I never book a hotel without checking reviews here on Trip Adviser and had begun to consider these reviews as a form of guarantee. Well I had my confidence severely jolted by a recent weekend stay at Redesdale Arms. I paid "book" price of £95 per night for a room in the new annex. Other rooms were £85.00. It was rather motel like in that one parked right outside and the entrance door from the courtyard opened into the room without a small hall or vestibule. Thus there was a certain amount of coming and going late at night; irritating but tolerable. The room was very dark and even at mid afternoon with the sun shining we had to have the lights on. That in itself would disuade me from ever staying at this place again. However the room was clean, well furnished and the double bed [two joined singles] wide and comfortable enough. Thoughtful touches were tea and coffee maker, clock CD player and a large umbrella supplied. A newspaper was delivered as requested. The bathroom was clean but the radiator was as hot as I`ve experienced and the raised entrance to the shower was very close with the result that I suffered a severe burn when I stumbled from the shower and my leg brushed against the radiator. My carelessness certainly but for a child or an elderly person....???

My main gripe is concerning the restaurant lauded by various reviewers. We booked for 8.15pm Friday night and on our appearance were asked to wait in the lounge bar. We waited and we waited and we waited....at 8.40pm we went to the restaurant and indicated our annoyance that no menu had been forthcoming. It arrived five minutes later. We enquired of the lamb chump on the menu and the waitress replied that it was newly on the menu and she couldn`t comment. At about 9.pm we were told our table was ready. After one starter the main courses one of which was the lamb chump arrived at 9.15pm. It was badly underdone. We hadn`t been asked how we wished it to be cooked and we had kept silent at the ordering stage.....our fault or their fault? When it was re-cooked it was edible. However mashed potatoes were bland and tasteless.......no option offered and the mixed vegetables undercooked. Anyway carrot topped with honey is not a favourite. The chilled something or other brule came rock hard and was returned when the spoon was barely able to effect penetration. My request not to charge it was respected. We cancelled our booking for dinner the second night and had a fine Balti at a little restaurant at the top of the road. Breakfast served in a different room was a little better although both pairs of poached eggs on the first morning were very hard. There was a very limited selection of cheese....one variety sharing a plate with ham, no rolls or bread for self service........just toast brought to the table brown or white and no yoghurts. The hot scrambled eggs, mushroom and tomatoes were OK although the hash browns were far too hard. The coffee was FINE &HOT! The ubiquitous form for comments [negative] was left with the duty manager when the bill was paid. Why my e-mail details and full address were requested I do not know because to date I`ve had no reply from the Manager who "wanted to hear from me".

So there you are reader. I have described our experience. I was disappointed but then am I too fussy?

I booked the Redesdale Arms as a surprise for my Husband's birthday, based on the reviews on trip advisor and we were not disappointed. Our room, one of the new exectutive rooms, with a 4 poster bed, was lovely and apart from not being able to get the Jacuzzi to work, we had no complaints. The food in the restaurant was fantastic. I wish I could've had all of the puddings as they all looked amazing. I had the creme brulee which was delicious and you get huge cups of coffee. Breakfast was also delicious and plenty of it.

All in all I would highly recommend it and we will definitely be going back there again.

Booked this hotel for a valentines break and what more can I say than it was brilliant. The hotel is based around an old inn premises and whilst the the executive room we stayed in was to the rear of the premises and allowed coming and going without even entering the pub premises how could you resist drinking alcohol in front of a roaring log fire!!! We ate at the hotel for both nights and can say without reservation that the food is excellent and would recommend the 'massive' onion rings to anyone! Don't know how suitable this location would be for families with very small children in light of it being based at a pub but with excellent home cooked food, more than helpful staff and fab surroundings/rooms I couldn't fault it at all!

We stayed at the Redesdale Arms last week as a surprise for my husbands 60th birthday, the hotel is lovely and the rooms are beautiful. The meals were fab and the staff are wonderful ,nothing too much trouble and great big smiles, in fact I've spent the last few days raving about the place we will definately return there ,wish we were going again this weekend. A great place ,central for visiting the Cotswolds and station 10 mins walk away easy access to Oxford and London. Fantastic