Cliveden House

We went to Cliveden to celebrate our wedding anniversary. From the moment we arrived we were made incredibly welcome. The service was impeccable without being suffocating. The food was delicious- the surprise petit fours wishing us a happy anniversary a lovely touch along with meeting our request for a particular table! Of course the privilege of spending the evening in this beautiful house was wonderful. Thank you to everyone involved!

We came to Cliveden to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It is a very easy journey from London and the countryside couldn’t be better. We have been before and enjoyed our stays. Cliveden House is incredibly beautiful, the views are outstanding, most staff are amazingly helpful and friendly. We enjoyed our stay and our bed was the most comfortable I have ever slept in. Our room was large, clean and tidy. However, some of our stay felt a bit bumpy. It felt as though some staff were working in silos rather than as a member of a team. Sometimes the focus on the customer, and their experience, seemed to have been forgotten. For example, my husband made the booking but, for some reason, I was consistently emailed about the booking, including being reminded to pay the bill!! It actually felt as though I was being scammed as the email address of some of the reminders bore no relation to Cliveden. My husband had bought The Romance Package and the roses were delivered to us in the plastic delivery packaging. I then had to unwrap the flowers and arrange them. The champagne only arrived after we reminded Reception. Not all the lights worked in the bedroom. Trying to recharge my phone by the bed was far from easy - having to move furniture to access an electric plug by the bed wasn’t what I wanted to do - and it still didn’t work. The view from the restaurant couldn’t be better. The staff were very friendly and helpful but the food was disappointing - except for raspberry soufflé which was sumptuous. Value - far cheaper than Le Manoir (our usual anniversary venue). It is sadly closed for refurbishment. But Cliveden is not cheap. Will we be back? Not sure. Lovely setting but I want to stay somewhere where everything works smoothly and we don’t have to keep reminding staff and checking that we have paid the right amount. For example, a 12.5% service charge + a tip!! An all inclusive price which doesn’t fully cover supper!! There needs to be review to assess customer experience, to learn from what is going well and then make some fundamental changes so that customers consistently experience the very best from the moment they come through the Cliveden gates.

Excellent food and service in a unique historic location. Views and gardens spectacular. Bedroom well furnished in a classic style and the bed super comfortable!

Cliveden is a unique place to have the experience of being a guest in a friend's Stately Home. From the welcome in the Great Hall at reception, where you may enjoy tea while your luggage is managed, through attentive service in the dining room and assistance from the duty manager, all staff are thoughtful and helpful. Our suite was beautifully furnished and decorated, and I enjoyed reading the coffee-table book on Cliveden's long and interesting history. We ate breakfast, High Tea, and dinner in the Dining Room and Astor Grill, and all food was delicious with excellent service. In between meals, we greatly enjoyed rambling through the dozen or so well-tended gardens on the estate. These include a Parterre such as you will not see elsewhere, a lovely Water Garden complete with pagoda, a Rose Garden, a Topiary Garden, and even a Yew Maze. The maze is a little challenging but we were so fortunate that a local family was planning to go through and kindly guided us with them. You can also walk down to the Thames and retrace Queen Victoria's steps up her stairs. Children have not been forgotten and there is an extensive children's play trail. This trail also takes you past the Ilex grove with four thirty-foot variegated English Hollies. Don't miss walking up to the highest terrace on the house for a birds-eye view of the grounds.

We had previously toured Cliveden House but never stayed there. We did not know what to expect. We were quite pleasantly surprised. The rooms were spacious and well appointed, and the grounds were well maintained. The service was excellent. We ate in the Dining Room twice. The food was superior… on a par with at least a 1 star Michelin restaurant. We will be back, especially because of its proximity to LHR.