Bestwood Lodge

We had our wedding here and the wedding planner Stephen "helped" to organise the wedding. It was a constant battle to get in contact with him to ask the most basic questions. He was always off or "busy". This heightened the anxiety of everyone as it was a struggle to get any information.

Wedding guests were mistakenly told they had no booking, in which multiple phone calls were made to Bestwood until eventually they told us that they had a different booking system for weddings which the receptionist was not aware of?

Due to COVID-19 a DJ was not allowed, we understand this is not anyone's fault; however, they told us the bad news 2 days before the wedding, so it was impossible to organise something else, again another let down

The meals were either undercooked, overcooked and had dirty cutlery (which is even worse, considering the pandemic).

We paid for the Queen Victoria room and were very disappointed, considering the price. The curtains were filthy, the room was freezing, there were many cracks in the walls and the toilet wasn't working until someone came to fix it. The wallpaper was falling off the wall and there was ash all over the carpet near the fireplace, so it's clear that it was not cleaned properly.
We made the sensible decision to take the sheets off the mattress (I'm glad we did this just before leaving). The mattress was disgusting with multiple heavy stains, no attempt to clean it at all.

The staff (generally) and the surrounding grounds of Bestwood Lodge were nice and we appreciate that during COVID things will have been more difficult for all, however the disorganisation, lack of communication, and unhygienic rooms, dirty cutlery etc was not worth the value we paid, as this caused a great amount of disappointment, stress and confusion for all involved.

After the wedding we needed to get in touch with the wedding planner Stephen, as there were a few things left behind, including an easel which was stolen. We asked for the CCTV footage and we were given multiple excuses over the coming months. Eventually he stopped answering any of our emails and dodging our phone calls. The company Best Western who we complained to, couldn't even get in touch with him.

We had a MUCH better experience from a 3 star Premier Inn. We recommend that no one books a wedding here or stays as a guest as you will be heavily disappointed.

Just wanted to say a massive thank you for everything you did for our perfect wedding day I was truly amazing and all the staff were lovely and helpful xx

We just wanted to say a big thank you for our amazing day, all the staff were amazing and the food was heavenly.

The rooms were beautiful, the decorations were spectacular and the DJ rocked. Even when the wind brought a tree down you had everything in hand, the day ran so smoothly and for us it was completely stress free.

Thank you for making our day one that we will remember not only for our wedding but surprising our daughter with a cake for her 13th.

We will definitely recommend your hotel to anyone that would like to hold and event for any reason.

We’ve attached some photos that our guests took and when we have access to the other photos we’ll send you some more.

With the most sincere thanks

Mr & Mrs Walters

I got married here on 22nd December 2018. Myself and the wedding party stayed the night before the wedding and the night of the wedding. All of our rooms were lovely and I had a complimentary upgrade which was a nice touch, the breakfast too was delicious. All the way through the planning of our wedding we were treated incredibly well and all members of staff were friendly and approachable. I would like to take the time to specifically mention Jodie who helped me organise the day all the way through, nothing was too much trouble. Stephen, Simon and Tanya – you are all lovely people and made sure the day went so smoothly – thank you. The bar staff at night time too!! Our day was perfect and you all played a part in that. I would highly recommend having your wedding at Bestwood Lodge as the ‘All Inclusive’ aspect took so much stress out of the planning. The day was incredible and the photographs we have of the spectacular views and the hotel itself are just perfect. Will definitely be coming here as much as we can, the food is lovely. Don’t expect a super modern hotel, with its Victorian feel and beautiful grounds this hotel is so much more and the most perfectly romantic place to get married. Just wish we could do it all again. Thank you again to all at Bestwood Lodge.

We both had the most amazing time at the hotel.
The wedding reception was everything we wanted it to be. All the guests were very impressed with the food, the facilities, the staff.
My Husband was speechless when he saw our room for the night. I knew he’d like it.
The day just went so smoothly. We couldn’t have done it without you.
We will definitely come back and have some celebratory days at the hotel. Very happy memories.
Thank you so much Jodie

Hiya chris and Kirsty here. We held our wedding reception with you on Saturday. We just wanted to thank you for everything you did for us. Our day was perfect from starting planning to the very end of the night between Stephen, Jodie, Simon and Pauline our whole experience will generally be a day and time to remember and we will cherish our memories with you. You went above and beyond on our day to make sure it was perfect. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts

Everyone involved was polite and made the day very special especially the co ordinator who ensured the day went smoothly . Centre pieces and sashes were beautiful. Food was enjoyed by all, no complaints.

Everything ran perfectly and really smoothly. Tanya was brilliant she couldn't do more for us.

Firstly, thank you and your staff for all your attention - our two aims for the day were
a) we would get married
and
b) our guests would have a good time
Think we succeeded on both counts!
The feedback we've had from our guests has been nothing but positive - they all had a great time, and look back with much fondness for the event. The catering was great, and in the right quantities. And thanks for arranging the punchbowls - that seemed to go down really well.

Timings and set up was great.The group of people who served our food, marvelous job, everyone had hot food and liked it.

Everything was absolutely perfect we couldn't have asked for the day to have gone any better, everyone had a great time and most importantly Hannah and myself did too. All timings and the whole set up of the day were perfect and exactly what we wanted.
To be honest we really couldn't think of anything to suggest to improve the day the whole team on the day executed everything perfectly.
We both felt we would like to give a special thanks to Tanya as she was excellent all day she made everything happen as we wanted, another mention to Ben the dj everyone had a great evening, Jodie for being so great at responding and sorting out all our final details quickly and efficiently and a massive thank you to whole team on the day all the bar staff all the waiters and waitresses did a great job.

Couldn't fault the venue, food or service but we were told we were getting a certain room overlooking the gardens where our guests would be in the evening. Then a lager party obviously booked & the rooms we booked for parent were then changed to single rooms with 2 pillows , son was dumped in a attic type room & the bridesmaids room was not available , she had a taxi home. We left the next morning without saying a word !

I'd like to thank you all for making my wedding the most wonderful and special day of my life!
T was just perfect!
Thank you!!!

You were all fantastic and our day was just excellent. Firstly, thank you for all of your help in the planning of the day and your patience.
Secondly, nothing was to much trouble on the day.
You are all brill!