The Bell Inn Hotel, Stilton

"A good evening, spoilt."

The food was excellent. The table service was excellent. The table service staff were excellent. We were presented with the bill (£100 for 2 people) and were asked to pay at the bar.
There was only one person serving at that point, and he had just started preparing individual cocktails for 5 or 6 people. I politely asked if it was possible just to pay the bill as it would only take a minute, rather than wait the 15-20 minutes for him to finish the drinks order. He very bluntly said, " No, I'm serving these people". One of the group turned to me and said it was ok with her, but he ignored her and carried on, not even bothering to try to find another member of staff. A couple of cocktails later (about 10 minutes) another member of the group told the barman that it was ok to take my payment next, to which he replied "No. You were here first." And then continued to ignore me.
Eventually another member of staff turned up and took my payment. It took less than 2 minutes.
I know, technically, I was asking to queue jump, but it was the attitude of the man behind the bar that made me feel that we were asking to push in and place a drinks order for a dozen people, rather than pay a hundred quid to him! He was busy, I could see that and they really should have had more bar staff, particularly on a Friday night when they're serving cocktails. But even a little humanity in his responses and attitude, rather than treating customers like they're an inconvenience, would have been a little less of a slap in the face. As it was, we had a great evening spoilt by a surley and rude member of staff who seems unconcerned about customer reviews.

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