Ockenden Manor Hotel & Spa

Love the building, setting and have had some amazing lunches and dinners. Last weeks visit was just awful. Lunch. Dull menu, sweetcorn soup, burgers…?? What’s happened, was always special. We skipped starters and had fish. One overcook, under seasoned, plaice fillet, dry. Mins was rediculous..! I asked for the haddock. Requested mixed veg, peas, asparagus and green beans. Did it come with potatoes..? Online menu said mash, restaurant menu, didn’t mention. So ordered some mash. What came was luke warm food. It was a small amount of flaked haddock, mixed in with mash, like dull tasteless baby food. Got just 4 spears or asparagus..?? Asked for dry rose, we got sweet. Girls were nice but not a clue re menu, wines or service. Cold coffee. Not good coffee, but a nice big bill. Was a special treat and to be honest ruined. We were both shocked. What’s gone wrong, with the menu and chefs…? I had emailed but no reply as yet.

Another wonderful day at Ockenden Manor. From the moment I arrived I was welcomed by everyone and the facilities are the best I've ever experienced. The facilities are fantastic; sauna, steam room, tropical 'walk through' shower, indoor and outdoor hot tubs, indoor pool and (my absolute favourite) an outdoor pool too. All you really need to take is a swimsuit as absolutely everything else is provided; towels, gowns, flip-flops, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, body lotion and hairdryers, as well as tea, coffee and water. The lunch was in the original building; the tables were set with 'real' tablecloths, serviettes and silver cutlery. My only ****** was that the food wasn't of the same standard as previous visits. Overall, a lovely day and one I hope to do again soon.

The hotel is in a beautiful setting within its own gardens and the South Downs in the distance. The staff are all very helpful, welcoming and personable. The food is wonderful and the local wines are delicious . The rooms are a good size with all amenities you would need and most have wonderful views. Some areas of the hotel are looking a little tired and some areas could use a deep clean .The bed and pillows are just too soft for me and give you no support. But all in all a very nice place to stop.

We had our small wedding at Ockenden and the hotel and staff were absolutely amazing. The hotel offered the charm and character of a 15th century manor house you would expect and the staff provided top quality service. The food was excellent quality.

There were so many things we liked about this hotel. To put it in perspective, we have stayed at hotels like Gravetye Manor, limewood and the pig at Bridge Place. We had a Sussex room which was roomy and had a lovely view and comfy bed. We ate at the hotel and had cocktails before. It’s not cheap but it was our anniversary and we found the food and drink to be excellent. We both had the Sweetcorn, Chorizo and truffle oil soup and a we joked about ordering a second bowl it was so nice. Breakfast was also very tasty, nice buffet of cold items including fresh squeezed juice. The coffee was first class, quite important to me. Staff were helpful. We used the spa. The steam room was hot like a Turkish Hamman which suited me. Lots of areas to relax inside and out and drinks dispensers hot and cold. A great pool too. There are nice places to sit and enjoy a drink including a nice bar area which opens onto the pretty gardens. We had a lovely stay, could have stayed another night easily, Cuckfield is pretty and there are places to eat within walking distance.

The winter menu looked very good and the reviews were good so we booked a stay and dinner to celebrate a big wedding anniversary. We were very disappointed indeed. I don't like public criticism so I wrote a personal letter to Mr Smith, the General Manager, telling him how we got on so that he could quietly look into it and deal with things. I had a nice response from Reception saying that they would forward the message to him. Since then I have not even had the courtesy of an acknowledgement from the manager and so feel that potential guests should be warned. Our room was alright but management/designer have obviously never actually used the room. There was nowhere to hang a wet raincoat and a guests' path put them at head height beside an uncurtained window directly into our room. Worst of all was that the lighting level was so dingy that you cannot read after dark. We had booked an anniversary dinner and were very disappointed. The goats cheese croquettes were excellent and the smoked salmon very good although it looked forlorn served to accomodate my wife's dietary needs. The porchetta was tender and fairly tasty but everything except for the pommes anna was either only luke warm or actually cold and was served on only just warm plates. My wife's creamed potato was barely warm but served with chilled sour cream topping making it so cold as to be uneatable. The vegetables were tough. My brownie was a reasonably nice piece of cake but was not a brownie and the tarte tatin looked horrid and was unappetising. I know that the guests at an adjacent table were also disatisfied. The hotel kindly provided a decorated anniversary plate with some petit fours but it was pretty unimaginitive to put three petit fours on a plate for two people.

Booked a 1 night spa break as birthday treat for my mum and we both had a amazing stay from start to end. We had a lovely room overlooking the stunning gardens. As as an added birthday treat we were given complimentary sparkling wine which was a nice surprise. The spa was first class, excellent facilities and we felt totally relaxed. Dinner was delicious and nice menu choices. The waiting staff were very attentive and made us feel very comfortable no aloof pretentious attitude you can find in some other country spa hotels. Again we were very spoilt with some petite fours as a birthday treat which was a nice end to the meal. Mums had a lovely pedi and commented on how friendly and knowledgeable the therapist was. We will definitely be returning and is top of my list of favourite spas

Unfortunately since our last visit in September the hotel seems to have lost some of its polish. The pool area was not very clean on Sunday afternoon, lots of cups around & hair etc on the floor. The walk from the spa to the main hotel is quite unattractive with rusty wheelbarrows, building materials and hoses on display. The wooden fencing and handrails around the car park and spa were loose and broken in places, a safety issue on the steps from the spa rooms! Our room, Clara, was generally clean but there were finger marks and white spots of something on the glass doors and dust on the floor in the WC obviously completed in a rush. We were also disappointed that we were given a room with broken glass drawers in the bathroom when most of the other rooms in the spa were available- was this the best one? The staff were all fantastic though we cannot fault the service we received and the fabulous food (apart from the disappointing poached eggs at breakfast) but the broken trim around the shutters and dead flies on the window sills in the dining room just reinforced our opinion that the hotel needs some TLC for the price being charged. I don't think we'll be back.

We stayed for two nights in a cosy room the bed was like a cloud we slept so well. All staff were extremely friendly and nothing was too much trouble. It was a short walk to the modern Spa from the Manor House and had fantastic facilities, offered treatments free tea/coffee/refreshments. We spent the day floating about...inside/outside/mainly horizontal in the sun. Fine dinning was served in the Manor House Restaurant, overlooking the stunning garden with a beautiful view across the grounds/skyline. This Hotel is a secret gem cannot recommend it highly enough- We will be back to enjoy their hospitality again soon.