Our experience at Ellenborough Park was disappoint...

Our experience at Ellenborough Park was disappointing, especially for a Valentine's outing. We had an engagement in London on the holiday evening so spent two days prior at the hotel, with the idea that service would be stellar during a couple's time of year. It was not. The grounds are lovely but aside from that I don't know which part of the hotel warrants five stars as our accommodation was plain and dated, though clean. We were surprised by this but allowed that maybe the dog friendly rooms are to a lesser standard. However, service and attention to detail is what makes a top tier hotel and whilst staff were friendly, we found the hotel lacking. Not once did we get a breakfast menu during turn down service. On the first morning we mentioned the error to concierge with an assurance that it would be remedied on the second evening. It was not, and instead my partner had to walk to reception after midnight so that we could have our breakfast in bed on Valentine's morning. Which was delivered ice cold, the espresso like cold mud in a cup. A shame since our meal the day before in the dining room had been a pleasure. We also had a line error with both phones in our suite, so that they blinked red constantly on either side of the room. Calling front desk in the middle of the night made no difference, and instead of fixing the problem for two nights we had to store the phones underneath the desk and nightstand in order to sleep. Completely unacceptable really. I strongly felt that as 'regular' patrons we received sub standard service, as we were often reminded how popular the hotel is with horse jockeys and the like. Whatever the case, I have no interest in visiting again and there are certainly far better five star establishments true to the rating.