"In the spring of 1979, I held my engagement party at this restaurant-hotel, and it was a fantastic venue back then. Over the years, I have visited this place multiple times. While the service was occasionally subpar, it was never as bad as it is today.
We arrived at 2:15 PM on a Sunday afternoon and requested a table for four. The manager asked, "Do you have a reservation?" I replied, "Sorry, I don’t, but the place is empty." To which he responded, "You never know if it will fill up later!" It seemed he was unsure himself, but he clearly didn't want to accommodate us.
We ended up sitting in the garden at the front of the hotel and ordered a few drinks. We paid £32 at the bar for one gin and tonic, two tonic waters, and one bottle of local beer. After asking for a menu, we never received one. Our table was also left uncleaned from the previous customers, as shown in the photo of the wine bottle and coffee cup.
The staff completely ignored us, and even those at the bar were quite unfriendly. An hour later, after taking more pictures (the place was still empty), we decided to leave and eat at the St George Dragon in Wargrave, where we received excellent service."