The Malvern Hills Hote

My husband and I went to the Malvern Hills Hotel this afternoon for dinner. No booking required. The bar area was heaving with people, which created a nice friendly atmosphere. However we were asked if we wanted to sit in the dining room. It was beautiful and quiet and the views are superb. The meal is one of the best we have had. My starter was smoked haddock risotto, my husband's was Gresham duck leg. Our main courses were Roast Woodland Pork Loin and Salmon Nicoise, we finished with Coconut and lime fruit salad and Meringue, ice cream and fresh berries. Drinks were 2 large glasses of Merlot and one small and two coffees. The total was £59. The food is first class and we were so impressed we ask to meet the chef. A young man named Adam came through and we told him the meal was excellent and gave him a tip. He was delighted. The previous comments on the Restaurant are to say the least unjustified. The staff were excellent. Will definitely be going back on a regular basis!

I spent such a lovely weekend at the malvern hills hotel...from its stunning location and views, i found it a true escape to the country.

good honest english pub food with a really nice atmosphere...the staff were great.....the restaurant menu was simple but done perfectly...when we were joined by extended family and friends on the Sunday our whole party were made to feel as welcome as we had all weekend!

i felt that the hotel went out of its way to accommodate our needs during our stay and gave a really personal service...i had thought i wouldn't enjoy staying in a hotel like this but my friend recommended it and i'm glad i listened!!!

what a little gem to have found that i hope to return to again and again...even if its just for a quick spot of grub!!

(also really enjoyed working my way through the ales!!!!)

Can’t comment on the quality of the food, but the chalkboards inside suggested that the menu was extensive if expensive.

The main reason for the visit was to try the locally brewed beers, of which there were 4. Three from Wye Valley (Best, Butty Bach & HPA) and 1 from Malvern Hills Brewery (Black Pear). HPA was on top form, Black Pear was malty but left a slightly sharp aftertaste. Service was pleasant and efficient.

Parking is spacious (either outside the pub itself or across the road at the foot of many of the walking routes in the lovely Malvern Hills.

The hotel looks well kept and appears a nice place to stay (although by all accounts the rooms are not cheap), and with a well-tended real ale bar & quality (if not cheap) restaurant downstairs the choice is made even easier. Recommended.

This is a great staging post for a good walk on the hills. My favourite of Malvern’s hils is right on the doorstep, British camp or the Herefordshire Beacon as some choose to call it. The hotel, which is fully open to none residents, has it’s own small carpark, but opposite there is a large municipal one, so parking is never a problem. I have always had intersting meals, when I’ve visited, from their ever changing menu. I have always been pleasantly suprised when it comes time to pay the bill too. They seem to have the attitude that if they provide good quality, intersting food, at reasonable prices, that they will get alot of return business, and they are right. I’ve been back numerous times.

While waiting for our food orders to arrive, we amused ourselves by observing as the staff shuffled aimlessly about the bar like sufferers of some advanced neuropathological condition. They seemed, at least, unsure as to what they were doing there and why they were receiving payslips monthly. When the meals eventually arrived we were left pondering the reason for the excessive wait. Had the plug from the microwave worked its way loose from the socket?. Perhaps the freezer had jammed shut? These things happen to the best of us. When we’d almost finished our meal, the source of the anomaly in the quality:time+expense ratio finally unveiled itself from under a sodden drape of lettuce. Voila! The chef had taken the extra time to deftly dress our salad with a dead fly. We wondered how we should appreciate this challenging culinary innovation and consulted the balding barman. We considered the balding barman to be of some seniority since the other bar staff were obviously in a lucid dream where they weren’t doing an unrewarding summer job. We also thought his baldness denoted years of experience on the front lines of the service sector.

After a close analysis of the fly, the barman concurred with our assessment and assured us that this was ‘not good’. However, our perspectives diverged when he flippantly stated that the kitchen was ‘spotless’, the salad was ‘washed’, that he wasn’t sure where the fly could have come from and that he couldn’t do anything about it. He then sauntered off to the kitchen carrying the plate away still with paid for food on.

After leaving disgruntled by this unsatisfactory resolution to an unsatisfactory experience, we decided to return and insist on some recompense.

Under duress from one of his petulant colleagues he grudgingly agreed to a refund although he was still ‘not sure where [the fly] came from’. By this stage we could not be bothered to further try persuading this petty man that we had not actually placed the fly there ourselves in order to gain a refund. Bizarrely, the barman gave us an arbitrary sum that did not cover the cost of the fly afflicted dish. This could easily be put down to cynicism but I prefer to think that the poor man had been disadvantaged by an unsatisfactory grounding in basic numeracy.

Flies in food will happen from time to time but shoddy service should not. When the owner next hires I would advise they at least list ‘common sense’ and ‘manners’ in the person specification.

I've stopped here after a steep climb on a hot summer's day up nearby British Camp and the liquid refreshment at the end was very welcome. This being right next to the car park at the bottom, pretty much everyone else has the same idea to stop for a pint or a bite to eat, so it can be difficult to get a seat in peak season. The food was good quality, if a little expensive and the waitress brought a side order of chips after we had finished our meal, which wasn't the best.