Great Hallingbury Manor Reviews 17

Hotel was superb, very scenic location, very comfortable, decor spotless and the stables suite we had was very spacious and excellently appointed. Excellent service by very friendly and helpful staff, with a special mention for Poppy and Amy.
Our stay was so perfect we will be visiting Great Hallingbury again and hopefully taking family with us next time.
Hotel is located on Stansted’s landing path but this did not spoil our stay at all.

Just had the nicest Boxing Day meal. Fabulous food beautiful surrounding and really great friendly service. Can’t recommend highly enough!

stayed at Great Hallingbury Manor expecting a relaxing night with on-site dining, but was left deeply disappointed. Despite being told at check-in (and seeing on the hotel website) that dinner would be served until 8:45 or 9 PM, the kitchen had already closed by 8 PM. Along with other confused guests, we were offered no apology—just told to "get a Deliveroo" while the chef relaxed at the bar. This felt dismissive and unprofessional, especially for a hotel promoting itself as a premium venue.

We had planned to eat both dinner and breakfast at the hotel but chose to skip breakfast as well due to the poor experience and lack of trust. To make matters worse, the room's soundproofing was poor—aircraft noise disrupted what should have been a restful stay.
The planes pass very close by, I would suggest staying at one of the options nearer to the Airport with better soundproofing, it also saves on the hassle & cost of taxis.

Management later admitted there had been an administrative error on their website and said the reception team had now been retrained. While I appreciate the follow-up, it doesn’t undo the frustration or the lack of hospitality we experienced in the moment. I hope future guests have a better experience, but based on mine, I wouldn’t return.

Went for Sunday lunch,2 for 1 what an absolute take on.
2 tiny thin slices of beef 1 Yorkshire pudding 3 quarters of a potatoe 1 quarter of a cartott and 1 quarter of parsnip,1 tiny sprig of broccoli.
Right price for that would have been £23.99
So for 2 lunches 1 half pint of beer and service charge was £35,00
Do not bother having lunch here you will come away hungry. We stopped on the way home and got sandwiches and crisps save your money or great if your on a strict diet.
Would never go back.
Restaurant also very noisy and like a canteen

Newly refurbished manor. Fabulous rooms with big shower. Lovely grounds. Obviously you’re near the Stansted Airport which is ideal to leave your car while you go on holiday. You can buy a package for this which includes bed, breakfast, car park for the length of your holiday and then transport to the airport.
We were there for 1 night for a reunion and everyone enjoyed their stay. We had dinner in the evening and found it reasonably and very nicely cooked. Would have been 5 stars but for the fact there’s no air conditioning in the rooms. This is because it is a listed building and not allowed. However fans were provided.

Avoid! Avoid! Avoid! Avoid parking at this hotel!
Gave my car registration to the receptionist who issued me with a parking ticket which I displayed in my rental car. Over three weeks lapsed before I received notice of a parking fine which I queried and it was subsequently cancelled. However I am still £68 out of pocket as the car rental comany took an admin processing fee. This appears to be an ongoing problem at this hotel where car reg numbers are not passed on to the parking management company or the vehicle recognition cameras are faulty. The hotel management have no interest in rectifying this as can be seen from numerous complaints about incorrectly issued parking fines. Avoid staying at this hotel unless you want to risk a similar experience.

A beautiful hotel in a lovely setting with attentive staff but sadly I didn't get a wink of sleep. The noise from the planes at Stansted landing every 3 minutes is deafening, even with the windows closed. The room was stifflingly hot too as the windows only opened a couple of inches and in the recent heatwave was truly unbearable. Also as my room was near the reception area, I was further disturbed by residents being picked up and dropped off for the airport into the early hours of the morning. Will find an alternative methinks.

Booked via Booking.com - site states pet friendly and even allowed me to specify how many pets - still have the screenshots. Received a message from hotel on the day of the booking to say they did not accept dogs and therefore we could not take up the room. Refund was requested due to breach Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, but Hotel would not process and then proceeded to ignore further requests as did Booking.com. Lesson learnt - won't be repeated with either company. Still trying to pursue the matter via legal channels as matter of principle.

Overall a pleasant hotel stay!
September 2024
Needing an overnight stay in a hotel close to Stansted Airport I found this hotel online and booked the hotel Great Hallingbury Manor, Bishop Stortford that is very close to the airport. I booked online with Surya Hotels the owners as the rate was more favourable than the booking with comparison sites but no cancellation or refund was allowed. After booking and paying for it I visited the review sites (I know this is not the right way round or the wisest way to read the reviews first!) I then read all the negative and bad reviews so after reading these I became very concerned about what staying there was going to be like, but I can only speak as I find and I can say that our one night stay was very pleasant indeed. The hotel setting was a country park type with a lake. There is indeed close flying aircraft noise as the hotel is on the incoming flight path but in all honesty, what do you expect at a major airport hotel and the flights did stop at about 1 am. The room was well-insulated and double-glazed. We had a superior room in one of the wings and our room was very spacious and clean with a very comfortable bed and the usual hotel room facilities kettle with tea and coffee was provided. There was a good size TV on the wall two relaxing chairs and a table. The on-suite bathroom was large and very well designed and I would say recently refitted with a great walk-in shower. There were good quality clean towels and soap and shampoo provided. Overall nothing one could complain about. The room was offered at a fair price in comparison with other branded hotels in the area. It is true to say there is a large investment by the owners is currently underway in refurbishing and upgrading the hotel communal areas like the restaurant and bar so you need to be prepared to eat out and there is no breakfast service at present but they told us that at booking. Why so many people have written so many bad reviews I don’t understand as our experience was totally different and very acceptable.
There is just one issue you need to take care of and that is the on-site parking as it is included as part of the booking but it is managed and monitored by an outside parking control company as they also offer airport parking packages. So the car park is policed and inspected by the management company but when you check in reception will register your car with the company (make sure they do) and they also gave us an identifiable ticket to display inside the vehicle to be visible at all time you are parked on site.
The big question with any hotel review is would you stay there again? And the answer is YES we would.

What a S**t Hole I've slept in better bus shelters.
Totally unprofessional staff.
No blinds on the window it had been ripped off,carpet dirty no fridge, i could go on.
Best advice stay in the nearest Bus Shelter.

Pre-booked stay in February with overnight parking, arrived, checked in and gave car details. Two weeks later received a parking fine. When it was contested I was informed that the hotel had not informed the car parking of my car details and I had no grounds for appeal. I have called the hotel over 20 times and despite being told repeatedly my call was important, nobody actual bothered to answer.

So I really wanted to book with this hotel for an upcoming holiday. I have tried a dozen times to call them but never got put through (either by their own line or via Surya Hotels). I emailed them to ask about making a booking with their Stay, Park and Fly offer. The receptionist sent an automated response, clearly not even bothering to read my email. I sent a follow-up email, to which they responded with an apology and the answers I needed. I went to make the booking, but had a final question about leaving my car keys with the property whilst I was away. Only to find out my email has been blocked! I was in no way disrespectful in my correspondence, and yet I have now been blocked - I honestly don't know why. I'm very glad that I went to check first before making a booking. I'm extremely disappointed with this, to be honest. It seems others have had similar luck with this property. Such a shame. I'll be booking my accommodation elsewhere.

Booked in and had rung ahead to check the restaurant had a vegan menu and it did so we had pre booked a table. Checked in a 4 to be told the main restaurant was closed for refurbishment and they had a smaller restaurant in use. Headed to dinner at 7:30 to be told they had no gas so no vegan starters, one microwaveable main and no desserts. Why couldn’t the reception tell us that when we checked in or ring the room if it was discovered later. Ended up driving round trying to find somewhere to eat at 8pm on a Sunday night.
Breakfast was the same, unable to supply anything for vegans, mentioned this at checkout and the lady couldn’t care less.
Now the room - the table was damaged and was a disgrace, the bathroom had repaired holes but not painted. The carpet was dirty and stained, the bed was two singles pushed together. Every piece of furniture was chipped or damaged in some way. Why do I mention this? We paid for an upgraded room. View from our room was a building site!
Disgraceful customer service and a thoroughly disappointing experience.

The room was freezing when I arrived, as the radiator wasn't on heat and the single pain glass window offers no protection from the cold or the noise outside. The hallway outside my room, bear in mind it not a thoroughfare had the door slamming about 10 times from 0600 onwards. Due to no soft closing doors and wood throughout, it really echoes. Now some minor details, the shaving socket doesn't work, the sockets next to bed have no bedside table, so put your gadgets on the floor. Also, I arrived after midnight and a bit weary from my travels, the first room key card didn't work, then went back to reception, it didn't work again, then changed rooms and it didn't work, finally a card pulled from the jacket of the reception staff worked. It took me hours to get warm, was I put the radiator on, no real thought was given in preparing this room. So, it's fair to say I would not recommend, unless everywhere else is taken. Other people had said there are other more acoustically sound rooms, but are you taking a chance. The bathroom and toiletries look nice though and clean. Oh, and there was a sock over the smoke detector, not sure if it a Regulation one, just something I hadn't seen before.

My mistake was to think this hotel would be set-up for travelers using Stansted Airport. That was not the case.
You need a car or a cab in order to get from the hotel to the airport or vice versa. The cab (01279 506475) is efficient and set me back 27.50GBP one way.
Trying to do that by public transport is a dangerous undertaking and means walking B Roads without a footpath or light. The hotel does not have a shuttle service.
Breakfast was at at 8 and not, as advertised, at 7.
Lastly, Dinner is not served after 8PM.

That said, Room was nice and charming.

My daughter and I went for afternoon tea with an open mind. We were pleasantly surprised - the food was great. Scones were some of the best we've had. Our server was charming. Very happy guests!

Really bad experience
First impression: Valentine in the reception - she don't like visitors, so what was she doing there!
Second impression: The room was small, the pipes in the toilet smelled awful, the mirror was placed in 1 meter high and least but not last airplanes from pm 7 to midnight and again from am 6 - not to mention the car noise from the road (do not ask for room 31 - it is a disaster)
Third impression: The Lakewood restaurant looks like an afterparty - but the guy in the restaurant tried very hard to make the dinner a good experience
Fourth impression: SHE was sitting in the reception again - same smile (sorry that was a mistake)
bad, bad and bad