Mid afternoon visit. Had late lunch. Parts of the premises were a little tired. Toilet in bar area did not flush. However, excellent atmosphere, food and service.Food & drinks: Food and drinks good but somewhat pricey.
Robert Thurgood
Over priced over
Clive Hodghton
Fantastic stay and a wonderful meal!Perfect wedding anniversary for my wife and I… thank you!Rooms: We had a tiny loft space but it was perfect and the “wet room” was just bonkers!Food & drinks: Lovely menu with a good selection of delicious food.Served by staff that absolutely love giving us the best service.Noteworthy details: Quirky but not over the top!
Dahlia Smith
Went there for dinner it was my niccie. S birthday dinnerFood & drinks: Good food
Tina Potter
Thai taster menu on a Sunday lunch time was super! Staff were very attentive. Restaurant a little cramped but good fun.
Rosie Lyon
Went for afternoon tea. Really
Emma Jane
Amazing time at the crazy bear Stadhampton! The room was stunning and the staff were lovely. Definitely Recommend a break here!
Matthew Gordon
My girlfriend and I went here for an evening meal, specifically for the Thai tasting menu (12 items and champagne). The venue itself is stunning, it's genuinely very pretty, with great parking. However, the Thai part of the restaurant is underground, with access to the area being next to the main bar. Aesthetically, it's quite lovely, but if you're over 5ft tall (yes 5ft, not 6ft), you'll basically be ducking any time you need to stand up to avoid banging your head. My girlfriend and I were seated in a corner of the room, between two other couples that were already seated, and we barely had room to even sit next to each other, let alone eat at the table. We were fighting for space the entire meal, with the table being tiny, and we had to keep apologising to the couple next to us for hitting elbows as we ate - incredibly claustrophobic to say the least.On top of this, the room itself was absolutely boiling, with no signs of air conditioning anywhere, except for a tiny fire escape door just about large enough for a hobbit, which of course wasn't open. We both had to regularly get up and go to the bathroom just to get some fresh air.As for the food, we given menus that were entirely different from the menu found on their website, with the choice of the classic menu, and a vegetarian option. Only when we sat down and ordered drinks were we told that we both have to choose the same menu, and due to my girlfriend being vegetarian, had to go for that. I can't comment on the English side menu, or even the classic Thai menu, but the food from the vegetarian menu was very basic / bland and not what we would expect from a restaurant with such great reviews. Just as an example, part of our starter was seaweed, the normal cheap stuff you can usually get from a Chinese takeout, except somehow it was even worse than a Chinese takeout. There was only a single dish both of us found okay, and that was their egg noodles, which again, weren't anything special if I'm being honest.I will say, that the staff were very friendly and even as we walked in the gentleman we spoke with was really nice and seated us very quickly.In short: Lovely venue, friendly staff, below-average food, awful seating, very uncomfortable, incredibly claustrophobic and way too warm.
steve
This is a pub on the side of a housing estate ! Bar cramped and food poor considering cost!Our suite overlooked plastic grass on a vertical boardVery disappointing . Million miles away from places like the
Yvonne Dombrowski
Booked one night Junior suite room with 3 course dinner for my hubby’s birthday via Groupon. We arrived on Sunday the 3rd of March at 2pm. Sadly the check-in is very late (4pm) although we had the time to relax at the bar. When we arrived to the hotel we were a little confused as where was the car park - no signs and if we have used the main road entrance we would step to the bar. When we drove around the property we found a car park and found out the reception is located in old double decker red bus. We were welcomed with a smile and good manners. As we couldn’t check in earlier we were invited to the bar. We have ordered dirty martini but they had no olive juice although bartender offered us vodka martini which was very nice. £15per tiny drink was a little bit pricey.After that we went to the local farm shop where we also could see a lot of goats and lamas.At 4pm we went back to the reception to check-in. Charlie was very kind and friendly (also prior to our visit we have exchanged many emails and she was very informative and prompt). After all check-in Charlie walked us to our room. We have stayed in room no.9 which is on the ground floor. Room is very dark, windows blinds cannot be fully shut, one of the windows couldn’t be fully closed so when we wanted to use the bath tub in our bedroom it lacked privacy. We had Thai restaurant dinner booked for 7pm. We went to the bar earlier and had a drink. Hubby had a local pint and I had bison grass vodka with an apple juice which wasn’t served for a 5star hotel standards. At the time of the dinner we were welcomed straight away and with the hand just pointed out where we could sit which would be expected to be taken to the table. 9 tables at the restaurant (5 taken) and 3 waiting staff. Waiting time to order drinks 15-20min and food no water offered. Another 15min for our drinks to be served. Food was ok, didn’t wow us and I found it far too sweet. After dinner we went to our room where after sitting on the bed we started smelling mold. It was so strong and bothered us to the point where we lifted our mattress to discover that the bed base was with concrete floor, full of little guests trash, spider webs and the smell was killing. We ended up sleeping in medical face masks. Another thing which we discovered was under tv storage full of few years dust and webs. Next day morning we had continental breakfast which was fresh and nicely presented. I asked for a gluten free bread which waiting staff wasn’t aware of but offered asking at the kitchen. 10min later we got our coffee and I asked if they have gf bread and been informed that it’s coming. Over 15min wait for bread which only proves that service is lousy especially when we were the only table. After our breakfast we went to check-out where we were asked about our stay. We have mentioned about our experience and Charlie said that they have new manager now and she would like us to speak to him. We were taken to the bar waiting a little while for manager to show up. Upon our request (not to speak in the front of other guests) we went to the Thai restaurant to talk. We have expressed our experience and disappointment. Conversation was very calm and friendly, manager Zach thanked us for the feedback and it seemed like he took it on board and would like to make some improvements. To rate our one night stay and first time experience, I would not give this place 5stars. Condition, lack of cleanliness, lack of maintenance (haven’t mentioned but a lot of good quality items, furniture looks like not looked after, lack of attention to details, glasses stored on the bar with face up where everyone can cough or sneeze - later used for someone else’s drinks etc). This place is unique with an amazing idea for stay which is not very common and gives excitement prior to visit. The owner can make this place more successful with a little touches and especially having high expectations toward the staff he is employing.
Booked for a birthday night awayOverall disappointing stay, checking in was spot on shown to the room and where things areRoom was lovely, huge bath and comfortable bed.The night we stayed there was flooding in the hotel and was woken up at 2am to hotel manager moving us rooms.Had to make a bridge for us to get out of the block the flooding was that bad.Was promised call the next day which didn’t happened.Called a few day later to chase up but the receptionist didn’t have a clue.I asked for someone who does have a clue and still waiting 3 days later
lori-Ann clark
Incredibly disappointed in so many ways.Me and my partner are massive foodies and expected great things. So you can imagine our disappointment about this run down tasteless bland restaurant who clearly relies on their reputation as a high-class swanky venue to get patrons in and take their money.Safe to say we weren't taken in.Yes the decor is niche and quirky but also needs a bit of a revamp. The padded material doors in the bathroom were scuffed and ripped.As we entered and sat down I was weighed down by the hard, heavy black leather table cloth. I felt so restricted and uncomfortable I wasn't even able to move my legs. once seated even to cross them slightly.We opted for a 12 dish Thai menu and champagne. The champagne that was offered tasted like cats P**s and was undrinkable. I had to request a lime and soda to wash the taste away.Then the "12" dishes came out. Where do I start? The seaweed dish was bland and under seasoned I've had better at my local Chinese takeway. You surely can't call this a dish? Then we got edamame beans which had a sprinkle of seasoning on the top but could not taste any of it when biting into these, what could have been a delicious dish was unfortunately bland, tasteless and dull. Frankly how hard is it to make these beans taste a bit salty when biting into it. The local supermarket does them better than what we experienced.Then followed by these "2" courses was an eggplant dish that really was just wet, garlic salty plant on a dish and required plenty of water to wash it down. Did I mention the water was £5 a bottle! With the salty plant came battered squid which I had high hopes for. Unfortunately the squid was chewy and cheap tasting and despite the chefs best efforts to hide this in a crispy batter this could not be consumed further.We were then given two types of pork to eat loin and belly. The pork loin was tasteless and I couldn't even tell you what it was marinaded in. The pork belly was much better it was crispy and had some taste again it was light and at this point I was scratching to find something good about this meal so I would say the pork belly was ok. The ribs we were given were saucy and yummy and these were one of the only plates we fully consumed.The pad Thai we were given was subtle in taste but delicious for those who may have super sonic sensitive taste buds.The rice dish was nothing to sound home about so we can move on from this. And the prawn crackers were the same crackers bought from every wholesalers so you know they weren't that bad and we enjoyed these.Then the last dish was a dessert dish. It was supposed to be yuzu and blackberry fool and I don't know who the chef was trying to fool as there wasn't any blackberry in it. Not to say it wasn't tasty as after our 11 dishes we really had lowered our bar and we did finish the fool. But let me say this we are no fools and will not be returning.Final last thing to say.The service was not bad which is why I have not scored it lower than a 2. The wait staff did everything expected in their job description. They brought our drinks, the food came in a nice timely manner with reasonable intervals, the lovely lady asked us after each item was it ok. How do you say no to these questions I can't exactly send back all 12 dishes. And she even asked us if we wanted to take any of the items away. Normally this is something we would eagerly do if the food was phenomenal. Unfortunately I wouldn't even give this food to city Fox rummaging in the bins.After all this we were then asked for a 13.5% tip that was automatically added on the bill.This is a steep addition to any bill but for this experience I should have been paid 13.5% to have finished the meal. I think this is an absolute joke considering the recent food hygiene rating is 2 stars.
Ja Du
Went for dinner. Ok experience. But for the hype, ambiance and price I would expect more.The wine menu could use a sommeliers touch. As for the food, the menu is very "chain" like.The staff was friendly and meant well, but were so-so in recommending wines for the food.It would probably be a good place for daytime drinking during warmer months with friends.
Lianne Howarth
We were booked for a lunch in the Thai restaurant and when we arrived the Hotel and most of the restaurant on site had been flooded due to the recent rains and the local rivers overflowing.But the Rnglish restaurant accommodated us for our Thai lunch and the service was excellent. All staff were doing the best they could to accommodate those from hotel rooms that had been flooded and doing all possible to keep service to a high standard for all customers still on site while trying to clean around the flooding.Thank you for a great experience which for Crazy Bear was a difficult situation handled well but for us was a booking for best friends to celebrate a 50th birthday which we will never forget!
Samantha Jones
Had a private dining experience in the Oak Room. Food was OK and service was poor. Expected better considering how much money we put their way.
Mid afternoon visit. Had late lunch. Parts of the premises were a little tired. Toilet in bar area did not flush. However, excellent atmosphere, food and service.Food & drinks: Food and drinks good but somewhat pricey.
Over priced over
Fantastic stay and a wonderful meal!Perfect wedding anniversary for my wife and I… thank you!Rooms: We had a tiny loft space but it was perfect and the “wet room” was just bonkers!Food & drinks: Lovely menu with a good selection of delicious food.Served by staff that absolutely love giving us the best service.Noteworthy details: Quirky but not over the top!
Went there for dinner it was my niccie. S birthday dinnerFood & drinks: Good food
Thai taster menu on a Sunday lunch time was super! Staff were very attentive. Restaurant a little cramped but good fun.
Went for afternoon tea. Really
Amazing time at the crazy bear Stadhampton! The room was stunning and the staff were lovely. Definitely Recommend a break here!
My girlfriend and I went here for an evening meal, specifically for the Thai tasting menu (12 items and champagne). The venue itself is stunning, it's genuinely very pretty, with great parking. However, the Thai part of the restaurant is underground, with access to the area being next to the main bar. Aesthetically, it's quite lovely, but if you're over 5ft tall (yes 5ft, not 6ft), you'll basically be ducking any time you need to stand up to avoid banging your head. My girlfriend and I were seated in a corner of the room, between two other couples that were already seated, and we barely had room to even sit next to each other, let alone eat at the table. We were fighting for space the entire meal, with the table being tiny, and we had to keep apologising to the couple next to us for hitting elbows as we ate - incredibly claustrophobic to say the least.On top of this, the room itself was absolutely boiling, with no signs of air conditioning anywhere, except for a tiny fire escape door just about large enough for a hobbit, which of course wasn't open. We both had to regularly get up and go to the bathroom just to get some fresh air.As for the food, we given menus that were entirely different from the menu found on their website, with the choice of the classic menu, and a vegetarian option. Only when we sat down and ordered drinks were we told that we both have to choose the same menu, and due to my girlfriend being vegetarian, had to go for that. I can't comment on the English side menu, or even the classic Thai menu, but the food from the vegetarian menu was very basic / bland and not what we would expect from a restaurant with such great reviews. Just as an example, part of our starter was seaweed, the normal cheap stuff you can usually get from a Chinese takeout, except somehow it was even worse than a Chinese takeout. There was only a single dish both of us found okay, and that was their egg noodles, which again, weren't anything special if I'm being honest.I will say, that the staff were very friendly and even as we walked in the gentleman we spoke with was really nice and seated us very quickly.In short: Lovely venue, friendly staff, below-average food, awful seating, very uncomfortable, incredibly claustrophobic and way too warm.
This is a pub on the side of a housing estate ! Bar cramped and food poor considering cost!Our suite overlooked plastic grass on a vertical boardVery disappointing . Million miles away from places like the
Booked one night Junior suite room with 3 course dinner for my hubby’s birthday via Groupon. We arrived on Sunday the 3rd of March at 2pm. Sadly the check-in is very late (4pm) although we had the time to relax at the bar. When we arrived to the hotel we were a little confused as where was the car park - no signs and if we have used the main road entrance we would step to the bar. When we drove around the property we found a car park and found out the reception is located in old double decker red bus. We were welcomed with a smile and good manners. As we couldn’t check in earlier we were invited to the bar. We have ordered dirty martini but they had no olive juice although bartender offered us vodka martini which was very nice. £15per tiny drink was a little bit pricey.After that we went to the local farm shop where we also could see a lot of goats and lamas.At 4pm we went back to the reception to check-in. Charlie was very kind and friendly (also prior to our visit we have exchanged many emails and she was very informative and prompt). After all check-in Charlie walked us to our room. We have stayed in room no.9 which is on the ground floor. Room is very dark, windows blinds cannot be fully shut, one of the windows couldn’t be fully closed so when we wanted to use the bath tub in our bedroom it lacked privacy. We had Thai restaurant dinner booked for 7pm. We went to the bar earlier and had a drink. Hubby had a local pint and I had bison grass vodka with an apple juice which wasn’t served for a 5star hotel standards. At the time of the dinner we were welcomed straight away and with the hand just pointed out where we could sit which would be expected to be taken to the table. 9 tables at the restaurant (5 taken) and 3 waiting staff. Waiting time to order drinks 15-20min and food no water offered. Another 15min for our drinks to be served. Food was ok, didn’t wow us and I found it far too sweet. After dinner we went to our room where after sitting on the bed we started smelling mold. It was so strong and bothered us to the point where we lifted our mattress to discover that the bed base was with concrete floor, full of little guests trash, spider webs and the smell was killing. We ended up sleeping in medical face masks. Another thing which we discovered was under tv storage full of few years dust and webs. Next day morning we had continental breakfast which was fresh and nicely presented. I asked for a gluten free bread which waiting staff wasn’t aware of but offered asking at the kitchen. 10min later we got our coffee and I asked if they have gf bread and been informed that it’s coming. Over 15min wait for bread which only proves that service is lousy especially when we were the only table. After our breakfast we went to check-out where we were asked about our stay. We have mentioned about our experience and Charlie said that they have new manager now and she would like us to speak to him. We were taken to the bar waiting a little while for manager to show up. Upon our request (not to speak in the front of other guests) we went to the Thai restaurant to talk. We have expressed our experience and disappointment. Conversation was very calm and friendly, manager Zach thanked us for the feedback and it seemed like he took it on board and would like to make some improvements. To rate our one night stay and first time experience, I would not give this place 5stars. Condition, lack of cleanliness, lack of maintenance (haven’t mentioned but a lot of good quality items, furniture looks like not looked after, lack of attention to details, glasses stored on the bar with face up where everyone can cough or sneeze - later used for someone else’s drinks etc). This place is unique with an amazing idea for stay which is not very common and gives excitement prior to visit. The owner can make this place more successful with a little touches and especially having high expectations toward the staff he is employing.
Restaurantji Recommends
Booked for a birthday night awayOverall disappointing stay, checking in was spot on shown to the room and where things areRoom was lovely, huge bath and comfortable bed.The night we stayed there was flooding in the hotel and was woken up at 2am to hotel manager moving us rooms.Had to make a bridge for us to get out of the block the flooding was that bad.Was promised call the next day which didn’t happened.Called a few day later to chase up but the receptionist didn’t have a clue.I asked for someone who does have a clue and still waiting 3 days later
Incredibly disappointed in so many ways.Me and my partner are massive foodies and expected great things. So you can imagine our disappointment about this run down tasteless bland restaurant who clearly relies on their reputation as a high-class swanky venue to get patrons in and take their money.Safe to say we weren't taken in.Yes the decor is niche and quirky but also needs a bit of a revamp. The padded material doors in the bathroom were scuffed and ripped.As we entered and sat down I was weighed down by the hard, heavy black leather table cloth. I felt so restricted and uncomfortable I wasn't even able to move my legs. once seated even to cross them slightly.We opted for a 12 dish Thai menu and champagne. The champagne that was offered tasted like cats P**s and was undrinkable. I had to request a lime and soda to wash the taste away.Then the "12" dishes came out. Where do I start? The seaweed dish was bland and under seasoned I've had better at my local Chinese takeway. You surely can't call this a dish? Then we got edamame beans which had a sprinkle of seasoning on the top but could not taste any of it when biting into these, what could have been a delicious dish was unfortunately bland, tasteless and dull. Frankly how hard is it to make these beans taste a bit salty when biting into it. The local supermarket does them better than what we experienced.Then followed by these "2" courses was an eggplant dish that really was just wet, garlic salty plant on a dish and required plenty of water to wash it down. Did I mention the water was £5 a bottle! With the salty plant came battered squid which I had high hopes for. Unfortunately the squid was chewy and cheap tasting and despite the chefs best efforts to hide this in a crispy batter this could not be consumed further.We were then given two types of pork to eat loin and belly. The pork loin was tasteless and I couldn't even tell you what it was marinaded in. The pork belly was much better it was crispy and had some taste again it was light and at this point I was scratching to find something good about this meal so I would say the pork belly was ok. The ribs we were given were saucy and yummy and these were one of the only plates we fully consumed.The pad Thai we were given was subtle in taste but delicious for those who may have super sonic sensitive taste buds.The rice dish was nothing to sound home about so we can move on from this. And the prawn crackers were the same crackers bought from every wholesalers so you know they weren't that bad and we enjoyed these.Then the last dish was a dessert dish. It was supposed to be yuzu and blackberry fool and I don't know who the chef was trying to fool as there wasn't any blackberry in it. Not to say it wasn't tasty as after our 11 dishes we really had lowered our bar and we did finish the fool. But let me say this we are no fools and will not be returning.Final last thing to say.The service was not bad which is why I have not scored it lower than a 2. The wait staff did everything expected in their job description. They brought our drinks, the food came in a nice timely manner with reasonable intervals, the lovely lady asked us after each item was it ok. How do you say no to these questions I can't exactly send back all 12 dishes. And she even asked us if we wanted to take any of the items away. Normally this is something we would eagerly do if the food was phenomenal. Unfortunately I wouldn't even give this food to city Fox rummaging in the bins.After all this we were then asked for a 13.5% tip that was automatically added on the bill.This is a steep addition to any bill but for this experience I should have been paid 13.5% to have finished the meal. I think this is an absolute joke considering the recent food hygiene rating is 2 stars.
Went for dinner. Ok experience. But for the hype, ambiance and price I would expect more.The wine menu could use a sommeliers touch. As for the food, the menu is very "chain" like.The staff was friendly and meant well, but were so-so in recommending wines for the food.It would probably be a good place for daytime drinking during warmer months with friends.
We were booked for a lunch in the Thai restaurant and when we arrived the Hotel and most of the restaurant on site had been flooded due to the recent rains and the local rivers overflowing.But the Rnglish restaurant accommodated us for our Thai lunch and the service was excellent. All staff were doing the best they could to accommodate those from hotel rooms that had been flooded and doing all possible to keep service to a high standard for all customers still on site while trying to clean around the flooding.Thank you for a great experience which for Crazy Bear was a difficult situation handled well but for us was a booking for best friends to celebrate a 50th birthday which we will never forget!
Had a private dining experience in the Oak Room. Food was OK and service was poor. Expected better considering how much money we put their way.