Quite disappointed with my last visit. I had staye...

Quite disappointed with my last visit. I had stayed and dined in hotel on different occasions few years back and had very fond memories. I wanted to have a small treat for myself and my husband and bought an afternoon tea Groupon. Although it is a deal-meal, yet I felt the difference how staff attended or treated people with groupons. The area was separate from the bar, where normally afternoon tea would be served. The glass extension of the restaurant where the tea was served, air conditioning was not switched on. My question about air con was treated as something not on a 'list', even it was put reluctantly on after I mentioned it. The waiter brought tea promptly, but I had problems to provide barcode of my Groupon on my phone. By the time the food arrived to the table the tea was almost the room temperature, but I was never offered a fresh pot of tea... The food was below then average and looked slightly better than tasted. Rhubarb mousse had no taste of rhubarb. The bread in sandwiches glued to the teeth and I struggled to wash it down with room temperature tea. The 'clotted' cream was so runny that it was dripping of the scone. Cheesecake had not flavour at all... I had a bite of cakes but couldn't finish any as I had to scrape greasy cream from everything. As I said the waiters had very little interest in our experience and even didn't ask did we enjoy the food. Very sad. I expected more from the 5* hotel. I speak from and comparing it to my previous experience of the hotel itself and the restaurant. Definitely there are several issues can be picked up for improvement, such as staff training and a better chef. Would I recommend afternoon tea in Norton House? No, not without radical changes in staff attitude and quality of food.