Dovecliff Hall Hotel

Ambiance and excellent staff, food, friendly

Showers need updating

This grand hotel sits in its own grounds with a winding road leading you from the main road in the middle of Staffordshire. Staff greeted us with a smile and before long we were making our way up the fantastic staircase to our room. Views from the huge window overlooked the fast moving river which was a bonus. Breakfast was presented in the orangery, professionally & all food was fresh & appealing. Once again, staff were the star of the show.

On entry to the room,however, I noticed immediately as I passed the bathroom that the bath panel was clearly in need of repair as it was hanging off the side of the bath. Staff immediately offered an alternative room & guided us there. The room was huge, clean & the bed a pleasure to sleep in after a long day travelling. The bathroom & decor was very dated with mould &, on closer inspection, the bathroom sealant was, in parts, missing around the bath. The fan was noisy but did its job well. Overall, this property is living off past glories & without superb & dedicated staff, the visit would have been very disappointing. My grandma had a saying that comes to mind when someone or something who looks glamorous, flashy or expensive on the outside, lacks substance or class on closer inspection - this is how I would describe Dovecliff Hall Hotel - fur coat & no knickers.

Charming country house hotel - beautiful Staff extremely kind and helpful

Old plumbing in my room meant a cold shower at the start of a ling day but the staff were kind and sympathetic and discounted my bill to compensate

A lovely setting!

Clean tidy and a relaxing atmosphere.

Nice hotel with a good location. Very nice reception and service staff.

Dinner was poor. Starter of scallops was good but the chicken liver and truffle parfait was ok at best. It was bottled truffles sliced and placed between the parfait. Tasted nothing of truffle. Over cooked steak and chicken. Dessert was soggy and tasteless. Staff were very helpful and we were not charged for 2 glasses of wine because of the steak i think, so their heart is in the right place. We did not ask for a discount but it was kind of the restaurant team to do so. Breakfast again was really hard bacon, black pudding was not peeled and fried egg was way overcooked. Its a nice property which it if had a good restaurant it would be outstanding. Shower was really bad. Hardly any water comes out of it. Good bath tub. Bed was great.

. Peaceful rural location: While transportation was a challenge, the hotel’s rural location offers a quiet and scenic environment for those seeking a calm setting.

I am writing to formally express my deep dissatisfaction with the way we were treated during our checkout on [insert date]. At 12:30 p.m., one of your staff members insisted that we leave the room immediately, despite our repeated explanation that we were waiting for our friend who had taken the car to attend a meeting and that we would depart as soon as he returned. Instead of showing understanding, the staff member continued to pressure us and even demanded that we not remain in the hotel lobby, citing a wedding event as the reason. What was even more unacceptable is that we were asked to wait outside the hotel with our luggage. This is entirely inappropriate, unprofessional, and contrary to the most basic standards of hospitality—especially considering that your property is located in a rural area with no available transportation. This situation placed us in a highly uncomfortable and embarrassing position. After several attempts to explain our circumstances, the staff finally agreed to allow us to wait in a library located at the far end of the hotel. While this was a slightly better alternative, it did not change the fact that the overall experience was unpleasant and unworthy of a hotel that welcomes guests. This experience was not only inconvenient but also disrespectful, and it has left us with a lasting negative impression of your hotel. We must emphasize that this level of service is unacceptable, and as a result, we will not consider your hotel for any future stays. We strongly urge you to review your guest service policies and staff training to ensure that no other guests are subjected to such treatment in the future

The setting, the staff and the food. Very comfy mattress

The room was dated. Two of the pillows were really flat. Should have asked at reception but forgot.

It was stunning. The building, decor, bedroom, bathroom-everything was beautiful. All the staff we encountered were friendly and professional and the breakfast was epic! (I wish I’d taken a photo!)

My only criticism is that the shower/water pressure in the bathroom wasn’t that great.

The hotel was fine in every respect, but the most attractive feature was the extensive grounds.

Could not say.

Beautiful country house set away from roads. The staff were delightful, polite and very smiley. The breakfast was good but the evening meal was exceptional albeit London prices The rooms were large and very comfortable

The weather but not the hotels fault!! My only suggestion would be to have a top sheet under duvet as it was still warm weather wise and the quilt was too warm .

Breakfast very good staff very helpful. Very quiet lovely.

Staff. Location. Room7

Room 4. Cobwebs and spiders. In bathroom. Outdoor lighting floods into room so you can’t leave the windows a jar to get a breeze on hot nights. Pitiful water pressure. What’s the point of a big corner bath? If you’d have to stay there a week to fill it and yes, I know it’s old but fit a pump?!

Staff very friendly. A warm welcome. Room and bathroom quite spacious. Loved being able to open the big sash windows.Food in restaurant very good.

Young staff wearing casual clothes. Would like to have seen uniforms in a 4* hotel. Not a very professional first impression. Pillows very hard. Nice to have a choice of softer pillows. No information in the room. On arrival, we had to ask times for breakfast and dinner but when we asked to see a menu, the young lady printed a copy for us which we appreciated. Visited during a heatwave but we couldn't get any cool water in the shower. Even on lowest setting it was too hot to stand under.

Location. Gardens and all the staff were very friendly

There was no wine list. Great that the staff know the wine menu but I would have liked a menu. Limited vegetarian choice on menu. The bathroom door in room 9 didn’t have a lock and could do with pain touch ups.

Location was ideal, clean environment. Parking available. Well kept grounds. Staff catered for allergies extremely well and were very pleasant. Overall a good experience.

We were allocated quite a small room at the top of the staircase and were disturbed by noisy guests throughout the night. Struggled with the bath taps to get the water temperature right. Added to it a couple of flies and a spider visited us in the room.

Lovely building. Excellent food well prepared by a very good chef.

The rooms and bathrooms are tired and smell of carpet cleaner. I requested a change of room because of all the dead flies and mess in and around the windows.

Excellent food wonderful staff

Slightly tired needs updating but the service and food great

it was clean, neat and tidy in a beautiful setting and a quiet location

we were traveling on a motorcycle and when doing so we try to book good hotels with good facilities including an onsite restaurant, so that when we arrive after a days motorcycling we can park up, change out of our motorcycle gear and relax for the evening with a glass of wine and a nice meal knowing we do not have to go anywhere else that evening. we had no notification from the hotel that restaurant space was limited and only found out that it was fully booked for the evening after it was no longer to cancel free

Fabulous building and a lovely setting

The restaurant is closed on a Sunday night - this is not mentioned on Booking.com - we had to take a taxi to a nearby village to find dinner.

Friendly homely clean good food fantastic location and grounds just a lovely experience

Bit of wait to be seated and served for evening meal

Elegant surroundings. Decor was quality and the hall was set in beautiful gardens and countryside.

It was all good

Lovely old period house and gardens

Nothing, it was lovely

Wonderful location. Very characterful building - very high standard of cleanliness. Great breakfast. I would recommend Dovecliff Hall Hotel to anyone.

Not applicable.

Breakfast was excellent and beds very comfortable

The staff and the dining room

The decoration was tired. The paint was flaking on the windows. No facility for EV cars to charge. A light appeared one night above the curtains and we couldn’t turn it off. When we told them in the morning the reception staff seemed to think it was amusing - we did not.

Stayed in this hotel for one night checked out to have a email to say they wanted £700 off us for damages we apparently did when we asked for pictures of the damages they refused to send it to booking.com or us

location good and staff friendly comfortable bed

a bit tired and not able to have dinner as there was an event on. Wasn't told this in booking . Had to get a taxi to town to eat out . The room had extension leads for tv, which was intermittent , a portable heated radiator . could have been better laid out and parts missing off the wardrobe .

Super sandwiches on arrival. Excellent wonderfully cooked dinner. Amazing breakfast. Staff were very helpful. The room was spacious, comfortable, quiet, warm and clean. A jewel of a hotel in an unlikely area

There was nothing I could fault at all. I am reluctant to praise it too greatly because I want rooms available when I revisit.

The hotel is on lovely grounds. The hotel itself has some lovely parts (downstairs toilets). The older lady on reception was warm and helpful. The rooms were spacious, and the ground floor ones had a terrace.

The reception definitely needs some updating, as do the rooms. We had 5 rooms, each of them needed a face-lift and had an old smell. I'd suggest some reed defusers, reinforcing all the floorboards, replacing the carpets (as I'm sure that where the smell came from) with some polished wood paneling, or better than that marble (a light colour will lighten the feel of the reception area). Perhaps updating the art and some decorative features.it just needs some TLC to bring up the experience, just as has been done in the downstairs ladies' toilets.