Cafe Bar & Afternoon Tea at BEST WESTERN PLUS Parkway Hotel & Spa in Torfaen

Me and my friend Susan arrived at the hotel early afternoon. The greeting by the one young barman was very welcoming, he was polite and charming and made our cold beverages rather swiftly. After we finished our cold drinks we decided to have a hot beverage. This time there was a different barman behind the bar. He looked scruffy and looked like he had been up all night. We ordered a latte when it was rather quiet. The scruffy barman proceeded to make our lattes 15 minutes after we ordered even know it was not busy. The lattes were so hot we had to wait 30 minutes to let them cool before we could take our first sip! Not only that the latte tasted burnt! So we decided to end our day trip to the parkway there. Overall initially felt welcomed, however a change of events when the barman Ben served me and Susan

Excellant meal, service and very friendly and efficient staff. Would recommend every one to have a pleasant meal here

We are regular visitors to the Parkway .We use it as our local and very often say as we have when staying at the Parkway . If we arrived to this venue on holidays we would be very pleased with the result . We have sampled the lounge food and Ravelos restaurant. Very pleasant staff and good food .

This hotel is one of my favourite places for coffee and cake, bar snacks, lunchtime and evening meals. The atmosphere is always welcoming and Cath and her team are friendly, helpful and efficient. I’m so pleased that the hotel is open again and every care has been taken to ensure the customer feels safe. Anne

After months of self isolating due to the current covid situation my daughter surprised me with Afternoon tea at the hotel! Upon arrival we were greated at the door by a lovely lady who showed us to our reserved table. Throughout our stay we had table service & were made to feel very welcome by all the staff. Our Afternoon tea & lattes was amazing as always! This was my third visit to the hotel for Afternoon tea & I highly recommend it! They are always well presented & very tasty! We look forward to returning to the hotel for an over night stay.

I brought my mum to the hotel as a treat to have afternoon tea as she'd be self isolating for months. We had a very warm welcome upon arrival with lots of hand gel available & a one way system in place, which we were very happy with. We were shown to our table where we were given table service throughout our stay. Our afternoon tea was amazing, very well presented & very tasty! The staff were very polite & helpful & given the current covid situation they adapted very well to go above & beyond to help us & other guests at the hotel! I have already booked to return to the hotel in December, we are looking forward to it! 😊

Always a local favourite for home cooked food at reasonable price. Even better with the current offers. Lovely lunch and Prosecco on the terrace. Would be better with some more umbrellas to shade from the hot sun (or rain).

Stopped off at the Hotel around 8:30 for a business meeting. Found a seat near the fire, lovely surroundings. No one asked if I wanted anything but I assumed that may be because it was early. I approached the coffee shop area and was greeted by a miserable chap who I asked for a cafetière. I was told ‘we don’t do cafetières, never done them in the 7 years I’ve been here so do you want an Americano’ I explained that I had often had coffee pots here and so that’s what I would like but could he please make it strong? He said he could not, as it comes as it is in a pot. Surely I asked, that he could make that stronger? ‘No, what I’m saying is it comes as it comes’. This member of staff actually made me feel like I was being a nuisance for asking for a coffee - very unpleasant. All I’m saying is that for £3.50 for a coffee, maybe some of the profit should be spent on staff customer care training? Not good enough

Tempted and intrigued by the Christmas afternoon tea I decided to treat myself, and it was a lovely scrumptious tower of food to cheer up a bleak mid winter day. As well as the usual sandwiches the Christmas twist came by way of a mince pie, chocolate log and fairy cake complete with Santa decoration. It tasted wonderfully home made, the cakes were all moist and tasty, and a brilliant excuse to eat welsh cakes. Go on, treat yourself

Lots of parking in a very tranquil setting. We popped in for a cuppa and scone. £8 for two drinks and two scones so not bad. Drinks came quickly but then a bit of a wait for the scones which was disappointing as we had already drunk our drinks by the time they came. Considering there was only three other couples in the main area this brought down my TA score. The hotel was very clean inside and out with beautiful flowers on show. Would recommend but suggest to management that if there will be delays with anything to let the customer know.

My wife and I ventured to the Parkway for the Carvery set menu. It never looks enough when the Chef cuts the meat but it is always plentiful. A good selection of veg and Roast potatoes. Just about managed to put away the Desert and with a bottle of Pinot to wash it all down it was a very nice evening. The Staff are always friendly and accommodating and nice surroundings - perfect.

Just come back from a lovely lunch in the boardroom 1-2 in the Parkway Hotel Cwmbran. The room & tables were decorated tastefully with crackers. We had 3 tables, 10 seats at each. Ben & his team looked after us very well & nothing was too much trouble. The food was lovely,selection of 4 starters, carvary for mains, choice of 3 meats & selection of veg. There was also the choice of fish or Vegetrian A choice of 4 desserts. Tea/coffee with mince pies to finish. Well done to the staff for making a special afternoon. Thank you.

Had dinner here as did not want to leave the hotel. Menu was predefined with 3 choices and was presented as a laminate paper, which was first minus. Had only main course as none od the starter's appealed to anyone: all choose beef. So far, so good. Waiters asked us to come from the table at what I can only call a buffet bar, with three plates of meet, all roasted and very plan looking. There had the chef coming to ask us again what we want and carved two pieces of meat. Have no clue why we needed to get up from the table and why the waiter could not tell what we want and even less do I understand why it takes a "chef" to carv a piece of roast meat. We went ahead over the bar, where a different waiter asked what garnish we wanted and put it in the plate. After finishing we were invited to go back to the table and another waiter brought the food. Seems to me the highest waist of staff ever, to offer a buffet experience. All the above took one hour, so being in a hurry we skipped desert. The charge was for the full 3 course meal, but nothing to object here, as was presented from the start. Objections would be at food taste and level. It was a cantine level roast beef, with poorly made garnish bathed in gravy. The waiters were very nice and helpful, though painfully slow, but that's the only good thing on that dinner. Had no clue who deviced that process, or where did he get the ideea from, but ia plain stupid. I went to places where you were invited to choose your food, but mainly because it was alive and in aquarium :-D, or if it was beef, it was a refined chunk of Angus, and was brought at the table to be chosen, but never stood up from the table to ask for roast beef.

We had a wonderful afternoon in the restaurant at the parkway Hotel. As a group of four friends we booked tea, on arrival we were welcomed by Tom Warren (staff) he had great customer services skills and made us all feel comfortable. Tea was served immediately we were shown to our table in the dining room, the dining room was pristine. The food was excellent, freshly made sandwiches, warm scones and welsh cakes with clotted cream- delicious! A wide variety of cakes all of which were very tasty. We have eaten many afternoon teas over the years and we all agreed that this was the best we have experienced to date. We will be returning and can highly recommend the Parkway afternoon tea.

I Took my mother ,daughter ,aunty and brother who has downs syndrome to parkway for afternoon tea as treat as my brother was 41 that day we were greeted by Ben Skyme who was our waiter. what a lovely young man nothing was to much trouble for him the food was delightful an assortment of cakes and finger sandwich's served with coffee and tea and glass of coke for my brother all made that much more special with the help of Ben thank you for a lovely afternoon

Very Warm welcome when my partner and I arrived to check in for our Spa Treatment and Lunch Special. Liam, welcomed us at reception and took us to the Leisure part of the hotel, where we had to compete forms, etc. Liam was extremely knowledgable about the hotel, etc. Excellent customer service and nothing was too much trouble for him. We ordered our lunch, which was a Parkway club sandwich and a tuna sandwich, this took over an hour from ordering to receiving.Liam was managing the club on his own and was completely rushed off his feet, he was extremely apologetic with regards to the length of time the food was taking. (This wasn't his fault and we understood that, we were very understanding) We then had treatments booked at these went according to plan. Would like to thank Liam for his exceptional customer service, as he was on his own. Note to management - When spa is busy, especially throughout Lunch time - more staff should be available to support.

El pasado fin asistí a una función Domingo almuerzo en el Parkway Hotel con más de un centenar de amigos. La comida era absolutamente encantador. Teníamos una selección de entrantes y postres y la comida principal era un asador con una opción de tres carnes, verduras y al menos 8 diferentes además de yorkshire flanes y relleno.Fue un acto bien organizado y el personal era muy amable, profesional y atento. Cuando pedimos sin gluten salsa por uno de mis amigos, un miembro del personal inmediatamente fuimos a la cocina y la salsa llegaron en pocos minutos.Catering para un grupo grande no siempre es fácil, pero este restaurante del hotel estaba bien hasta el desafío. Me gustaría decir gracias por un día tan encantador.

Porque yo estaba hospedado en el hotel me comí aquí por 3 noches y tuvimos sólo 1 bien comida la última noche. Me pareció que el sabor y olor de grasa abrumados la mayoría de las comidas y la última noche tuve un curry y arroz, que era el mejor de todos ellos. Me pareció realmente difícil las mesas y sillas de comer en la verdad incómoda. El personal era muy amable y servicial. No comer aquí de nuevo y me pareció caro para lo que era.

Desde el principio hasta el final nos dieron una bienvenida muy cálida. El director y otros miembros del personal no podía hacer lo suficiente para garantizar que nuestra experiencia fue excelente con productos de buena calidad y sobresaliente servicio al cliente. No podemos esperar a volver a sentarse en el ambiente relajado y disfrutar de la maravillosa comida.

Primera visita para varios años. Grandes áreas de salón, bien climatizada con asientos bajos, buenas para una conversación relajada. Validar el té de la tarde en la habitación de al lado reservado disfrutamos de varias opciones de comida, (precio, disponibles de diferentes tamaños). El café se sirve en la tarde anterior podría haber sido más caliente, pero el servicio era amable y eficiente. Volvería de nuevo.

El entorno es muy bonito. El restaurante es de primera clase. Lo que me decepcionó fue el personal. Ellos eran muy jóvenes y necesitaban capacitación. La comida es muy buena, especialmente el coche muy sin embargo mi marido tenía mucho comida en salsa derramada, él no se podía comer.

Tomamos el té de la tarde en la avenida y disfrutamos de la experiencia por varias razones, el personal era de lo más atento y el té, que era delicioso. Además, el ambiente general de la zona era una maravilla, con un ambiente animado de conversación y una habitación llena de gente divirtiéndose. No me sorprende es un lugar tan popular.

Great selection of salads as well as limited choice ot hot mealsVery busy and a pleasant ambience Service efficient and price very competitive

Visited the Parkway a few weeks ago arranged by some friends for the Carvery. I've had better and had worse to be honest but the drinks waiter made the day - a chirpy young chap called Callum who was polite, seemed happy in his role and nothing was too much trouble. Would return to the carvery again but would possibly go for an earlier lunch when the food should be and look more appetising.

A very attractive situated place to eat throughout the day.Although there was a Tribute band on the Friday evening we went, it did not effect our evening or a second as the bar area housed it's own piano playing entertainment for those wanting a dance or drinks and a chat. We opted for a meal in the restaurant and later coffee in the lounge listening to the pianist and having time to chat and enjoy an evening out.....With a difference. No rush and push of the pubs or more populated restaurants situated locally.The service was good the meals tasty and designer yet the carvery we opted for was huge and as good as a great home Sunday dinner but without the effort.The grounds are beautiful at all times of the year and there is always plenty of parking.

I visited the Parkway on Sunday 27th September 2014 for a birthday celebration. My grand daughter was with us (14 months) a high chair was provided, although broken, we had to request another one as the staff didn't notice it was broken. The staff also didn't notice the broken glass underneath the chair my daughter was sat on, when we brought it to their attention, although they apologised, they didn't seem overly bother considering we had a toddler with us!. The drinks... well... for a medium (they would describe this as large) glass of rose wine £8.10p which I feel is daylight robbery, so purchase drinks to go with your lunch at your peril. It will cost you. The carvery was ok, I had beef which unfortunately, I was given the end piece, which, when I tried to cut it was pure grissle, I mentioned it to a staff member, who looked sympathetically at me, apologised and walked off, so I paid £18.95 for 3 courses but could only eat the veg off my main course. Unfortunately the customer service and attention to detail doesn't match the surroundings. I would avoid this place for sunday lunch as it will cost you a fair amount for 'standard' quality food and overpriced drinks. The Parkway really need to review their pricing structure on drinks and pay attention to customers when they complain.

Went for afternoon tea last week. The gardens of this hotel are beautiful, pity the same cannot be said about the food. We booked and were given a table overlooking the gardens which was nice enough, but as it was a really hot day the heat by the glass was overpowering and made the sandwiches dry out and the clotted cream melt. Was expecting something spectacular for the £30 for the two of us and spectacular it was not. Finger tasteless sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, two dry Welsh cakes and what can only be described as teeny weeny bits of cake no bigger than a child's little finger. They made a point of saying about their crisp white tablecloths but you don't eat those! All in all bitterly dissapointed and went home for beans on toast much nicer! You would be better off having a meal and it wouldn't cost nearly as much .Hotel now owned by a family and not best western and didn't appreciate the swearing by members of staff close by.

Well has a lovely spa day with my mother :-) Now Im looking to book my wedding here . ( 32 years ago my partners got married here )well the doo! Would highly recommend it

Met family here for afternoon tea following a funeralVery relaxing few hours after a stressful couple of daysGood choice of food and the tea is the best I have drunk in a long time

The quality and portion sizes were extremely good with a good choice. Thr English breakfast made a particularly good start to the day.

We went to the Parkway for a late lunch, but it seemed most people at that time were indulging in what looked to be very large afternoon Cream teas - something which we are both very partial too. We ditched lunch and went for the Cream Tea, and were very glad we did. Great selection of cakes, scones and sandwiches, more than enough to satisfy most people. Nice big room, friendly staff and a full stomach. Perfect!

Went for lunch, which is served in the lounge on small coffee tables, lamb pie was on the menu, but at 12.30 was sold out, had sausage pie which was not very nice look only half cooked. cooked meats and salads were on the menu and this would have been a better option. The salad bar had a good selection but noticed it was not topped up. Only one person was serving and she was taking money at the same time not very hygienic.

my friend and i had afternoon tea as part of a spa packagewhat a delightful way to spend an afternoonlovely table by the windowfriendly staff and a lovely selection of sandwiches cakes and sconesso much we asked for a doggy bag and were given two boxes to take home uneaten cakehighly recommend you treat yourself

Myself and my family visited the parkway hotel for a carvery today and I must say how impressed I was not only with the food but the service! Although we were a table of 8 each member of staff went out of their way to ensure we were all comfortable. We were shown to our table by a lovely gentleman named Michael who then took our drinks orders. We were seen to as soon as we were ready to order by a lady named Rebecca and we didn't have to wait long for our orders. Our food was all brought out at the same time so no waiting around for that one order like we have had with so many other places. As soon as any of our drinks got low we were offered more. I genuinely believe the staff there care about the service they are giving and Michael and Rebecca were fantastic. We will definitely be returning very soon. Absolutely fantastic and would recommend!

We enjoyed an excellent cavery meal at the Parkway Hotel last Sunday evening. I had the seasonal fruit to start and my wife had the prawns. Both were delicious. We both opted for the traditional carvery for our main which came with all of the usual accompliments. For desert we both went for the home made trifle. Again this was excellent. We took our coffee in the lounge and there was enough for over two cups each and it came with a chocolate. The staff were excellent all evening and the service was first class.

I took my lovely 78 year old mum to The Parkway for a Sunday lunch treat. Although the bill for two came just short of £50 for three courses and a round of drinks, overall we were impressed. The experience was just how I remember a traditional Sunday lunch experience being before the mass carvery chains came onto the scene. The old saying 'you get what you pay for' applies here.The service from the young staff at this venue was first class, polite, attentive and lovely people who interacted with the customers beautifully - the hotel should be very proud, they were a credit to you. The food was beautifully cooked and for a carvery, I though it was a lovely touch that the waitress brought the choices to your table instead of customers (many senior citizens) having to navigate a plate of hot food through a busy restaurant. The menu was lovely, the surroundings, especially the stunning flowers and baskets around the front of the hotel were gorgeous. White linen table cloths, flowers and glassware always add to the experience and coffee and mints served in the lounge after lunch was lovely. The ambience was just right for a relaxing Sunday and my mum said she felt the whole experience was very special. The only reason for not scoring a perfect five star was the fact that the menu is set at three courses, coffee and mints for a set price. The customer is not given the option of less courses which I think is a wasted opportunity. I would prefer not to have starters or coffee and have a two course option, or even just a carvery course as a choice (probably saving £10 each off the overall bill ) as not everyone has a huge appetite on top of such a delicious roast. By giving customers a choice, the Parkway would see us there more frequently. As it stands, our visits will be an occasional special treat, albeit rather a lovely one! Highly recommended for special occasions and we will most certainly be back!

Had a meal again at Ravellos restaurant at The Parkway for my birthday. We have eaten here on several occasions and have never had a bad meal. The menu changes quite regularly and there is always a good variety of starters, mains and especially desserts. The staff are very helpful and efficient and nothing is too much trouble. They have a pretty good wine selection too and all in all it is reasonably priced for what you get. Looking forward to our next visit!

My wife and I celibrated our ruby wedding this year and one of the gifts we recieved was afternoon tea for two at the Parkway Hotel & Spa . I must admit that we enjoyed it greatly. We don,t drink tea so we opted for the pot of coffee and it was excelent quality. We were served with two three tier plates with sandwiches warm scones and cream cakes. Everything was great quality although we would have prefered more savoury and less sweet as there were about five cakes each. The staff were very polite and attentive and made the whole afternoon very enjoyable.

Parkway is one of my favorite venues but the food is tasteless especially the salad bar.They could do more it all seems pre packed

I joined over one hundred past and present members of 41 Club and Round Table for a 50th Anniversary Dinner at The Parkway last Tuesday. The meal was excellent and each of the three courses was superb and served without fuss.I would suggest that this would be an excellent venue for any dinner or wedding in the future if this was an example of their capeability.

service was good, food selection was good, albeit a little basic, doesn't really compare to other Afternoon Tea offers, but ok , and for the price, good.The atmosphere was good and staff very friendly. No offers of "top ups of sandwiches or tea refills " as I've had elsewhere.Overall, if you want a traditional "Afternoon Tea", then maybe not the best choice, but for a"Afternoon Tea" with no frills, then absolutely fine.

we arrived at this hotel for a conference friday and saturday, the staff where so helpful, the wonderful lady supplying the food, brought me earl grey teabags, i wish i had her name, nothing was a trouble, the room was clean, and comfortable, and the facilities where excellent, everything we asked for at the desk was promptly attended to , the girls where lovely , food delicious, and a lovely atmosphere, we would definetely book this hotel again , thanks for youre help gay beattie. north wales area committee

soggiornando nel best western parkway, ho cenato nel ristorante . soddisfatto sia per la qualità del cibo che per il prezzo, tutto perfetto. camerieri molto cortesi e location davvero bella, lo consiglio.

Visited the hotel on Saturday 4 January. Met with friends in the coffee shop area where we were spoilt for choice on what to order. Young lady named Sophie served us and was very attentive and patient whilst we decided, even gave us suggestions. Nothing was too much trouble for Sophie and and a pleasant time was had. Plenty to choose from and lovely tasting coffee. Will definitely call in for coffee again in pleasant relaxing surroundings.

My friends and family kindly attended a surprise celebration for my retirement at this hotel and paid for afternoon tea which was not cheap on 6 Dec.The staff were very helpful with tea and coffee although a little confused with health and safety issues.The scones and strawberry tarts were lovely but a hair was found in the cream by my friend.None of the cakes were appetising and the choux buns were totally Inedible.! Definitely not a place to visit twice.My daughter-in-law did complain but no- one even bothered to get back to her.She was told that all the cakes were made at the hotel.If this is so they need to be looking for a new pastry chef.