The Watermill Hotel, Sure Hotel Collection by Best Western

I Stayed a couple of nights, and the service was impeccable! The manager-Shawn, a true gem, was welcoming, efficient, and went above and beyond for everyone, even carrying luggage upstairs and giving room tours. Despite overseeing over 70 rooms, his customer care was flawless. Five stars, well deserved!" Udeni

The staff were very attentive and helpful so full marks to the staff. The room was clean and very quiet. The air conditioning didnt stay on, and kept flashing green in the night which meant we had to keep waking up to reset it. The property and furnishings were a little tired. The cooked breakfast was ok, but not hot enough which was made worse by being served on cold plates. The staff were definitely the best aspect of the hotel.

Stayed April 29th We stayed here a few years ago and everything was excellent. So I was happy to book again when we were in the area in April. This is advertised as a “Best Western” 3 star hotel? I think some of the people who have left earlier reviews on this site were staying at a very different hotel to the one that I went to. Strange that all those who mention “Shawn” by name had an amazing stay?? (maybe they were family?) I wasn’t made aware of the name of the person on reception who checked us in and we certainly didn’t get a tour or history lesson. I assume by what the man on reception said, that the hotel had been closed for some time and had recently re-opened ? Hence giving that as the reason why the bar and restaurant WERE CLOSED and HADN’T actually re-opened since the hotel re-opened after the closure. The room whilst passable, (but very short of the 3 Star Best Western standard that I expect) was “sparsely” furnished, no pictures on the walls, the minimum of furniture, just bare painted walls, no usual information book about the hotel, how the heating/air con worked etc or local attraction leaflets and one of the bedside lamps didn’t work. A sign by the bathroom tap saying NOT DRINKING WATER, and a small supply of bottled water for the kettle but wasn’t located close to the kettle and was not obvious that that was it’s purpose until I enquired at reception, especially given that bottled water is often supplied in rooms of reasonable quality hotels these days. Add to that we had to ask for additional sachets of coffee and milk as well as extra water. The fan in the bathroom wouldn’t turn off so we had the noise of it constantly running all night. The hotel was apparently full so no option to change rooms. As the hotel restaurant and bar were closed, we went to the White Horse opposite to eat, it was a pub when we knew it in the past but now seemed to be just a restaurant. Whilst the menu looked impressive, it was actually quite limited, especially for vegetarians. I had a chicken and mushroom pie with mashed potato, cavalo nero and tender stem broccoli . As is the fashion these days everything was stacked up on top of itself, the pie looked very “rustic” on top of the raw kale, the pastry was very thick and hardly any filling, the mash was compressed into a slice of hard rubber, and even a sharp knife couldn’t cut into the broccoli. So if uncooked vegetables is your thing? They were good enough to take the charge off the bill but there really wasn’t anything else that I wanted to eat on the menu as I can’t eat red meat and am not a fish lover. Breakfast at the hotel was disappointing, there was a small choice of cold continental pastries fruit juice etc but nothing to indicate which juice was which. The coffee was very weak and there didn’t seem to be the usual oat or soya milk options to regular cow’s milk. There were no menus anywhere so I had no idea what the cooked options were, I think the waiter offered me a Full English but his accent was so thick I couldn’t actually understand what he had said, so I asked for scrambled egg on toast thinking that that would be pretty safe. The egg itself was fine, but piled up on UN-BUTTERED toast that was completely soggy by the time it got to me. I had to stop at a local garage on the way out to get a ½ decent cup of Costa coffee from their machine So all in all, I don’t think I will stay there again, the only option in the area seems to be the Premier Inn which having stayed there before was full of builders and other assorted tradespeople who congregate around the main entrance smoking. They do however have a restaurant that is guaranteed to be open for the usual “and chips” pub type menu. So will have to find an alternative for next time we visit family in the area.

Very nice facility. O ly drawback was the resturant and bar were closed, and the two pubs across the street didn't have food Monday evening.

The hotel could do with updating. However, it was clean and comfortable. Staff were friendly and helpful. There are two excellent pubs across the road.

Taps need new washers. Bath plug did not seal

Visited as travelling on business. I’ve given this 2 stars and not a one only because the staff were really accommodating. As work based it was booked via a business portal not direct so a “standard” room booked. Arrived and checked in, when i got to the room I could not believe the standard was so bad. Carpet filthy, room dingy, dated doesn’t even cover it. So bad I immediately U-turned back to reception. Intended to leave and just try book elsewhere or drive the 3.5hrs home and back the following day. The receptionist checked his bookings and showed me to another room which he said was “a superior”, which I’d compare to a standard premier inn - that was fine so I opted gratefully for the change. Then told the restaurant was under refurb so no evening meals… lucky a great pub is just over the road (that I’ll recommend separately, excellent food). The following morning a full English was served, this a definite redeeming feature. So if you intend to stay: (a) Book a superior room (b) Eat your evening meal at the pub over the road (c) grab the full English breakfast

Easy to locate, ample spaces in the car park, smooth check in with very clear instructions. Had a lovely view of the mill from my room. Clean and plenty of amenities room and lovely service. Shawn was very lovely and looked after us during our visit.

Shaun was amazing, he was a friendly face and very welcoming. He was on the ball with everything and very fast with his service. The breakfast was also lovely. We will be back and hopefully Shaun will be working to make a great stay. Thank you again

No food facilities other than breakfast but do offer a 10% discount on food and drinks at the White Horse pub across the road