The Brasserie at Aubrey Park in St Albans

Such a disappointment. I ordered an afternoon tea as it was our wedding anniversary. When I paid for it over the phone I told the lady that thus was the case. When we came, no one mentioned it - just a shame. We were put in their empty restaurant - were not offered a different location, despite the crappy view of the car park. The restaurant Manager was polite enough but we felt, as no one else was there that they were embarrassed to come over. The sandwiches were nice although one was a bit dry. The scones felt like they had been warmed in an air fryer but were still quite fresh. The cakes were appalling- all seemed long-life and the red velvet was inedible. When we left we were not asked how it had been. I emailed a complaint when I got home. Got a holding response on the Monday morning then on Wednesday afternoon got an email from their Operations Manager that not only was not addressed to me by name but did not cover any of the issues I raised. His whole response was that we should have raised the issues when the Restaurant Manager asked us how it was. Other than him offering to top up our teapots we had no conversations with him so not sure what he was talking about. Such a real shame - this was meant to be a treat and turned into a bit of a disaster. I really hope that they learn to treat their paying customers better for the future

We were the only customers, which should have alerted us. The staff obviously had other work to do. The food was lacklustre, the sandwiches were boring. They didn’t appear to be fresh. The scones were the best, with generous amounts of cream. Only strawberry jam was provided. The cakes were so so. The atmosphere was lacking. Perhaps in the height of summer with open windows and more customers it would be charming. But really. The hotel needs to put in more effort to make afternoon tea special. Pretty teapots, more attentive staff, a more suitable choice of music and better food would all help. 10 out of 10 for the beautiful napkins!

Poor - very poor! In attempt to be balanced here are the pros and cons but in short - don’t go here! Pros- * clean (didn’t find any hairs or dirt!) yes this is pushing it to find pros * Waiter was nice (over worked and in attentive but nice) * Quiet only 6/20 tables used Cons- * food bland * Tasteless * not as menu- no vegetables or sauce etc. So dry * had to walk to bar t get drinks * slow * did I mention the food was BAD! Really not good guys, avoid and go elsewhere

My starter was fine but main was greasy and overcooked and asked for cheese board - also returned as crakcers were soft and cheese was bland and tasteless, my friend returned her dessert brownie was like a rock BUT other friend was happy with her choices so maybe just my bad luck - but I doubt it.

Tried to book in for afternoon tea, 3 emails and 2 phone calls later and still no response. When they did finally call back to confirm a table it was all manner of excuses for the delay by which point we'd already booked somewhere else. I thought they might have wanted the business but apparently not...

The good was nice. Kids chicken meal was good, but pasta didn't come with a side which would have been nice. The cheesecake was yummy.

Great staff , pretty setting. Needs a bit of TLC. Excellent breakfast plenty of choice. Easy access to motorway.

The choice of food was abysmal and the Sirloin Steak was inedible. I noticed that somebody who had had room service also left the Sirloin Steak on their plate so they obviously felt the same. Very disappointing,

The choice of menu is good, the food and service excellent. Nothing is too much trouble for the waiters/waitress.

The restaurant was very quiet and everyone there was already eating when we entered and ordered. We were given a very limited menu which was not cheap. After taking our order we were brought bread rolls which we thought was funny as we had not ordered any soup. We came to be very thankful for these bread rolls when the waiting time for our meal became longer and longer. Another couple had entered, sat down and ordered after us but received their meal sooner than we did - neither they nor us had ordered starters just a main. We did consider walking out. The food was good - nothing special for the price and wait though. Would recommend sticking to the bar meals.

Walked out and demanded a refund. Intro from 'duty manager'... quote "afternoon tea"- no "welcome" or ," you must be Mr & Mrs....". The attitude of a prison wardress. Quote "overlooking our lovely gardens"-- fact, looked out over the smoking area of the car park. Sandwiches..spread with a substitute of some sort, certainly not butter. Sandwich fillings, absolutely minimal with smoked salmon that appeared to be well past its 'use by' date. Supermarket cakes. If there was a Zero option for rating, we would have used it. Don't even think of going there!

Had a good choice of veggie food but unfortunately it came up so greasy I had to sponge it with 2 napkins and my husbands made him feel physically sick shame because staff couldn't have been nicer or more helpful and different chief I suppose because morning breakfast sausages were lovely not at all greasy

Enjoy a stay here and ate in the restaurant. Food was very enjoyable, well cooked and presented. Service went above and beyond, well done Michael our server.

we had the a la carte menu and it was great value, we saw other guest with lighter meal choice and that looked great as well.

I can’t hel wondering how this hotel got a 4 star AA rating. Food was awful, they forgot our breakfast so we had to go on search of it, only to find they were “clearing away”. After sone fuss we got breakfast, cold congealed and disgusting. Complaining did no good and the manager got quite unpleasant. My son and I went to the Chequers about £5 with Uber. Had a wonderful meal. Breakfast arrived next day everything that was supposed to be hot, sausages eggs mushrooms tomatoes etc were cold. Everything meant to be cold orange juice etc was warm.

Very good food Rib Eye Steak cooked to perfection, . very relaxing atmosphere with very good choice of background music

Lovely helpful staff and really good food. Plenty of choice and well presented. Much better than one might expect for a large hotel. The breakfast was also very good with plenty of choice and good sausages, always a good sign in my book. Staff bring you tea and even sort out nice hot toast for you as well.

We ate on both evenings in the Brasserie and were able to try some more unusual dishes. On the second evening I chose to have a starter as my main and the staff were not at all fased by this choice. The Hot mains ordered on both evenings arrived really hot. There was an option to have also eaten in the Bar but we preferred the Brasserie

Small menu, very expensive, small portions and rubbish. Not impressed. Staff were nice though. - Attentive.

Good choice of menu and prices. pleasant ambience in restaurant and good service. Not very busy when we ate there so peaceful meal too

What a lovely afternoon we have just spent with family celebrating Mums Special birthday. Beautiful afternoon tea consisting of sandwiches, cakes and both plain and fruited scones. Beccie the events organiser couldn't have been more helpful, friendly or polite. After my initial phone call emails were sent detailing costs and preferences immediately. So nice to receive good service right through and including the day itself. Waiting staff were happy to refill tea and coffee and couldn't have done anything else to make us feel more welcome. Excellent service all round. There was even a special afternoon tea for my 3 year old nephew with a strawberry milkshake.

Food was amazing, service with a smile. Waitress was young but friendly and appeared knowledgeable on the menu.

Nice place for dinner. We have stayed in the hotel before but hadn't tried the restaurant/ bar food. We sat in bar area as it is dog friendly. Good and relaxed.

I stayed here this week and ate in the restaurant. Wow, how expensive. How can you justify £15.50 for a burger and chips. Menu is limited but everything is top priced.Its a pity there are no other options nearby otherwise I would have ate elsewhere.The food was forgettable. A pity really as the hotel is decent.

a group dined in the restaurant we chose from the menu so all tastes catered for. Everyone enjoyed their meal

Stayed here this week on business. Great hotel and very good breakfast, however not great value for an evening meal. Go to the cricketers pub in the next village if you want a very good alternative 👍🏻

Every morning we had the breakfast buffett at the hotel and it was great. A wide variety of breakfast foods to enjoy and get your day started. Recommend this restaurant.

We ate in the restaurant on the first night as we had £30 credit each with the voucher we used for our hotel booking.

Camareros lentos para reconocer diners esperar tanto en los pedidos incluso cuando el restaurante menos de la mitad completa. Esperar 15 minutos antes incluso de ser nos preguntó si queríamos una copa después de estar sentados

Como reservamos en nos dijeron que habría una fiesta en el hotel hasta las 00.00, ahora ya es un gran hotel que se piensa que nos pusieran en una habitación lejos de la fiesta! Eran buenos y terminado justo después de la medianoche, pero no quería escuchar la música. Si te gusta el desayuno huevos fritos este es el lugar para usted! No nos volveríamos a alojar aquí de nuevo

Cara por nuestras normas, puede ser razonable por otros! La comida era promedio. Atento, camareros agradable.

Good variety of quality dishes, well cooked, superbly presented and attentive service. Limited wine list.Try the scallops, the venison and the cheeseboard,

First of all it's extremely difficult to navigate the organisation to actually book a table in this brassiere. Their phone menu system doesn't even have restaurant bookings listed and no online booking system. I booked a table for Easter Sunday -- I was told on the phone that due to the popularity of a recent Mother's Day Event they would be repeating and having a carvery. A few hours later I get a call saying I have to pay a deposit of £27.00 per head, thinking ok so its a popular place and they are only having one sitting that's understandable. Three days before Easter Sunday I get a call saying the carvery is cancelled but they will be doing table serving instead. We turn up Easter Sunday at 1pm and firstly the place is so quiet - car park almost empty and instead of the hustle bustle of an Easter Sunday lunch we were confronted with a morgue like environment. We were asked if we were there for afternoon tea or lunch??? We were shown to our table right in the center of an EMPTY restaurant. Looking around we only saw one other table set up for lunch and the rest set up for afternoon tea. Being seated in the center of an empty restaurant made us feel uncomfortable -- why not seat us by one of the windows! Lunch was nothing to write home about - it was average at best! Half way through our lunch another party joined us and then several families joined for afternoon tea. It just felt a non special day and it's not often we get to spend lunch with my mother.Now when the bill came bearing in mind we had already paid £27.00 per head which was now far more than the menu had for their 2 and 3 course Easter Sunday lunch - I expected to see that the full deposit had been taken into consideration but NO.. we had been charged for all our drinks and coffee. Rather than cause a scene at the table I had to take the waiter outside to explain the situation - which took rather longer than I hoped and I had to get him to get the menu and point it all out in detail before he understood the math.Suffice to say this will be the one and only time I visit this restaurant!

The food was lovely a nice treat as not cheap. Portion size quite small but really well presented and very tasty.

Simply awful hotel .. It was so bad we checked out without staying. Poor staff.. Crappy bar that claims to be a cocktail bar but doesn't do cocktails of have any range of anything and is tiny and very low end.. Brasserie is also not a brasserie but a very overpriced hotel dining room. again bottom end but with top end prices .. We went else where (the white horse) and had a fabulous meal. Avoid this at all costs

We ate early so pretty much had the place to ourselves. The piped music could, therefore, have been intrusive but it was quiet and pleasant. (I normally hate background muzak.)The menu and wine list had plenty of choice, we enjoyed everything and the waiter, Michael, was lovely.

Having stayed here numerous times over the past few months, this has to be the worst. If I get banned for saying so then so let it be. Complaint after complaint and I feel sorry for the waiter who is single handedly trying to juggle 33 guests. Not an easy task I know but this is a Managment issue. The food here is usually pretty good but on the pricy side. They couldn't even get a burger right tonight. Sad times ahead for this hotel and restaurant that we chose to boast with. I would strongly recommend putting our guests elsewhere from now on. Come on guys get your act together. Customers matter..... without them your profits are the least of your worries.

A good meeting point for our friends as some are from Birmingham some from the south coast and closer at Sunningdale. The food was still of a very good standard but perhaps we were spoilt a bit on our first visit.

We have stayed here 3 times now and the food is always very good. The staff are friendly and service is prompt, the food is very good quality and we have never been disappointed

Excellant service chips to die for although steak was tough dessert was really good lemon tart with blackberry jus delicious

Visited this Hotel for a friend's 70th birthday. The meal was excellent and the service was outstanding. The waitresses were attentive and friendly, including giving the birthday girl a gift at the end of the meal when we were having coffees on the patio. A thoroughly enjoyable experience. We would have no hesitiation recommending this venue.

The Aubrey park is a lovely hotel in a lovely setting.Although there are extensive work going on at the moment the food is really good and the rooms are of a good standard and size

Had a buffet lunch on a training corse, it was ok. Nice potatoes, and fair pasta. The fish pie looked a bit gluppy. Pudding was chocolate xake, that was pretty good. Overall no objy, but not bowled over

Recently went here for Sunday lunch, first time I had been in the restaurant but have eaten in the bar a number of times. Overall good experience, food was well cooked and well presented and the staff were friendly. They have a limited fixed price Sunday lunch menu which is reasonably priced and on a par with other places in the area. Would recommend but you do ideally need to book.

Although we did not eat here we were sat in the bar there were other people eating no one complaining and the food coming out looked very good with excellent service from the waiters who also double up as bar staff

some posh food, some average bar food. Very hit and miss. Overpriced and poor service. Portions for posh restaurant main meals (rather than bar meals) were very small and the veg was practically non-existent.

I had an evening meal here with work colleagues. The service from the staff was very good, unfortunately the main course was disappointing. I had a steak and felt that it was poorly cooked and meat itself was of poor quality. I did enjoy the starter and I loved the chocolate dessert. I will stay away from the steak next time.

Ate here two nights in a row during a recent stay and found the food to be delicious and a good choice on the menu, perhaps slightly over priced for what you get but nonetheless very tasty

Food was delicious, often hard to find tasty vegetarian food but the vegetarian tart was lovely. Service was quick and the staff were very helpful. Will be back!

Stayed at the Aubrey Park and dined in this restaurant. The food is of excellent quality and well presented. The service is exemplary and would highly recommend a visit.

Food good and a lot of it. Service was a bit slow and restaurant more suited to work or large parties than to romance or couples

Got the distinct impression the receptionist was trying to discourage us dining because there was less than an hour to the brasserie's closing time. Despite that, the waiter was very welcoming and took our order quite quickly. Even though there was one other table with people who had finished their meal and were chatting, it took longer than expected for the food to arrive. When it did, it was well presented, freshly prepared - so hot and mostly very tasty. The fries however, were not great - hard and oily - evidently the bottom of the batch.A couple of soft drinks a main course and one of their 'light bites' was just over £30.

I recently visited the restaurant with friends for a meal to celebrate a friend's birthday. Service was great and staff very attentive, meal was beautiful and as a vegetarian the choice was amazing. Would highly recommend

We went to The Brasserie at Aubrey Park recently and sadly, were disappointed. We hadn't been before and after reading some good reviews about the food, I was hopeful. Although the restaurant has apparently been refurbished recently, we thought the decor was very eighties and the acoustics of the room were dire - as you're eating, you don't want to hear and feel the waiting staff constantly stomping up and down. Efficient and pleasant though they were, the staff didn't seem relaxed and it took three tries at asking before we were told they didn't have English mustard. The menu was quite interesting, however the dishes on the whole did not live up to their expectations - the chicken liver pate was very red and seemed undercooked, the scallops were tasteless and the lamb was very salty. I enjoyed the seabass and the pudding - lemon tart - but the wine was also poor quality. The rolls were exactly like the ones that you can buy part-baked and heat up yourself, when it's so easy to offer fresh, interesting breads.It's a shame, as the location is lovely and I was hoping we'd found a new restaurant to frequent...but we won't be going again.

Had the chicken carbonara, fantastic. Big portions value for money. Breakfast in the morning was good too nice selection

Had our first meal here at Aubrey Park last Friday, and what a meal!! The food is excellent, service quick and efficient and staff professional and friendly. Definitely go back again - soon. Well done Aubrey Park.

I recently visited Aubrey Park with two friends for Sunday lunch. We each had different items from the menu, and all were absolutely delicious. The roast beef was so tender it melted in the mouth, served with delicious al dente veg. Desserts were to die for. Only slight adverse comment I would make is that the servings were large, so when we visit again, we will have to have two courses only.

Spent Christmas in Aubrey Park Hotel and the package included 4-course Christmas dinner which was fabulous. We also had breakfast and lunch here and every meal looked great and tasted even better. Definitely recommend this restaurant.

We keep giving this venue another chance as the food really is good.There is no atmosphere and the staff are hopeless. They are always pleasant and smile but are clueless. eg Question how the sardine dish is served and you are told it is fish.eg Ask for a small extra plate with 2 desserts and the waiter thinks you want 2 sherries!No - we are not mumbling or speaking unclear - but their grasp of English is lacking.Ask what the soup is and he has to go and check ? The menu is limited . I would expect the staff to be geared up on what is on the menu.If it wasn't for the fact that this eatery is on the tastecard and food is discounted by 50% we would have given up .........but I repeat the food is really good.The management need to step up and train the staff and promote their restaurant.We expect it is mainly the prices that are deterring custom.We have eaten here 4 times now and the place has been soulless.

We dined here on a Travelzoo Voucher. Beautiful meal and very charming staff in a nice setting.Restaurant empty.The deal only included the main course so we added a starter. A glass of wine was included and they were flexible on this so you could have another drink.The deal was for a steak dinner. Superb and very well presented.Without the voucher it would have been about £45.00 p.h without a dessert. Well recommended with a voucher or if you want to pay full price.

I have to admit we didn't expect much and perhaps this had some positive affect on our enjoyment, but we found this place really good. After considering good array of interesting looking options for lunch we went for a goats cheese salad followed by lamb and both were excellent, very tasty and well cooked. We left satisfied....so much so we actually came back again for dinner!.... Though having said that this was in part because there didn't look like there was much competition in the surrounding area.

had a great steak lunch this month at the Brasserie - offered seats in the restaurant or in the bar if we chose, which was a nice choice to have. Chose the restaurant and we were the only ones there, so had great service! Both steaks were exactly how we ordered them, a pot of giant chips, tomato, mushroom and choice of sauce served with a glass of cold wine and a large jug of iced water - just right in this lovely summer spell. Elderflower cheesecake and sponge pudding desserts were delicious but a little pricey.

It is not often that you get an Oxford graduate as your waiter in a restaurant. We did at the Aubrey Park! There was something about him that encouraged me to ask him about his waiting experience. Perhaps it was because he did not know what a Virgin Mary was or, perhaps, because he showed his disapproval of my choice of wine - a Rose! Alternatively, it could also have been because he decided to join in, uninvited, in the discussion I was having with one of our group as to whether UKIP will ever gain a seat in the British parliament! I liked him. He was interesting, different and talked more sense than my friend! The food, on the other hand, was not different and not interesting. My wife had two starters - gravadlax followed by scallops. She liked the scallops but thought the gravadalx a bit boring. Our friends had the gavadlax followed by lamb. No complaints but no whoopees. I had Scotch egg - it again was only just okay - followed by a sirloin steak which I should have sent back. I asked for it to be medium rare, it came cooked medium to well, and as tough as old boots. I was so engrossed in the life story of the waiter that I ignored my main course. (You may be wondering how the waiter could spend so much time with us. Only one other table was occupied). As we left, the manageress came in - a lovely and very friendly lady. She gave me a whopping great big kiss - something you don't normally get in a restaurant. I liked the waiter, I liked the manageress but, sadly, even they were not enough to tempt me to ever come back.

Went for dinner with friends on a Friday evening and have to say that this was an excellent meal with everyones starter, main and sweet being very tasty with good, maybe too large portions! The shame was that the place was almost empty so lacked atmosphere, not the aubrey parks fault I know.The two minor downsides were that the service could have been excellent but was a tiny bit over friendly, not a problem for us and indeed we may well have fostered this! And I felt the meal was a little overpriced.

We enjoyed lunch here today & were surprised how quiet it was. Tried it because I have a tastecard. The food was wonderful, I'd say on a par with the Banana Leaf for freshness & taste. Staff were courteous & friendly, especially considering the mess my baby made. Service faultless. I had belly pork in a fairly rich tomato jus, my partner had beer-battered hake and my daughter had roast chicken. We shared a rhubarb & custard tart with ginger ice-cream & raspberry coulis, which came with fresh berries. He thought it tasted great too. Décor nice considering the carpark: there were a couple of lovely looking couch booths with Chinese key-style windows and the drapes sort of blend into background trees. The maitre'd told me it was quiet because the hotel has recently had a change of ownership and refurbishment, and is mostly used by business travellers. I would definitely go back, possibly for birthday. At full price the menu is one of Hemel's more expensive.

Attended here for Mothers Day, got a great valu for money deal, starters and wine were great, steak wasn't bad. Service from walking through the door, in the bar and at the table was 1st class. Max, our table waiter was fantastic and very professional, Very surprised at the other comments below. Would go again. PS the chicken livers for a starter are a must!!!!

I took my old friend to The Brasserie as a birthday treat and was very very disappointed. The soup was nice but only luke warm but the sirloin steak which we both had was awful, mine was about 2mm thick was mostly fat and I could have done with a chain saw to cut it. My friends was much thicker than mine but was equally tough, everything was loaded with salt and quite frankly the worst steak I have had anywhere in my life. We were given free deserts by way of compensation but left feeling really embarrassed that my so called treat to my dear friend was terrible. Under the circumstances I would have expected a refund or a free return visit but it was not forthcoming and whilst the staff were nice, this will not do.

We booked for Sunday lunch and found that we were the only diners. Strangely (at 1:00pm) there were two other people in the restaurant waiting for afternoon tea.We were seated at the table right next to the other people so we felt rather uncomfortable making conversation between ourselves. Also, we didn't think those taking afternoon tea would have liked to be seated next to us while we had Sunday lunch? We would have preferred to have been seated slightly away from the only two other people in the restaurant.Our meal, it has to be said, was excellent.The room slowly filled up with people having afternoon tea - Groupon offer, or similar?After paying our bill using our credit card we left a cash 'tip' on the table only to find that the waiter arrived with a tray, to clear the table we thought, but he grabbed the cash and left immediately.The hotel is spotlessly clean and the décor is very fresh and modern.The grounds, although early in the season, are very well maintained.The staff we encountered were all very friendly but lacked training.Be prepared to pause for a few seconds on entering the toilets as they are pitch black until the automatic lights come on!Overall, a good experience but staff training is clearly an issue.Also, there's no real ale - for those who care about these important matters...

We enjoyed a really great meal I really enjoyed the pork and the desserts were amazing From the comments I heard from other guests all the food on the menu was really good. The breakfast although self service was hot and was of a high standard with a good choice.I can highly recommend this Hotel for service and friendliness from all of the staff.

Had afternoon tea post Christmas for family birthday treat. Got good deal on champagne tea - staff were marvellous, very accommodating, helpful, attentive but not servile or smarmy. We met the very friendly hotel cat at the door. However we got Prosecco not champagne. There is a difference. The sandwiches were ok - but to make more special for the price, perhaps need better bread, also cakes were a little unexciting and not totally homemade - home finished maybe, apart from the wonderful scones! They were delicious! Maybe home made strawberry jam would be better? Although very quiet in the hotel, we had a lovely time catching up with family news. Compliments to the staff and chef.

I wish me and my husband had read the trip advisor reviews before visiting, to save us from a truly awful experience!! We booked afternoon tea here after enquiring whether tastecard was accepted and we were told yes on the phone. On arrival we were directed to the bar area where we waited several minutes for somebody to appear and seat us... not the best start and it went down hill rapidly from there! It turned out that our tastecard would not be accepted... which the reception staff were unaware of so we asked to speak to the duty manager... he is the WORST manager i have ever met and in my job at the restaurant association I have met my fair share!! If a hotel makes a mistake (such as misleading customers or not printing terms and conditions) then good customer service would be to apologise at the minimum and then good management would rectify the situation which was their fault. This did not happen... the duty manager took joy at explaining it is not their fault if the staff are not trained or unaware of how things work or how it is not their fault if their information is out of date or they have not updated their terms and conditions... I sure hope nobody else has the misfortune of meeting the duty manager, he is not a force to be reckoned with and should not be in a customer service role. Needless to say we left promptly and will not be recommending this hotel to anybody or returning.

The food was only just about okay but the service was appalling. Staff were bored, unfriendly and clearly hate their jobs. At that price paid I would've expected a smile. I haven't been less impressed for years. Extremely disappointing.

Tastefully refurbished in a lovely location . But, We were seated in the restaurant and then forgotten until they were reminded we were still waiting for order to be taken . ordered wine to go with meal, which was promptly forgotten. Received wine when we'd nearly finished meal. Ordered Irish coffee and it came minus the tipple. In the morning it took 3 attempts to get a clean mug and coffee. Disappointed as it was special weekend for us and the hotel didn't flow like the rest of the weekend, shame. taken