Burley Manor

We stayed for 2 nights . The staff were all lovely and helpful. The room was lovely, if a little tired. Breakfasts were excellent. Dinners were a little limited but tasty. Great walks out of the hotel in the New Forest. Dogs especially welcome.

We booked a garden room with decking and direct access to the gardens. Instead, we were given Room 27, which had a notice on the back door saying it was shut for maintenance. We raised this with reception straight away, as this wasn’t what we had booked or paid for. A manager came round and offered us a shepherd’s hut instead, but we explained that we didn’t want to stay in one as they looked quite run down. We asked if a discount would be possible instead, which she kindly agreed to. I then checked TripAdvisor and found a review from May 2025 mentioning the exact same issue with this room being sold as having garden access when the back door couldn’t be used. Over a year later and it’s still being sold this way! We then had a proper look at the back door and realised it was secured with a flimsy slide bolt, with a gap around the door. The decking itself looked absolutely fine, so it seems the real “maintenance” issue is the hotel won’t pay for a lock repair. We probably would have left it at that, but the service when we checked out really topped it off. The receptionist explained our discount and said that, after our bar tab had been deducted, we still had £19 left from the agreed amount and told us to “go spend it in the bar”. We explained that we were checking out and leaving, so obviously we didn’t want to spend another £19 in the bar, especially at 10am in the morning! She huffed, then proceeded to sit there obviously checking messages on her phone while we waited 😂 It honestly felt like a comedy sketch. After checking her WhatsApp, she reluctantly processed the £19 refund back onto our card. It’s a shame because the younger members of the bar staff were absolutely brilliant and really friendly. I wish we’d checked the reviews before booking. If you’re specifically paying extra for a garden room with direct garden access, I’d definitely recommend checking exactly what room you’re being given before you arrive.

Location fantastic, food good, staff somehow very neutral, no problems with service but no real engagement. It is an old building and you expect things to be a bit worn at the edges but this place is more shabby than shabby chic - It does need investment before it becomes really run down and starts to feel dirty.