The Lygon Arms - Grill in Wychavon

The historic aspect of this hotel is very special. It has charming areas of the lobby to sit and relax. We had some room issues and the maintenance staff was prompt and very accommodating. However, the service in the bar and restaurant for tea and dinner were disappointing and not at all what I expect from a 4star venue. The breakfast waitresses were very kind and did a good job, but the afternoon and evening team could use some training. All the employees wear their street clothes, so it is difficult to tell the difference between guests and staff. With all the awards Lygon Arms received, I was expecting so much more.

Disappointing… ordered a hot chocolate and pot of tea, waited over 20 minutes before getting up to find a staff member to remind them, still took 10 minutes to arrive by which point we needed to leave. It was busy but there were plenty of staff members.

We booked for Afternoon tea at 13.30, On arrival we were shown to our table and given a pot of tea 15 mins later our Afternoon Tea finally arrived at 14.30 despite speaking to one of the waiters and several other customers receiving theirs earlier. My vegetarian option had less food and was uninspiring , l was extremely disappointed and for the price would have expected so much more, not only the quality of the food but the service as well We will not be going there again

Excellent... had the pork chops.. Mash.... as James would say .... butter in the Mash.... Bloody lovely... Would give 5 stars but didn't have the selected wine on the menu (shouldn't matter if it's a Monday or any other day of the week.. you should have!!!).

Very good Sunday lunch (24/11); missed Luke’s food however Jay did us proud. Aaron front of house delivered great service. The dishes were all of a great standard; cheese soufflé is much improved. Thanks too to Sandor from the front of house team.

Visited for afternoon tea to celebrate my wife's birthday. We purchased an afternoon tea for 4 voucher in advance and visited as part of a planned day out in and around Broadway. We unfortunately found it very underwhelming from such a prestigious name and location and in summary, it was nothing that you wouldn't quickly knock up for an afternoon tea at home. Mostly of note: - Slow pub-style service (needed to speak to 3 people before being seated, even with a reservation) - Leaking tea pots - Highly underwhelming food (simple, limp sandwiches, mediocre cakes) - Worst of all were the paper sachets of sugar & sweetener...on different from a McDonalds in that regard

We stayed at the Lygon Arms and had dinner and breakfast in the grill. The food was absolutely delicious as we expected but what really set the experience apart is the people working there. Val served us at both meals and went above and beyond to help us, his cheerful approach really made our stay. Thank you Val!

Had breakfast and dinner here when staying at the hotel. The food was excellent, the setting and service were fantastic as well. Special shoutout to our waiter Val , who went to the trouble of making whatever cocktail we wanted!

For some reason I can't review the hotel so had to specify the Grill. Stayed here for 3 days last week our favourite go to place to relax with good food and great service. As always concierges attentive and nothing too much trouble shout out to Noel, Gary & Gavin for great service with Gavin standing in on Garys day off to keep Fudge supplied with Gravy bones. Breakfast was , as ever, fantastic a good choice and again no issues with accommodating specific food requests. Gina has served on quite a few trips now and is always welcoming and quick to ensure everything to your satisfaction. Zofia, as ever a constant smiling presence, she had spotted us coming in and had made our tea having recalled our previous stay. Evening meals were lovely having had the lamb previously it was just as good. I also had the rump steak which was very good. My husband really enjoyed the cheeseboard but suggests the cucumber ribbons could be left off. Spa as always clean and endless supplies of towels. Quiet times for a swim I've found are around lunch time. This was our 3rd vist since September and won't be our last. Love the hotel and the area.

Such a disappointment. Inexperienced and sometimes insincere staff with little or no training. Our table was right in the middle and close to the main door, the acoustics were so awful that conversation was hard. We had no ambient lighting on our table and had to ask for this. Our Drinks took ages to arrive and we had to chase these too which is always frustrating. Our first choice of food wasn’t available but we were told this after ordering. The steak we switched to was inedible as it was so tough. I am aware Bavette is a chewier cut but if cooked properly and allowed to rest well it should not be tough! When the waiter asked if we had enjoyed it we said it was tough and he replied “tough in a good way or a bad way?”. We are staying 4 nights at The Lygon but will not be eating here again. Such a shame that this wasn’t a better experience. It wouldn’t have taken much to get it right - train your staff and attention to detail would have made the whole experience a different one. Can’t imagine James Martin would have been proud of the meal at all but this restaurant appears to be his in name only!

I had booked a special getaway based around visiting this restaurant. I had phoned ahead and established that their chicken and lamb is halal. On arrival I was told that they had no halal meat, which was very disappointing given that it was the whole reason for choosing the venue. This was compounded by one of the vegetarian starters not being available as they do not make many apparently. That left us with very little choice. The service was ok but nothing special, we were left to fill our own glasses throughout the evening, and the food was adequate. To finish off the evening the staff then opened the door and started bringing in chairs from outside for about 15 mins leaving the room freezing cold. The lady on the table next to us put her coat on to stay warm while eating her dessert. Even without the halal disappointment, this was simply average and not worth the premium price. Much better quality food is available elsewhere in Broadway.

You'd have to imagine that any suet pudding with a Yorkshire man's name would be bursting with rich, delicious gravy. It's what the north is famous for. But £30 at Martin's restaurant gets you dryness. Just dry meat. No gravy, and I mean no gravy. Sure there's gravy on the plate and that's enough for the mash and veg but the pudding itself? Dry. It's not that it's a bad suet pudding, just a bit underwhelming. What would've elevated it would be gravy. Something to moisten and embolden the meat but there wasn't any. Nowt. Such a shame. Someone's just lost their passport back to Yorkshire Desserts are standard supermarket fair, water comes with no ice or lemon/cucumber, and the road to the car park is best suited for 4x4s. On the plus side, nibbles were very good as were the drinks, and the service was efficient enough Not really a dressing up restaurant, more of a casual brasserie which was a plus as it made for a relaxing, informal meal. Michelin prices should come with Michelin food though and this was pub grub at best The Lygon Arms itself is a beautiful place. I'd suggest relaxing in one of the many firelit nooks with a paper and an afternoon tea as this would be a blissful way to spend a couple of hours. Let's hope the same kitchen isn't doing the cakes or there'll be no cream

Excellent service from Petra! All dishes were well presented and good quality. Particular favourites are the squid and the chicken Caesar salad. The squid had suddenly become very light on the chilli compared to previous weeks?

We were disappointed at the Grill. Food was amazing. But the service was slow, scruffy, and surley. A real shame. Easily remedied by more training.

First off the cuisine here is excellent. Although we needed to send the luke warm risotto back. The overall service was very poor. And charmless. No personality or engagement. Cutlery wasn’t replenished .. side-plates were removed before bread was brought to the table. No one asked if our main course was ok. Nine tables were cleared and set for breakfast by 8.30pm. We had wine by the glass no one asked if we would like a second glass. The restaurant was freezing. Come on … you must be able to do better!

We ate here on one evening of our three night stay. Decor, ambience and service were all superb but the price of the food was off the scale. Starters average out at around £15. However, the prawn cocktail was a whopping £22 and the smoked salmon, £19. Really? How on earth can that be justified? Our 8oz rump steaks (mine was decidedly small) were a hefty £33 (sirloin was £39!) with any accompanying sauce extra. Whilst all the food was cooked to perfection, we felt we could not justify the cost of eating a starter or a dessert, the latter all coming in at £12. So for two steak dinners we paid £80 plus with the additional (discretionary) service charge automatically added, £90 was the total bill. Would we eat here again? No, based purely on cost, although that is a shame as the food was good.

Go somewhere else. Badly managed. Poor service with mediocre overpriced menu! A Christmas celebration with friends ruined by the wrong choice of restaurant If it’s cold outside make sure you wrap up well as it’ll be just as cold inside

I had really high hopes and expectations from this place and I was let down so much that I left in tears of rage. I put a lot of effort into communicating my dietary requirements of “vegetarian and no egg” at least a week before the date of our reservation. I'm aware this is odd as it's not traditional vegetarian and it's not fully vegan either - so I like to give places as much notice as I can. Each time I was reassured it would be catered for, especially as it was more than the required 24hrs notice. When we arrived, the first words said to us by staff were that we entered the wrong way - hardly a great greeting. After being seated, we were then waiting around to make our drinks order. My partner had to flag down a staff member. This was really poor especially as the place was not busy at all, just 4- 5 other tables who were either already eating or had been seen to. We had multiple staff ask if we had any dietary requirements. I thought the check-in was supposed to provide staff members with all the information about their guests…clearly not. Nevertheless we stated our requirements each time and the staff member went off saying they’d check with the chef. At this point my confidence was fast dwindling. Staff member #1 (who also took our drinks order but then had to come back to double check the overly complex order of a G&T and a glass of red wine) was unable to clearly explain what our main option would be. Both my partner and I understood her to be explaining the proposed dish as the beef option - not quite the vegetarian & no egg dish that we required. This was really starting to make me frustrated, angry and upset because it became clear the staff were not prepared at all, they cannot communicate well and this likely meant that the kitchen were not prepared at all. Staff #1 got quite flustered and then had to get #2 to come over to explain. So despite being given a week’s notice of dietary requirements…the best that the kitchen could come up with was…a cauliflower steak with all usual side trimmings of a Christmas meal. For £55 per head - the offer was a vegetable with a side of vegetables??? Seriously….this was the best a James Martin kitchen could come up with?? I was absolutely incensed. My only response in the moment was silent rage tears - what I really wanted to do was scream and shout but I didn’t want to cause a scene. Both staff members did leave our table and came back with the option that we could pick what we wanted from the a la carte menu and the kitchen would make it fit our requirements. But I had absolutely no confidence in the kitchen. My partner asked for our drinks to be cancelled (which still hadn’t arrived in all this time) and for our coats to be brought to us and we made our exit. It was poor service from start to finish and nowhere near met expectations - no personalisation, no preparation, no imagination, no emotional intelligence from any of the staff. And I haven’t even touched on the poor phone call experience I had the week before our visit but never mind as that did eventually end well. If we had walked in without a reservation, meaning there was no advance notice of dietary requirements and the place was super busy, then maybe, just maybe the sub-par service and unimaginative meal option could be forgiven - but that really was not the case on this day. No excuse. I work for a provider of luxury experiences - and since I’ve got back to work, I’ve been using this experience as the case study of what not to do!

I have lost track of all the culinary changes here over the years, but the latest iteration of the main dining hall is the best in the 20 odd years I have dined here. So stand up, James Martin, and take a bow- your dalliance with LNER is forgotten and forgiven. Prices high but hardly disproportionate to the room rates and ,as ever, good food is worth paying for. Had prawn cocktail which looked good and tasted good, followed by individual suet pudding with ox cheek, then bread and butter pudding with honeycomb. Main course was delicious and cooked just right. Service was prompt and professional. Basic stuff done properly and presented nicely. Good atmosphere if you can forgive The Christmas tree in mid- November.

We were celebrating an anniversary and went to The Grill with high expectations. We were not disappointed, the ambience is perfect for a pre dinner drink and the food was 1st class. It has a simple menu, as one would expect, portion sizes are good, the bread board is excellent and we had the steak platter which was very good. The wine list has options at all levels and our waitress, Emily, had a perfect balance of professionalism and freindliness. Which all adds up to a really good night out. We will be going back, thanks for a great evening.

Chef James may not have been in residence today, but as with the Kitchen at Chewton Glen, we weren't disappointed!! He obviously creates the right environment for delivering an amazing culinary experience. Must say a special thanks to Petra who made sure my wife enjoyed her Birthday celebrations, such attentive and friendly service. The food, omg the food! To quote James 'mmmmmmmmmmmm'! The Cotswold Breadboard with Neverend butter was so delicious and set us up for the main event - the Rare Breed Pork Chop with Roscoff Onion and a delicious Apple Sauce - so succulent and tasty, just mouthful after mouthful of food heaven. We enjoyed a Pinot Grigio and Jeremy's local Hawstone Cider offering - again delightful and great accompaniment to the meal. My wife plumped for a delicious Lemon Dessert but we were also pleasantly surprised as the kitchen team delivered a dish of decorated chocolate treats for her Birthday - such a nice touch. We had plenty of time to enjoy the experience, not rushed and made to feel very comfortable. Petra then took us to the lounge to enjoy a coffee to finish of a really enjoyable afternoon in a beautiful and welcoming venue. Thank you so much

We just returned from a mini break in the Cotwolds. We decided to book for Lunch at the James Martin Grill at the Lygon Arms Hotel on our way to our hotel, as we are big fans of James's cooking. So glad we did! The staff were friendly and very efficient, so much so that when my partner twice dropped her napkin the waitress was there in a flash to replace it! Very impressive. We both ordered the Crab Rissotto for starters, which was both tasty and plentiful. We shared the beef platter as our main course, which was also lovely and plenty enough for us. The desserts we had were equally impressive. A throughly enjoyable Lunch and highly recommended. Just one slight negative! Investigate beforehand how to find the free hotel car park's as unless you know you will never find them! No directions are given outside the hotel,but just a minor quibble!

Came here for lunch with 2 girlfriends. What a treat. Lovely pre-lunch walk around Broadway followed by delicious glass of champagne in cosy bar. For lunch we had pork chops and poussin - both excellent as were the vegetables. White wine served well chilled and service very good. Lovely traditional dining room surroundings. Definitely recommend.

We are pretty much weekly visitors to dine in Grill. Rhys, the head chef and his team do a great job as do Max and his team front of house. It is nevertheless very annoying when a so called celebrity chef (James Martin) gets the credit for his “inspired” menu when he is hardly ever there. Furthermore, for JM to alter the spec of your favourite dish, albeit marginally, really is a disappointment! The onsite team led by Graeme and Darren run a great hotel / food operation. Let’s hope the onsite team are given some free rein to “manage” the business they work in.

Fantastic place Max was very good and look after me and my friends extremely well 100% recommend and will be going again

Service was exceptional, food and drinks were tasty. My colleagues and I will definitely be back soon!

Excellent dinner for me and my wife’s anniversary. We really felt spoilt- our food was delicious, and would’ve been 5 stars, however sadly the lady working at the bar, got our drinks order wrong not once but twice, and just seemed a bit distant/unfriendly in general. A blemish on what was otherwise a wonderful evening.

I took my partner here after a friend recommended it and we were not disappointed. The welcome we recieved was so friendly, the food was delicious and the service was quality. Such a lovely atmosphere we will be back.

Tasty food, the service was excellent, very friendly staff, had a nice chat with one of the mangers Max which was very professional and helpful telling us what to do around the village, will definitely come back!!

A very nice welcoming. Had a wonderful lunch, the poussin was delicious, tender and juicy. My friend had the lamb and said it was lovely. Great staff they looked after us very well and made us feel comfortable. Highly recommend Looking forward to coming back. Must check out the tavern next door!

What a great evening enjoyed with great company. From a warm welcome from the host to a little happy birthday plate to finish. Great food matched by Great service ! We will be back !

A special treat during a Cotswolds holiday as we are both fans of James Martin's cooking. Husband had the prawn cocktail starter and being a connoisseur of prawn cocktails (favourite old school starter) he said it was up there with the best. He had the...

We were a table of 6 looking forward to a very special meal for a very special birthday. The food didn’t disappoint and the kitchen provided an excellent service but the front of house service didn’t match this, which, when you are paying for a...

Oh dear! I have given two stars as the ambience of the place is great. The food, however, is not. My lamb rump was overcooked. In fairness the waitress did not ask me how I liked it so maybe that was a clue. I expected...