The Feathers Hotel, Ledbury

"DISAPPOINTED "

I booked a table for our group for Sunday lunch. I mentioned on the booking that we had a 96 year old, an 88 year old, both with mobility issues, and a baby as part of our group. Having never visited the Feathers before, I was very much looking forward to it. 3 of us arrived & went to the bar. A sherry was ordered. The correct measure was not served. Sherry is NOT a short. It is a fortified wine measure. We said nothing as we didn't want to make a fuss. We were told that the rest of our party were already seated at the table and we joined them. We were given enormous cardboard menus. Whilst browsing the menus, we were asked FOUR times, by several members of staff what the name of the booking under. The answer was the same on all four occasions! After a while, we were then requested to move to the other side of the hotel as we were sitting on a table that had been reserved for someone with a dog and that we were in a dog friendly area. We then had to gather ourselves and move a 96 year old lady using a walker, an 88 year old man using crutches and a 6 month old baby in a pram....up steps, through other customers and tables and then down steps in order to get to a different table.
When ordering our food....We made an enquiry about a menu item with the waiter. Based on his answer, 2 of us ordered that item. The information he gave us was incorrect....we had to send the 2 orders back. If he didn't know the answer, he should have checked. We swapped that for the venison starter. A potion of venison meatballs arrived. I'm sad to say, they were so unpleasant that we were unable to eat them. (Note to chef. Venison is not suitable for meatballs due to the low fat content, unless another form of fat is added) My niece ordered her starter which arrived on a plate soo hot, she was unable to move it, which caused us a moment of panic, as the waitress had leant over the table and slid it over so close the the baby that we were frightened he was going to get scalded! I cannot comment on everyone else's main course, but I ordered the Donnington beef, which I was unable to chew as it was so tough. (My father's did look a lot better to be fair) I would doubt very much if the roast potatoes were roasted, as they were pallid in colour and hard. Needless to say, we passed on puddings and coffee. The young lady "overseeing" the restaurant was utterly charming and realised that our afternoon was a bit of a disaster and generously took 25% off our food bill, which was most appreciated.
The Feathers is a stunning building in Ledbury High Street. It's gorgeous inside, and could be absolutely fantastic, BUT, the standard of food on that day was poor (I'm hoping we were just unlucky) We were served by way too many staff, which actually made our service hectic and inefficient. I expected so much more, so left both disappointed and hungry.

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