Rhinefield House Hotel

Returned to Rhinefield as a recharge in beautiful New Forest surroundings. The welcome was warm and was shown to our room - which are named rather than numbered. We opted to breakfast in our room and received a call around the time it was due to confirm our egg order. Within a few moments of that call, we heard a rustling at our door, it wasn’t like the traditional knock of room service. Then another guest in outdoor clothing and a suitcase walked straight in. Both shocked, she excused herself immediately and left. This was bad enough, but it was how it was handled. Please bear with the length, because I want to faithfully and fairly recount what happened. On ringing reception, was told a) it was housekeeping - I assured her it wasn’t and asked the duty manager to call which she eventually did. Although pleasant enough, did not appreciate b) her own anecdote of her experience, c) her advocating of the shock that must have been felt by the guest walking in! It felt as if it was an attempt to deflect and minimise the incident. An offer by way of restitution was made and agreed upon. However on check out - the receptionist referred to the incident thus, d) ‘We have had a miscommunication’. Somewhat taken aback suggested that ‘we’ did not have a miscommunication. A chilled bottled of wine (the same as the one accompanying dinner) was offered, e) only dripping wet and the duty manager literally attempted to hand over the slippery wet bottle, f) leaving me to suggest perhaps it might be an idea (for safety) to dry it and put it in a bag which they had behind the desk, to which I detected a degree of impatience - prompting me to ask genuinely if she had a pressing prior engagement. Finally, in the absence of any explanation of beyond a repeated ‘human error’ broached the subject of how a key was issued in the morning when check-in was at 3pm - received the sheepish ‘There is a conference’ then g) again had to ask how there was a duplicate key issued to an occupied room - when finally they admitted that they had overridden the safeguards put in place to avoid this from happening and that the room names were similar! The point is, it was half-heartedly handled and if they had admitted what had happened upfront, and offered the apology in a manner in keeping with an establishment of it’s calibre - there would be no need to recount this, but as I left not feeling confident that this couldn’t happen again - here we are.

My husband and I held our wedding at Rhinefield House on 17th September 2026 and we received nothing but exceptional service. Annette was our wedding co-ordinator who was simply amazing - she was a great support during our 18 months of wedding planning and nothing was too big of an ask! We also wanted to thank Angie who ensured everything ran smoothly on the day - unfortunately I was poorly on the day itself but Angie went the extra mile to ensure I was okay and made adjustments where necessary. She was incredible. We had so many compliments from guests regarding the food and service so felt it important to also acknowledge the hard work of the chefs and the waiting staff who did an incredible job. The location of the hotel is stunning and the venue is simply breathtaking. We will be back soon - thank you Rhinefield House for helping us to create a day we will remember and cherish forever! Mr & Mrs Bonney

Funnily enough I haven't received an email requesting feedback... My wife and I have just arrived home from our stay at Rhinefield House, and what should have been a nice relaxing stay has been somewhat marred by an interaction we had with the staff at the hotel. We had spent the weekend in Guernsey (where my wife spent the Saturday in the spa at St Pierre Park), and as I surprise for my wife we made a small detour on the way home. When we checked in yesterday evening, we were asked if we wanted to add a credit card to our room for sundries - I declined and stated that I would settle any bill on checkout. This was agreed by the reception staff. We had just finished breakfast this morning, when we were called back by one of the staff as we had a "bar bill" to settle - this was done in front of two guests waiting to be seated, and a room full of other guests already at breakfast. My wife in particular was upset by this, and was close to tears as she relayed this at reception. What I found interesting was at no point during this interaction, nor when we checked out, were we asked for our name. I think it is apparent that Rhinefield House had "profiled" my wife and I for some inexplicable reason. After the complaint, an apology was proffered by waiving the outstanding bar bill - I refused this gesture and paid the £24.75 owed. The fact that you think this indignity could be put right for twenty five quid is, quite frankly, another slight. To say this is disappointing is a huge understatement; we have stayed at Hand Picked Hotels at least half-a-dozen times previously, including for my 50th birthday where we stayed at both Nutfield Priory and Fawsley Hall over a weekend. We will certainly never stay at Rhinefield House again, and are seriously considering whether we will be staying at any of your hotels in future. Sincerely Matthew Podger