Room with a view

[hollins]

This is the latest tripadvisor review for Plas Rhianfa.
What a great shame they are persisting with the "Chateau Dining Experience."
Let's hope they scrap it before too much damage is done.

“Beware "Chateau Dining Experience" only”

Plas Rhianfa is a beautiful hotel overlooking the Menai Strait, and we were blown away by the view when we first arrived. The staff were friendly and attentive, and the hotel's renovation has been very tastefully done. The whole thing, however, is let down by an extraordinary decision to remove all dining options other than a £45 "Chateau Dining Experience" - a five course set dinner (although seemingly comprising of regular ala carte dishes), and canapes with the other guests. While I've got no problem with this being an option at the hotel, this felt like an attempt to apply a pretentious veneer to what would have likely been a nice dinner, and a method to extract revenue from customers. This frustration was compounded by the fact that there are no other places to eat within a 30-minute walking radius, so you are forced to get taxis if you plan to drink with your meal. This also extends to room service - after a day spent exploring the island, we just fancied grabbing a sandwich or something simple (didn't want to head out for the evening) and asked about room service, but were told that the hotel management policy was that once again it is Chateau Dining or nothing. This is not the fault of the staff at all, the were warm and very helpful throughout our stay, and seems to be a new experiment that the management have decided to implement. Judging by the number of other guests that we saw avoiding the Chateau dining, I can only hope that they reverse this experiment and allow the hotel to flourish.

[Yorkie]

Maybe a few clients have been saying, "I could eat a horse!" And if someone was a bit deaf they could have heard "house".    Take it a bit upmarket and you get a chateau! 
Get them a hearing aid, voile, problem solved!

On the other hand maybe they did mean "horse"!
 

[Merddin Emrys]

£45 each!! 

[Nemesis]

And I thought £4.65 for cheese on toast was dear in Aberdovy !! Bought a ham sandwich from Spar shop instead !

[Fester]

I'm a little confused here, never mind Plas Rhianfa, but where CAN you get a fine meal for less than £45 per person?

That would be roughly the amount you would pay in say, The Seahorse, or any other decent local restaurant.
Add wine and extras, and you would expect to pay more than that.
It's called fine dining is it not?

I fear that a few on here are either behind the times, or are content with bargain-basement cuisine and ambiance. 

[Merddin Emrys]

Fester you should know me better !  never in my live have I spent anything like that on eating, I never go in these places, far too expensive! As you know 99 per cent of the time we cook our own food at home, never been fine dining whatever that is? Seems to be small portions of stuff you've never heard of artistically placed on a large plate from what I've seen on the telly! We prefer to spend our money on the classic cars!  D)

[Fester]

No mate, you are mistaking fine dining for nouvelle cuisine, a fad which happily fizzled out about 15 years ago.

I am talking about a slap-up meal, a good celebratory nosh up, generally a well deserved good night out.
There is always a good excuse to treat oneself and loved ones.  (A share dividend payout perhaps?  )

Who wants to be the richest man in the graveyard?

[Yorkie]

Me and the Mrs would like to try it but unfortunately she eats like a sparrow (so I give her bird seed) and I can manage nowadays with a relatively small portion, so it would be a total waste of money.

We went to Craigside Manor last Saturday and the (main course only) meal plus a large glass of vino (for 'er) and a J2O for me cost us £21 and I got some more points on my loyalty card.   Not exactly fine dining but it gave me a night off from cooking!   

In the past we have dined in Quaglinos, Le Coupe de France, Le Quatre Seasons and other fine establishments, and I must say fine dining is a nice experience, and one to be appreciated.   

[Ian]

I'm a little confused here, never mind Plas Rhianfa, but where CAN you get a fine meal for less than £45 per person?

Gordon Ramsey's in London. It's pretty good, and only applies to the lunchtime menu, but it comes in at about £38 pp.

[Merddin Emrys]

No mate, you are mistaking fine dining for nouvelle cuisine.

Sounds French! . The thing is we have no interest in eating really, it's just putting fuel in! Being vegetarian limits what we eat, usually the vegetarian options in restaurants has rice, lots of salad, or the latest thing seems to be goats cheese! At home mostly I do the cooking so we can have what we want, when we want it, saves lots of money too, we spend that going out in the cars all over the place?  D)

[DaveR]

The Seahorse is an excellent restaurant, and worth every penny. Decent sized portions and truly mouthwatering food.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridges is closing on the 30th of this month. Talking of which, I was thinking of treating myself to a stay at Claridges later in the year - anyone been? http://www.claridges.co.uk/

[Nemesis]

I'm a little confused here, never mind Plas Rhianfa, but where CAN you get a fine meal for less than £45 per person?

That would be roughly the amount you would pay in say, The Seahorse, or any other decent local restaurant.
Add wine and extras, and you would expect to pay more than that.
It's called fine dining is it not?

I fear that a few on here are either behind the times, or are content with bargain-basement cuisine and ambiance. 

Mmm you know my opinion on forking out for expensive things !

[Ian]

I was thinking of treating myself to a stay at Claridges later in the year - anyone been? http://www.claridges.co.uk/

Yes.  Decent prices, good service, lack of obsequiousness and large rooms, plus a good position.  But we prefer the Langham. Even better position and excellent service, although avoid the eye-watering prices for their afternoon teas :-)

[DaveR]

Yes.  Decent prices, good service, lack of obsequiousness and large rooms, plus a good position.  But we prefer the Langham. Even better position and excellent service, although avoid the eye-watering prices for their afternoon teas :-)

Sounds good, thanks for the recommendation.  Think I'd like to give the Savoy a try, as well. http://www.fairmont.com/savoy-london/

[hollins]

I have stayed at Claridges twice and the Langham once. I prefer Claridges because of the decor. I agree with  Ian, for London the rooms are large.
What I don't like about it is the way that tables are booked by non residents for breakfasts, afternoon tea etc and it becomes difficult to just go down and enjoy the lounge on spec even for a resident. This is a problem many city centre hotels have as they try to increase their revenue from non residents.
I thought the recent tv series about Claridges was interesting. It came out of it very well I thought. There certainly wasn't a lot of criticism from the producers which made it a bit biased but fascinating to see some of the inner workings.
I haven't stayed at the Savoy so can't help you there.
Here are some photos of the junior suite I stayed in at Claridges in November 2009.