The Gallivant

We were renting a holiday cottage very near to the Gallivant and thought we would dine there one evening during our stay. The ambience of the place cannot be faulted. Lovely furnishings and the Maitre’d was very welcoming and seated us quickly. We were in the back half of the restaurant adjacent to the bar. Our problems began after we were seated. The member of staff assigned to us was very much missing. After 30 minutes we flagged down a member of staff to order a glass of wine. At this time, there was only our table and one other occupied in this area. We eventually were served with a glass of wine each and some menus. The wine was expensive and very ordinary. We had to ask for menus and flag someone down to take our order. We waited and waited and waited. Our waitress was in the bar area complaining to a member of staff that complaints had been made about her. You could sort of understand this if the other clients were having a hard time getting the staff member to perform. The service was appalling, i.e. hot plates of food passed over my husband’s head. The main course brought to the next table when they were still eating their starters. Our food was indifferent and we ate and left.

This was our first visit to The Gallivant but I sincerely hope that it won’t be our last. From start to finish this was a wonderful experience. The staff are warm and friendly and provide excellent service. Our room was upgraded as a touching surprise as we were here to celebrate our silver anniversary. We had a beautiful garden room with a magnificent free standing bath and French windows opening onto a private terrace area. It was lovely sitting in the sun! We dined at Harry’s and enjoyed every mouthful. We sat in the bar area afterwards and played backgammon. Wonderful hotel - can’t recommend enough.

Curb appeal: It is a low rise building whose main door is in the middle of a busy car park, so not much curb appeal, although they try very hard with some beautiful planting 6/10 Location: the hotel is just off the main road, on the otherside there is a substantial car park for camber sands beech. The hotel cleverly tries to disguise its location, but the road noise is significant. 5/10 Hotel: nice bar area and seating, restaurant is also nice but outside the road is very audible. Some nice touches like the beech towels and other similar touches. Rooms: the tiniest room ever. We stayed one night and had no space to even open the overnight bag, no wardrobe, the bathroom has no ventilation, or window so it smells very damp. Minimal in room tea facilities. Two teabags and two sachets of coffee which, considering the price is extremely poor. . Nice garden access. The room was clean-ish. There was a leftover can of redbull on the top shelf near the door from the previous occupant. Not quite sure why they even put it there, but I would expect better. Pre dinner cake: we arrived at 17:50, so missed it and it wasn't offered. The glass of wine which was part of the deal, and it came without any bubbles or even a handful of crisps. For the price I would have expected them to at least offer the cake and have a little better touches than just the glass of wine. Poor show. 4/10, Dinner. A coupon of very nice staff members, dinner was ok, nothing to shout about. The lqmv was delicious but the salsa verde overwhelmed it. The prawns severe as a starter, were really not worth it, they were overcooked and served with what tasted like shop bought mayo. For 23 GBP i think that was truly poor. The pate was, however sublime, not enough bread and no bread offered during the meal, so you are eating pate on over toasted sourdough. Desert was ok, again nothing to write home about. Breakfast was truly sad. Served outside, half the tables were left with the chairs on them so it felt very weird, especially as people were waiting to be seated. The food was not great. A tray with a yoghurt, two strawberries and a couple of blueberries between us and literally two slices of ham and one slice of cheese between us. Appreciate there is a need to avoid waste, but they would be better off having a menu. This was truly poor. Service and billing: Watch the bill. They had added a whole section that they removed the movement I asked to check the bill. They also included service charge (on the full amount even if the meal was included in the price approx 30 GBP dinner service) and a further approx 25 GBP for the room which I find ridiculous. Do check the bill carefully. We were chatting late (23:30) and the staff was packing up around us not subtly but walking around with plastic bags picking up the litter. We sat there for hours and no one asked us if we wanted a drink, admittedly we could have gone to the bar, but I would have expected them at least to ask as they were closing up. Now, I know these things are minor to some, but I am reviewing based on the price paid which is over 700 GBP per one night all in. Overall: I had a nice time, and had the hotel been positioned for charging at 360 GBP, would have been delighted. At the cost it is pitching itself at, it cannot compete with the expectation it's sets. Having been round a number of such hotels, I feel fairly well positioned to judge. If money is no object, then this is a nice overnight stay.