Hotel berhampiran St Pauls Church (C of E) Graveyard, Nelson

We were swayed by the all inclusive break offer but in all honesty for the price we were not expecting too much as if its to good to be true it usually is. However our one night stay at The Oaks was a very pleasurable event. Star the receptionist truly was and not just in name, Taylor the bar person for the evening ensured top quality drinks were always served and all brand names even on the all inclusive. Donna was our waitress and was very helpful I would give all the staff I met and spoke to 10/10. Our room was cleaned to a very high standard. Yes the rooms need a refurb and look a little dated but it did not detract from the overall condition of the Hotel. We both enjoyed it very much and are already looking at booking at another of their hotels on the same offer for in a couple of weeks.

So the Fence Gate Lodge only gets two stars because the room was lovely - NO other reason! Along with my daughter and her partner we booked a ”Lazy Sunday” deal but there was nothing lazy or leisurely about it - more pandemonium than peaceful. I rang a few days before to check how accessible my room was as I explained I had limited mobility. They said they had a function on during the evening of our stay and kindly upgraded us to a better room free of charge to be away from the noise...the only good bit! However, they failed to mention that it wouldn't be possible to get any food in the Lodge itself and that we'd have to go the the Inn up the road (which was too far for me to walk). My husband kindly offered to be designated driver which was disappointing but there was no other choice. We arrived about 3.15 for a Sunday lunch booking at 4.45 and hubby drove us to the Inn. At 4.10 my daughter went through to the restaurant to let them know we had arrived and would come through for our lunch shortly. At 4.40 we went through to be told there was no reservation for us!! The two girls on the restaurant reception had no explanation and said ”we only work Sundays” We were kept standing for about 20 minutes (difficult with limited mobility) until they found the manager who eventually worked out that when my daughter had told them we had arrived they had cancelled our booking! There were two weddings on that evening aside from the Birthday party at the Lodge so the place was heaving. We were seated for dinner and, to be fair, that was OK until we came to pay. We had incurred some extra drinks charges and also some supplements over and above the deal we had paid for. My husband gave my daughter his credit card to pay the bill and another 20 minute wait ensued as they couldn't work out how to sort it (never did manage to reconcile it!). While we were dining one party left the restaurant in disgust without paying and several members of staff told us what a terrible day they were having!! After a couple of hours over at the Inn we wanted to go back to the Lodge for the rest of the evening so we rang across the road to se if we could get a drink anywhere. We were told that provided we didn't disturb the Birthday party in any way we could sit and order drinks in Reception. We arrived in Reception and they came to take our drinks order. We ordered some beers but were told that there wasn't any beer as it was all for the Birthday function. Understandably we were a bit put out but asked for some red wine. We were told that they only had Merlot (possibly the only wine in the land I wont drink! We said no the the Merlot but I asked if we were ok to drink a bottle of shiraz that I had in the car from a wine shop visit earlier that day. I was told we could but that we would be charged corkage. I challenged this as I explained that we trying very hard to spend money with them but nothing was available!! They did agree to let us drink the wine a

Beautiful hotel, staff friendly and knowledgeable, food lovely, leisure facilities clean and staff very welcoming. Will definitely recommend and can’t wait to return.

We've just spent 2 nights at The Alma Inn. The hotel is a sensitively, refurbished 18th century coach house.The rooms are very well appointed and include waters, quality biscuits, tea and coffee. The bed and pillows were very comfy and the en-suite was large. The Inn is in an ideal location for many places of interest. The views of rolling countryside are faboulous. We were in the restaurant both nights and there was an excellent choice and all was very well cooked and presented with speedy service. I had one of the specials which was Seafood Choo Chee and it had an incredible depth of flavour. The desserts were excellent too. My dark chocolate fondant was like something off Masterchef - crispy on the outside and liquid in the middle. I'm gluten intolerant and my allergy was very well catered for. Breakfast was varied and delicious. The staff were terrific. Emma was friendly and knowledgeable about the foods on the menu etc and Yvonne, at breakfast, was also very friendly and suggested some good walks. We would not hesitate to go again. Thank you Alma Inn.