Bartley Lodge Hotel

Beautiful wedding venue, perfect for outside ceremony if you get the weather. Old oak panelled room lovely backdrop. Staff service excellent. Take a fan as it is hot in the summer. Comfortable rooms.

We stayed at Bartley Lodge for two nights for a family getaway in the New Forest and, unfortunately, the experience fell well below what we expected for a stay costing around £390. The problems started almost immediately after checking in. A cot had been provided for our two-year-old, but it appeared damaged and wasn’t something we felt comfortable putting her in. It also had no mattress or bedding. The phone in our room didn’t work, so we couldn’t contact reception and had to go downstairs to get help. The cot was eventually removed and we used a trundle bed instead. Unfortunately, the mattress on the other bed, which our five-year-old slept on, was extremely uncomfortable, with the springs very noticeable through it. We ended up flipping the mattress ourselves to try to make it better. There were several other issues with the room. The bathroom sink was leaking onto the floor, there was no hand wash/gel, the fan was incredibly noisy and needed adjusting, and we later found a dog biscuit on the floor near our bed. Overall, the room simply felt very tired and as though it hadn’t been properly checked before we arrived. We asked if we could move rooms because of the leak but were told the hotel was fully booked due to a wedding the following night. We were offered complimentary tea and coffee while the General Manager checked the room, which we appreciated. However, he never came to speak to us or contacted us afterwards. When we returned, the solution to the leaking sink appeared to have been simply putting a towel on the floor. We ate dinner at the hotel on the first evening. The children’s meals were included and we had a £25-per-adult dinner credit as part of our package. The food was okay but nothing particularly memorable. Breakfast was similar, and some items we requested were missed. The pool was closed on our first day due to an incident, which obviously wasn’t something we would criticise the hotel for. We used it the following day, though, and were very disappointed. It felt tired and uninviting, and the sloping floor around the pool didn’t feel particularly child-friendly. The final problem came at checkout. To the hotel’s credit, a receptionist applied a £50 reduction because of the issues we’d experienced with the room. However, when checking the bill, I noticed around £80 of additional food and drink charges, including a bottle of wine and another dinner, that weren’t ours. These were removed when I queried them, but it was yet another thing we had to sort out. For a stay costing around £390 for two nights, the standard of the room and overall experience simply wasn’t good enough. The most frustrating part was that many of the issues — the cot, mattress, leaking sink, broken phone, noisy fan and cleanliness — should have been picked up by a basic room inspection before we arrived. Bartley Lodge has the setting and character to be a lovely hotel, but based on our experience it needs considerably more attention to its rooms, housekeeping and basic quality control. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t return.

Stayed here for a family wedding. We were told on arrival room was ready which when we went to the room was stopped by staff saying it would be ready at the usual time of check in at 3. This was only 15 mins before that time. Iron in the room was dirty and as we were attending a wedding my husband used it for his trousers which were then destroyed by the iron. The taps in the sink moved when turned on so water pressure was poor and it poured onto the floor from under the sink. When the shower was on it also leaked and soaked the floor. We were staying for 2 nights and the room wasn’t serviced on the second day. The restaurant breakfast stated cooked £10 extra but continental included but on our booking it said included in price. I had to as for glasses for juice as none out plus cereal and fruit wasn’t filled so had to ask for this as well. The bar was expensive and when you buy drinks you are told to tap your card but no receipt is given we found this to be overpriced. I don’t recommend this hotel and wouldn’t stay again.