The Athenaeum

The staff were great! Very accommodating throughout the whole stay. There were some empty bottles and glass left in the corner of the hallway which were there throughout most of my stay, seems they had been left for the night staff to clean up. The pool area could do with family suitable changing area, there is nowhere for people with young children to change with ease. Breakfast was really good and displayed beautifully!

I loved the grounds the location the decor in this hotel it was beautiful however , the staff were awful no one served myself and my friend on the terrrave for over two hours to the point I got up and went and got the drinks both times myself ! At dinner they didn’t take our plates away we were sat for over an hour with our plates on the table service was poor and basic training needed or more staff so that the day shift staff can rotate as the staff work from day to night then breakfast clearly overworked . Then comes the worse part we didn’t sleep and my other half has extra heat exhaustion because the rooms are not air conned and it was a hot weekend to the point where we had to wet towels on our bodies throughout the night the walls were warm and the tiles in the bathroom hot from how warm it was we told reception who were well aware of how hot it was yet no water was sent to the room or any compensation offered she had told us that she couldn’t do anything about it as the hotel was fully booked and that there was no more fans either ! We overheard a couple at reception say they were leaving to stay in a travel lodge because the environment was inhumane !! Secondly our friends we went with were pregnant it was for my other half’s 30tj birthday we had to cancel the spa the next day as we couldn’t think of anything worse then sitting in heat again and we left before lunch it ruined our stay and for that we would never stay there again it was unbearable

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and had found the hotel based on searching for somewhere we hadn’t been before. The staff were very friendly and helpful. It was lovely to be able to walk around the grounds in the evening. While there isn’t a great deal to do in Ware, Scott’s Grotto (only open Saturday afternoon) and Hatfield House (30 minutes drive away) are both worth a visit. Thank you to all who made it an enjoyable weekend away for our family.