Grapevine Hotel

Starting with the positive the hotel is in a good central location for walking round Stow on the Wold and the beds are really comfortable. We had a problem with a wonky toilet seat that slid to one side every time you sat on it, and a shower head that sloped downwards and inwards so I informed reception. I was told these things had been fixed on day 2 but there was no change. They don't have a maintenance person and apparently expect the housekeeping staff to repair such things which was clearly out of their remit. Nothing got fixed during our 3 night stay, this is not a cheap hotel and I expected better. They have also stopped providing a buffet breakfast but have forgotten to tell 3rd party providers who still have pictures of it posted. Now all you get is a hot dish, juice and coffee - that's it. The "coffee" was brown coloured water that neither smelled nor tasted of coffee. On day 2 I asked for stronger coffee but was presented with the same, despite them having a large commercial coffee machine behind the counter. My eggs benedict came with hard egg yolks and my husband's giant mushroom was almost raw so they don't appear to have a trained chef. The breakfast was so bad we decided to pay for breakfast elsewhere on our last morning.

We booked a meal.for four at the Sheep. We were made to feel very welcome and the 2 course meal was just the ticket. Speed of delivery and service couldn't be faulted. . We ordered 2× pie of the day which was tasty and filling with excellent gravy!; and 2× salmon also good). The choice of desserts was excellent ( eg, the pear mousse, and the strawberry eton mess with blackberry ice cream). Very Instagram worthy; and even more importantly very more-ish! The restaurant itself looks classy and well looked after and the we felt that it was just a very nice and relaxing place to have lunch; and we look forward to going again soon. And as it's in the centre of Stow very convenient for mooching around all the quirky shops in Stow.

Wonderful atmosphere and the very best people. Scott was amazing!