Lympstone Manor Hotel Restaurant & Vineyard - Relais & Chateaux

First time we have had afternoon tea here and it was wonderful. The sunshine helped but the food, tea and service were wonderful. The cakes were incredibly fine and delicious and the scones were light and crumbly - just the way they should be.

We stayed for two nights from last Sunday. It was £750 for a night and then we seem to have been charged £28.44 per night discretionary accommodation service charge. We asked for this to be cancelled a few days ago but have yet to receive a reply. None of the other garden rooms seemed to be occupied and the second night we had the pool house restaurant to ourselves. Perhaps they need to look at the prices? It was our wedding anniversary and birthday but there was no special extra. The setting is lovely and our room was lovely. There is no comfortable seating if you want to spend the afternoon on the patio. It was very sheltered and warm.

**** WARNING - THE HOTEL HAS TRIED TO GET THIS REVIEW REMOVED AS THEY CLAIM IT CONTAINS 'PRIVATE' INFORMATION. PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT THE CONTENTS OF THE REVIEW ARE GENUINE AND THE SUPPORTING INFORMATION IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE **** My family of 4, stayed at Lympstone Manor for 5 nights in April 2025. We had one suite and 2 additional rooms for our teenagers. My total spend was nearly £14,000. The hotel is in a lovely setting and it is extremely quiet and private once you are inside the grounds. The booking process was very friendly and efficient, with the hotel even calling me the day before we arrived to check everything. The rooms were adequate but nothing particularly special. The plumbing in all 3 rooms we had was poor and to flush a toilet properly required several attempts which was really annoying. Housekeeping was generally quite poor. Staff knocked on our door before breakfast on the first morning to ask when they could service the suite. We explained that were about to go for breakfast and asked if they could come after then as we planned to go out for the day. To our surprise, when we returned from breakfast, they had already started to service the room which made it a bit awkward. On the following day, the room was serviced very quickly whilst we were at breakfast. We found that towels were not always replaced with new ones, despite leaving them on the floor. It didn't look like the room was vacuumed during our entire stay. Empty wine bottles, carafes and glasses were left in the room, even after housekeeping had been. The thing that really let the hotel down was the service. There is a nice lounge bar area but there was never anyone actually serving in it. Each time we wanted a drink, we had to go and find someone in reception. This was poor for a supposedly 5-star hotel that is serving champagne cocktails for £27 each. When I order two cocktails for £54, I expect good service and I also expect them to be served with nibbles but they were not. We occasionally saw some other guests being served their drinks with nuts but we never received them. On the first day I questioned whether the cocktails came with nibbles, the staff member who didn't speak very good English, fumbled around and eventually produced a bowel of crisps for which I appear to have been charged £3.50 on my final bill. There always seemed to be one of two members of staff loitering around behind the reception desk doing nothing but never anyone actively attempting to take drinks orders. Even ordering another round of drinks meant getting up to find someone. The only member of staff who was proactive in this regard was their apprentice Joe who was really impressive for his age. The hotel had surprisingly few guests when we were staying. One staff member claimed the hotel was 'half full' but I would be surprised if that was even the case. The hotel currently runs heavily discounted lunch promotions to try and generate some revenue. There was a distinct feel th

We booked dinner at The Pool House and were disappointed from the moment we walked through the door. Three staff members looked at us as we entered and ignored us. A waitress finally took us to our table and offered us water. It never arrived. No drinks order was ever taken. The waitress finally returned 20 minutes later to take our food order and seemed surprised when we asked for some drinks. All of the other tables were served bread while they were waiting for their food to arrive but we were not. The restaurant seemed to be short-staffed and had a young trainee on duty who was receiving little or no guidance. Our starters were served so quickly after ordering that our drinks still hadn’t arrived. We made another request for water which then arrived, along with the bread. The main courses were underwhelming. My husband’s seafood curry had the sum total of 3 prawns and 2 very small pieces of salmon in it and a very small portion of rice. Incorrect cutlery was provided for the thin, Indonesian-style sauce. My burger was mediocre at best. We were charged £60 a head despite the menu stating that two courses was £48 (still ridiculously expensive for such basic food). The choice of main courses was similar to that in a gastropub, not what you would expect at Lympstone Manor, albeit The Pool House is more relaxed. We queried the bill on departure and were apparently refunded the difference but it is yet to reach our account. An exceptionally disappointing meal and very poor service for a hefty price tag. We will certainly not be returning.

We have been very lucky to stay at Lympstone Manor and have never been disappointed. We are always planning and looking forward to the next trip when we leave. Simply stunning all round - the service, the setting, the comfort and of course the cuisine!

Not a place I’d rate highly very disappointing. This was booked as surprise birthday present by my wife. The hotel and the rooms are amazing but as this is a foodie place this did not live up to expectations. We ordered a cod main in the pool house restaurant but what came was far from good quality fish this had a blood line running throw both our main courses. We asked the waiter to check with the kitchen that this was not right, and this was brought back to us with the waiter to say its fine and it won’t kill us! Not what you’d expect from a 5-star hotel. We had some of the cod but did not finish it as it was not very appetising. Due to this my wife then fell sick in the night from having the fish. My wife then had a questioner sent to her she filled this out explaining what a disappointment the meal was. This was filled out a few weeks ago and she had no acknowledgment back from the hotel that is why I’m putting this on here as we didn’t have a very good experience. Plus, some of the staff not all need to be a bit more customer friendly. Not a great experience. We won’t be going back.