bake a lot and these were definitely not fresh) 4) Overdone scones 5) Lukewarm champagne 6) The place was empty. I realise there’s a reason for this. For this, we paid £140 for 4. If you really want afternoon tea, I would suggest that you either go to somewhere who have nailed it e.g. The Panoramic (same price but much much better) or go somewhere like Claremount Farm (cheaper and better) or go and buy the stuff in MnS and do it yourself which will be nicer and save you £100.

Visited for afternoon tea for 4 people last week, it was advertised at £25 per head without champagne and £33 with champagne but we were charged £33 per head without. We queried it and were told it was correct but it was not as advertised on website at the time (since changed). Have e mailed several times since but I am being ignored. Very small servings - more like afternoon tea for one, not two (although we were offered more sandwiches). Afternoon tea itself was nothing special, coffee and walnut cake didn't taste of anything, scones very small and dry. Grounds and exterior are stunning, inside it was cold and the floors are in need of attention and carpets and rugs a little stained.Pianist was on holiday Staff lovely.Might have been worth £25 but certainly not £33. Overall disappointing.

Warm welcome and attentive staff in a lovely environment. Sandwiches and Cakes / Desserts looked appetising and were very tasty. Nothing too much trouble for Jenny who looked after us for the duration. Request for drinks / extra sandwiches no trouble. Thoroughly recommend as a special treat.

Came her for a birthday as a group including babies. The grounds of the hotel and beautiful and has accessible parking right outside.

Lovely three hours hearing about the history of the house and its location as part of the At Home tour event. Interesting facts and trivia presented in a friendly and lighthearted way whilst soaking up the ambience of the sumptuous surroundings. A brief tour of some of the rooms and wander onto the terrace completed the educational element before we were treated to delicious afternoon tea in the restaurant overlooking the view. The staff were lovely, approachable yet professional and the immacculate presentation of this historical building also deserves commendation. It was a morning where you felt as if you had stepped out of the mundane into a film set , the trickling water from the fountain providing the sound track. Great place to go for a special occasion or just to have lunch and imagine yourself as lady/lord of the manor for a few hours. Special!

The history tour of Hillbark was not what was expected. It is more an advertising campaign for the hotel with the history of Royden (but not much about the building).

Went here for afternoon tea for my birthday. The staff were very friendly and professional. Paid for the upgrade to champagne afternoon tea which was lovely. Good selection of sandwiches, cakes and mini deserts. Beautiful dining room overlooking the grounds.

Afternoon tea was quiet with there only ourselves and another couple present. Service was very good and they catered for gluten free.

Myself and another friend gave Lynn a choice of 3 classy venues and of the 3 she chose here. This stunning hotel is set in the beautiful Royden Park, Frankby, and you have to drive through the grounds to get to the Mock Tudor Hotel. It’s worth getting there a little earlier to walk around the grounds as they are gorgeous.

Booked this as a treat for my parents in celebration of their wedding anniversary. We were a party of 4 and from the time we booked to the time we left we were made to feel very welcome and special. The service from the staff was excellent and the food was beautifully presented in abundance! My parents were particularly delighted when the chef decorated a special celebration plate for them. The scones were brought in warm and I can honestly say were the best scones I have ever eaten! Would love to do the whole experience again in the future..Dad has some mobility problems but they helped out with the wheelchair and nothing was too much trouble.Cannot recommend highly enough.

Tomamos el té de la tarde en Dock con vistas a los amplios jardines. El personal era muy atento, la descripción de todos los sandwiches y pasteles. Me dieron una copa de champaña con la mía y a £33. 00 parecía un poco caro, aunque para ser sincero, era delicioso. Sin duda el ambiente suntuoso estaban incluidos en el precio y estaría más que encantado de volver a disfrutar de una comida en este hotel.

To celebrate an 18th birthday we enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea. Overall the service and food were excellent. Gluten Free the best I have ever been served, so if you want a real treat I truly recommend.

Have brought various family members and friends here for birthdays etc, as a special treat, and it never fails to delight! Beautiful surroundings also, gardens, to which you can roam around.

Fuimos para el té de la tarde en el Hotel dock en una soleada tarde de viernes. El hotel es impresionante, un edificio de estilo tudor, un hermoso parque, ideal para un paseo agradable. El salón de té está muy bien decorado, todo es de buena calidad y muy bien presentado. . Pero pasemos a la parte más interesante. Primero tuvimos un plato agradable de sándwiches, debe ser honesto, eso no me impresiona. El pan no era el más reciente, pero en general estaban bien. Después vinieron los tres (! ! ! Nivel) soporte tarta y los bocadillos eran instantáneamente perdonar y olvidar. Todo estaba tan delicioso y lo mejor eran los bollos (2 por persona! ), así crujiente y ligero y sabroso y perfecto. Estoy con ganas de volver a por más!

We are at Hillbark Hotel having a wonderful birthday meal with my children. Food was fabulous and the deserts were delicious. It was my 11 year olds first proper restaurant and he was blown away with the grand rooms.

Trataron a mi hija para el té de la tarde para su cumpleaños 18, como ella ama el té de la tarde. Nos recibió una señora encantadora que nos llevó a nuestra mesa junto a la ventana, que daba al parque roydon, con unas vistas impresionantes de la habitación. los bocadillos y pasteles eran preciosas y lo que no pude terminar estaban llenos para nosotros para llevar a casa. Té de la tarde fue acabada por un poco de sorpresa de bombones artesanales para mi hija. Mi hija estaba muy impresionada y después de ella haber estado en el Ritz de Londres para la tarde, lo haría. decir que era un gran elogio. Gracias por hacer a su dock especial día.

Por la tarde nos 'Té para 4 en este precioso hotel. El hotel está decorado para la Navidad y se ve magnífico. Nos recibieron en la puerta por un miembro del personal muy amable. Nos llevaron a una zona de bar donde nos sentamos al lado de la chimenea y nos empapamos de la atmósfera. Nos llevaron a la habitación donde nuestra mesa amarillo' ventana daba al parque con una hermosa puesta de sol.

Booked a beautiful room at Hillbark for my grandfathers wake. We came for my grandmothers wake 7 years ago as she had enjoyed afternoon tea here. It was lovely then and continues toBe so. Loved the decorations and warm fire. Staff friendly, cakes and sandwiches were lovely and fresh. Scones warm and crispy in right places plus delicious cream and jam. Excellent location for catching up with family and remembering my grandparents.

Afternoon tea for 6 people. A lovely setting, table beautifully set, a splendid array of goodies - far more than we could manage. Staff were very attentive and a special thanks to the young south african chap who looked after the bunch of us.

Took the wife for her birthday with our two boys last week and it was excellent .All the staff were fantastic really nice, Paul was excellent gave us a tour of the hotel showed my Son his motorbike,he was so good very proffesional .The food was excellent, the hotel is excellent the view across Royden park over the Dee estuary with the sun shining was beautiful . Well worth the money and I can see why it is a five star hotel will definitely be going back .

Was given this treat as part of a Christmas present everything about this place was first class the receptionist came outside to greet us the waiter was thoughtful the food was delicious plenty of hot pots of tea the room was splendid would certainly recommend this hotel and will certainly be going back

My partner got bought a voucher for this for her birthday and we enjoyed an absolutely fabulous afternoon. The setting is beautiful and the food extremely good. Service was just right - not too in your face but not neglectful either. Really enjoyed the experience.

We had a big do of about 120 of us for a three course meal each. The food was tasty, but one of the staff members seemed flustered and was rather rude. She took my bread plate away before I had even finished eating and then my main plate had vanished before I had even finished my mouthful of food. Also plates were being collected before our whole table had finished (I have worked in waitressing and consider this also to be rude). There was no salt and pepper on the tables, which we had to ask for and in response we ended up with two salt shakers... there was no tea or coffee included with the meal and considering we paid £65 each this was a surprise. The food was tasty but by the time the main meal arrived the hot plates they had put down were cold and then this made the main meal cold. This would be nice with a smaller group, think they took on more than they could handle.

I recently dined at hillbark for an afternoon tea with family. From the moment we arrived we were greeted by staff at the car and taken through to the main bar area, whilst we waited for the rest of our party. When everyone arrived we were taken through to the dining room for afternoon tea. The room looks over Royden park and is beautifully decorated. Every last detail of the dining room is perfect. The staff all so lovely and attentive. The afternoon tea is classic but also has some modern twists...I.e rice pudding with a pistachio crumb. I would I highly recommend to try the dining room at hillbark for afternoon tea, I very much doubt anyone would be disappointed. Thanks to James and team who looked after us!

Went to Hillbark for afternoon tea today, what a treat. Went with my sister and friend. My sister and I were interested to see how the house had been changed, as we had both worked there in the past when it was a care home. We were both suitably impressed. This was a birthday present for me from my lovely daughters who knew how much I wanted to go there. We were shown to our seats by the lovely Kerry( she is a gem), who was very attentive, but not at all intrusive. The food was fantastic. The only thing I would be concerned about is we were not given a choice in the sandwiches served, if we had been fussy eaters this could have been a problem (fortunately we aren't). A lovely treat in impressive surroundings, I would certainly return

We have just 'enjoyed' the worst afternoon ever and paid £25 per head for the privilege. Lovely place but I think the chef was having a day off. Appallingly bad sandwiches, a mish mash of bad cake off cuts and I could have played croquet on the lawns with the scones. Hillbark, take a trip to Betty's in Harrogate to see how it should be done.

I arrived to be greeted by stunning views, a grand interior with beautiful decor. I walked in and a lovely lady offered to take my coat and walked me through to where I was meeting others for afternoon tea. The choice was £25 for afternoon tea with an option of champagne for £33. So, as it was a special occasion I went for the champagne option, however disappointed to find that this was only half a small champagne glass, we did query this and were told that the glasses would be topped up, unfortunately we had to ask for them to be topped up! I was quite disappointed we were not asked which tea we would like and instead were brought out tea which tasted metalic, when we eventually found a waitress, we complained and it was changed to another tea instead. The afternoon tea in iteslf was pleasant with finger sandwiches, cakes and scones with a lovely waitress who talked us through the contents of the teired plates. We were a large party and I was disappointed that this was not catered for as we were not brought all our cakes/scones at the same time, so we didn't have enough for everyone and had to wait quite a while before the rest was brought out. There was more; we ordered water and had to get up from the table to pour the water ourselves, we then had to keep on asking for our tea to be topped up, for milk to be brought to the table, for condiments to be brought to the table and that was only when we ever got a glimpse of the waitress. Don't get me wrong, but for a 5* hotel and paying £33 for afternoon tea I would expect a better standard of service and at least a choice of tea! As we were leaving and paying at £25/£33 per person I was told that there would be a 15% service charge! We didn't pay it. Thankfully the company was fantastic it is just ashame that this one off special occassion couldn't have been matched with a 5* service and a 5* menu.

Beautiful setting but very disappointing. Very overpriced for what you receive. A few finger sandwiches, a few small cakes (traybakes cut up into small pieces) and cups of tea for £25.00. If you wanted two VERY small glasses of champagne you paid £33.00!!! Food isn't even that great and the tea was revolting (funny taste to water). This improved slightly after I complained but I had to go looking for someone to complain to. Service was dire. Twelve of us arrived to be told we would have to be split up to sit on different tables. Obviously we were not happy and this was rectified.A good afternoon due to the occasion we were celebrating do not rate the food or service at all.

A real disappointment, our afternoon tea had been arranged by my daughter to celebrate her friend's forthcoming marriage. The food was truly mediocre, the tea was very unpleasant to drink and had to be changed and finding any sort of waitress to look after us was a skill in itself! Someone had to leave the table and go in search of the waitress every time anything was required. Very good company sadly mixed with a grossly overpriced poor quality afternoon tea.The icing on the cake ( as it were) was the request for us to pay, after minimal service, a 15% service charge - we declined!

I took my mum to the Hillbark for afternoon tea as a treat and wow!The waiter (Older guy) was very attentive and looked after us spot on.The sandwiches and cakes were nice and I upgraded to the Champagne option as it was a special occasion.Faultless and highly recommended!Will make a return visit soon.