The George Hotel - Cranbrook, United Kingdom 

The Hotel was lovely and our room was nicely decorated, however the staff were appalling. I had fallen in love with the hotel as it was totally my style of decor etc. The room we had was a little small but tastefully furnished although the bathroom was very small but manageable. On the evening we were there we sat in the lobby bar area before we headed down the road to the local Michelin Starred restaurant (which was excellent by the way!!!). The evening was going well but then I happened to witness the staff coming and going!! - A discussion took place between 2 young men and the gist of the conversation was not pleasant to hear! There appeared to be no management control over any of the staff there whatsoever. The next morning things got worse. Breakfast was a painful comedy of errors! The table of cereals contained more used and empty boxes that full ones, the OJ and milk wasperpetually empty and not once was this table of breakfast goodies ever checked by any of the numerous members of staff. All the guests were constantly having to ask for things several times over. We waited 35 minutes for our beans on toast and bacon roll. Not once did I see anyone clear any tables throughout the mornings service - everythign was left and cleared at the end! None of the staff seemed to know what they were doing - a chap came out of the kitchen with 2 plates of food and asked what table it was for! It is such a shame as this could be a lovely place but I am worried that with the current staff will alient even the most tolerant of traveller.

Our room (Aurum) was nice, airy and bright but the bed is not a king size as stated on the website, it was uncomfortable with a thin matress and hard sponge pillows. The tea and coffee provided is Tetley/Nescafe and UHT milk. Small touches such as a few other tea/coffee options, fresh milk, some bedside tissues, not providing the cheapest toilet roll possible etc would have made this hotel so much nicer, and worth the money. The bathroom was clean, but the shower didn't work (was literally an intermittant dribble). Strangely though, the shower seemed to turn itself on during the night, so 3 times we had to get up to turn it off. I did tell the staff on check out about the shower and they apologised and promised to get it looked at. The restaurant was very atmospheric, the staff were friendly and helpful if a little lacking in knowledge and other staff to help. We waited 30 minutes at our table before even being asked if we'd like a drink. Luckily we weren't in a rush. I ordered the lamb which was too tough to eat, I did let the waitress know. My other half ordered the beef which was amazing so maybe the lamb was an unfortunate mistake. All in all this hotel is overpriced for what it offers and we had a fairly poor quality of stay so we definitely won't be going back. I think this is a shame as the hotel is very pretty and could be so much more with the right management.