演講屋酒店(The Speech House Hotel)

Booked for 1 night (Room 19 - not in the main hotel) as a family of 4, 2 adults 2 children. Unfortunately, it was a very disappointing experience and not the most comfortable stay. The room felt like it needed a deep clean, with dust on walls, bedside lamps and marks on the chairs. The general decor of the room felt very old and tired with a lot of drapery that also gathered dust, particularly at the top. The toilet and shower are separate to a small sink unit set in an alcove opposite the bathroom door, again, this looked extremely tired with discoloured grout/sealant. The shower is actually set up off the floor and is therefore not a walk in shower which could be an issue if you had mobility difficulties. I managed to burn myself using the the plastic kettle as the lid didn’t quite close fully and it dripped out as I poured the hot water. Just little things, like a chip on one of the cups, dirty tv remote, radiator with the metal side loose etc also just made it feel like a disappointing and ultimately uncomfortable stay. We ordered sandwiches from room service as it was after 9 o’clock by the time we settled into the room. However, these were not the best and on thin white bread, and not quite the bloomers as described on the menu. Most importantly however, in terms of sleep, the small double mattress was awful! Lumpy, soft, and sat on top of a leatherette base that was far bigger than the mattress, you could feel the springs and it felt like you were going to fall out of it when you turned over. The bed sheets on all the beds, in my opinion, felt ‘damp’. Ultimately this lead to a lack of sleep. As it was only for 1 night and late when we arrived, we did not request to change rooms, but had we been staying more than one night, would certainly have requested to do so. One positive was at breakfast as staff member Sue was lovely, really welcoming and helpful. I don’t like to leave negative reviews, but I genuinely feel that this particular room is in full need of a refurb, clean and most importantly, a new mattress to allow a good nights sleep which unfortunately we didn’t get. Just to confirm, on check out we did raise the issues with a staff member who kindly gave us a discount on the room which covered the cost of the room service we ordered. They were very helpful and explained we could have been moved to the main hotel but as stated it was late when we arrived and we didn’t realise how bad the mattress was!

We stayed just one night at the Speech House whilst we were visiting family in the area. It was lovely. Spacious bedroom, which was spotlessly clean. Lovely food in the Orangery. Good choice of breakfast items (including cooked to order Eggs Benedict). Friendly, polite and helpful staff. We will definitely stay there again. A word of warning: If you stay on the deal that includes dinner, wine is not included in the package. So we underspent our dinner budget by some £20 (which was non-refundable) and had to pay a £40 drinks bill. Next time, we will go for bed & breakfast.

Lovely Hotel. Pleasant Front of House Staff, but the housekeeping is lousy. My bathroom basin has not been cleaned for 2 days running and is covered in soap/toothpaste residue. An accidental dirtying of a pillowcase and the housekeeper simply turned the pillow upside down rather than change it. Unacceptable at £128 a night.

Brilliant stay yet again…. Love this friendly family run place in the Forest of Dean…. Perfect place to unwind and enjoy forest walking direct from hotel knowing the hospitality back at this hotel is always 100%. The service/food/ comfort/ and the steaming hot showers are all you could wish for on this sort of outdoor break. We will be back again…

We came to stay for one night for our anniversary. It was fine and the staff were pleasant but the whole place looks like it needs a bit of TLC. The stay was fine but not overly special for somewhere which we imagined would have greater character. Regardless of the above, the hotel location is brilliant with lovely pubs near by and some great places to hike.

Felt like it hadn’t been cleaned since it was built in the 1600s. Windows didn’t close so it was draughty and loud. Food options were terrible with very poor options for children. Service was only OK, made worse in our particular visit with the bar staff facilitating a particularly obnoxious group being allowed to treat the bar (and extended hotel area) like their own front room. Would not recommend, even if you were in the area

Service was friendly, food and drink were very good. Checked in at correct time 2pm, our superior room was cold. We were told the heating was off between 2-5pm but electric heater in the wardrobe. Why when it had been snowing in the week and outside temperature was 3 degrees? Reception said they would over ride the heating which came on at 4pm. We had to boil kettles of water to make the bath water hot enough. No compensation offered when discussed at check out.

A few of us visited for a couple of nights while visiting the cheltenham festival. We all had a great stay, all out courtyard rooms were amazing, breakfast was great and the staff and owners were all very welcoming and friendly. Excellent stay and hopefully will be back next year!

Nice Hotel, good service and accommodation was fine. Great location for some interesting walks, sadly we didn't have the weather with us. Menu was a bit limited and a bit on the expensive side but breakfast was spot on.