Howard's House Hotel

We loved our stay here with our friends. Whilst I know there are some areas in the hotel which are beginning to show their age, we were very impressed by the setting, our rooms and, above all, the superb dinner. The venison was wonderful, declared a winner by the two husbands, the hake delicious (chosen by both wives). As for the desserts, they were all exceptional. The service throughout was excellent, and we all agreed this was one of the best meals we'd had in a long while. Breakfast the next morning was very pleasant, and we were sorry to leave. I do hope the owners (who intend to take over and renovate the hotel) don't change the ambience. Or the chef and lovely staff!

This Country house hotel is exactly as its title. Its not modern and contemporary - it’s beautiful and comfortable. So very peaceful and lovely garden to enjoy. Ideal for time together, to focus attention on each other rather than other distractions. The room was clean, cosy and comfortable, the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, welcoming and nothing too much trouble. We had the tasting menu (8 course), and after watching the latest series of Masterchef - we actually felt as if we were experiencing it! The food was absolutely delicious, it was cooked to perfection and tasted amazing. Great choice of wine, and a fabulous lounge when you could chill out and kick your shoes off!! Breakfast was perfect too. We will 100% be returning - thank you to everyone x Dawn & Helen Crossley-Knowles

We had been looking forward to this trip, but should have noticed that most awards had been given a few years ago - I had assumed this was the impact of Covid. On arrival, the paint on the sign was scruffy. A tiny issue, but gave a clue. We were told where our room was and given the key . In high quality boutique hotels you get shown the facilities. Setting delightful but much of decor rather tired. Dinner - excellent friendly waiting staff, but pre-dinner nibbles in the lounge seemed a bit stale / probably had been defrosted. Identical offering both nights. That is really poor - and the amuse bouche was the same both nights too. Indeed - the whole menu was identical for both nights. I would expect that in a chain hotel, not in a luxury country house hotel. Large group in dining room one evening which made it unpleasantly noisy and like we were an unwanted nuisance. And it is totally unacceptable to charge £11 for a cafetière of coffee after dinner. Breakfasts were excellent and staff were friendly and helpful , but we regret choosing this as a luxury break. It wasn’t.

Desperate to spend a Xmas gift voucher with only a 6 month time limit, my wife and I enjoyed a wonderful and comfortable overnight stay at this rather special hotel in the Wiltshire countryside providing a fine dining experience. In fact the dishes they served us were on par with the Chewton Glen Hotel standards which we regularly visit. We passed on our comments to the chef via the proprietor.

Really great hotel and a fantastic restaurant. We would recommend the scallops for first course followed by Venison. The Venison was so tender it melted in your mouth! The is the third time we have been to the restaurant and it is consistently excellent. This time we decided to stay overnight. The breakfast menu was extensive and excellent.

This is a poor excuse for a hotel. We booked it for a much needed break without children, last weekend. We arrived, there was nowhere for us to sit, clearly greed got the better of them and they had overbooked it. The bins were lined up outside at the front, which were not only unsightly but also smelly and didn't exactly scream country house luxury. The room they showed us was filthy. We were ushered into a cold dark side room, the only thing to do was look at their "ornamental" collection of old batteries (very weird). Were there papers to read? No. Could we sit by a fire? No. We were asked to order our food for the evening at lunchtime as they had "significant staff shortages". This is a classic example of a tired hotel, with apathetic management and greedy owners. Although, it's rare to find such a lack of empathy and hospitality in this day and age. Rereading the website tag-line is laughable in hindsight: "a genuinely warm welcome from proprietors whose pride and passion shines through every aspect of their hospitality. Life’s pressures will soon seem far away." I’m afraid this statement could not be further from the truth (and is almost certainly in violation of The 1968 Trade Descriptions Act!). The whole experience was so bad we had to move to another hotel. I gather Howard's House is about to be taken over- Good - it can't come soon enough. Noelle and Simon should be ashamed of themselves. Do NOT book this hotel - go to the Beckford Arms (10mins down the road) instead it's much much nicer and the food is lovely.