The Stag on the River

We stayed overnight on a weekday on a dinner, bed and breakfast offer from the venue's website. It was absolutely excellent: the welcome was friendly and check-in fast, our room was fabulous (immaculately clean and with great linen and an oh so comfortable mattress), we enjoyed dinner on the festive menu (and the wine selection was impressive while still affordable) - and breakfast was incredible. We'd selected the full English but there was also a buffet to help ourselves from, including fresh fruit, juices, cereal, fresh pasties, and the most delicious yoghurts. We had simply needed a place to stay to break a journey - and it turned into a glorious break in itself! Our thanks to all the people it made this so!

This was our first stay at the Stag on the River. We stayed two nights as we were attending an event in Guildford. Positives: - very convenient for Guildford, only a few minutes drive - very attractive building inside and out - see photos - our room was smart and well maintained though rather small (though I wouldn't describe it as 'boutique' - modern en suite with a good shower - staff very pleasant on the whole Could do better: - prices very high for standard of accommodation; have stayed in similar properties that have cost a lot less per night - designated parking spaces for guests staying in the hotel; there were very few spaces available on a busy Friday evening - a clear separate entrance for paying guests - a proper reception area for guests staying in accommodation; it felt very uncomfortable arriving with lots of bags and queueing up to check in on a busy Friday night along with locals having a night out; it wasn't clear what to do - noise from outside / downstairs stopped at 12.45am on first night. We were above the kitchen so this didn't help; woken up at 5.45am by fans coming on downstairs - no apology when gluten-free breakfast items unavailable in spite of requests during booking and after one night's stay Useful hints: - Breakfast portions rather tight - one sausage, one tiny piece of crozzled bacon. If you want more than this, write it on the breakfast form and you will be served what you requested. - Breakfast items rather haphazard: limited gluten free provision in spite of info on website, ie no granola available; first morning croissants available, next morning none; mistake made with breakfast order - sausage sandwiches served rather than bacon Overall I would give 3.5 stars for our visit to the Stag on the River. Better than average, but good not very good. It was a special occasion for my wife and I so we were expecting a lot for the amount we paid. Would we stay at the Stag again? Sadly not.

On the face of it fantastic place and when you get to the location all good… However the restaurant area really needs to have a review ! 1. On a spring deal and it includes a bottle of English fizz as I was on my own asked if I could exchange for a pint - no was the answer. 2. Next table when they asked swooped for another bottle of wine. 3. No organisation as was asked 3x by 3 people if I’d ordered! 4. Chicken in the pie was a bit pink most wasn’t … mentioned this but was told that’s the way it should be ? 5. Next table had wrong order served was told it would be 5 mins to sort 30 mins later it came out 6. So much potential but needs some control and polish in the restaurant and kitchen areas. 7. Trying to attach a waiter was hard work ! Having said that nice place