Review of Blakes Hotel 5*

I booked Blakes for a birthday breakfast treat for my boyfriend. I was really shocked at how poor the service was but more shocked at how basic the food tasted. In reality, I could have gone to any local cafe and had a far superior breakfast. (Blakes isn't a patch on regular brunch spots such as 202, Farm Girl, Farmacy etc). My breakfast came with 1 tomato halfed, 2 mushrooms and 1 piece of toast (That was after ordering a "side of mushrooms and a side of tomatoes" to go with my toast). I asked for more toast to be brought out — the bread was basic cheap sliced pan, that I wouldn't even dream of buying in a supermarket never mind expect to be served when paying such a premium. More toast came — no butter or jam offered at any point, we were expected to eat it dry and COLD. Each time I ordered a coffee, it came with a puddle of coffee on a saucer. My juice came and it was 1/3 of a glass. My boyfriend's full english breakfast was tasteless and he thought it was beyond basic, no flavour. The salt shaker didn't work so I asked for another, to which I was told none of them work so theres no point bringing another. My boyfriend had to politely push, to try to at least find a salt shaker that works. The waiter opened the shaker and suggested I pick out rocks of salt with my fingers. I was horrified. Again, our second course arrived (Pancakes and a fruit chia seed coconut pudding). The pudding was tasteless and bland to eat, it came served in a bowl that had a massive chip of ceramic missing from the rim. Poor attention to detail and not what I would expect from a "5*restaurant", (which is what they say on their website). The maple syrup jug wouldn't open, again it was faulty. Took us a long time to try and flag someone, in the end my boyfriend had to go to the bar and ask for another jug. A staff member brought it to our table, handled with plastic blue gloves which I found really disgusting. Our relaxed leisurely breakfast soon became pressured, as a manager kept appearing and staring over at the table, as if he wished us to hurry up, despite the restaurant being less than 1/3 full. He also appeared to be telling staff off, which I felt I didn't need to see and should not have been done on front of guests. I spent £86 on breakfast, for splashed coffee, dry bread and very very basic tasteless food and poor service. On leaving, I thought to myself, I would have got better food and service in any simple local cafe for a fraction of the price. Blakes was a far cry from a special birthday treat. I will be sticking to other local hotels and brunch spots, that absolutely blow Blakes out of the water. The words "poor" and "basic" don't even summerize how bad the breakfast was. I would advise people not to go there and to look to other great local options instead. Avoid Avoid Avoid!