Forest of Arden Hotel & Country Club - Birmingham

Amy T.

Friendly and attentive staff, lovely facilities and delicious food!

We ended up staying here unexpectedly after being let down by another hotel and were sooo pleased that we ended up here. From when you first walk into the hotel to check out, we couldn't fault our experience. The free use of the spa facilities was amazing and the breakfast we superb. The food was hot and fresh, and there was such a large choice. The rooms are spacious and comfy and the grounds are lovely for a walk.
Thank you for making what was a rubbish beginning to our weekend so lovely!

Gemma R.

Room was nice. States I'd had a coffee machine but it didn't. Bathroom was basic and not luxury.
Spa was open til 9, but was also basic. Not many lounge beds and the jacuzzi steam and sauna rooms were always full with golfers.
The food was horrible. Not much choice to begin with for evening meals and what was served, looked like it had been catapulted onto out plates. I had the Lemon tart for pudding but the pastry was thick and gluey, and the lemon was about 2mm thick and left a film in my mouth. The chef should be ashamed allowing that to leave the kitchen.
The hot breakfast wasnt much better.
For the price and the reputation this place has, what we experienced was such a disappointment.
We wont be returning

JANE S.

I am not a golfer so cannot comment on the golfing facilities, however as a hotel the experience was disappointing. While the staff were friendly and helpful, the evening waiting staff at dinner were over worked resulting in a less than satisfactory service. The hotel itself is very tired and in desperate need of a make over with some areas looking grubby from a lack of maintenance. The breakfast offer is good with a wide selection of hot and cold foods and while my husband enjoyed his evening meal of fish and chips, the pork belly was extremely poor - 98% fat with hardly any meat. Overall a disappointment and over priced if using just as a hotel.

A O.

Interesting establishment. The reception staff were polite and friendly.
The slight letdown was the food.
I'm not sure why they put salt and pepper on the table when the chef believes he needs to use his quota of salt and kill the chips. But the steak was lovely. Also, do note that when you purchase your food in advance from the menu. There are additional charges for quite a few products from the inclusive set menu.
If no one comes along so you can pay your bill, just head for reception, and you can settle it up there.
Fortunately, I will not have to go there again for some time.

Davie R.

Staff were friendly and approachable mostly.||Room was comfortable, quiet and clean.||Leisure facilities ok but dated and in need of TLC. Open until 9pm but annoyingly I was refused entry at 8:15pm as last entry is 8pm I’m told. Went the next morning instead, sauna took until 7am to reach ambient temperature 70 degrees. ||The food was very very very poor, both for dinner and breakfast and massively overpriced. £19 for fish and chips which consisted of Coley, oven chips and watery ‘shredded peas’ plus £37 for ribeye steak 10oz is a complete rip off - that equates to £60 per kilo. Tables were not cleared or cleaned promptly and the bar area was grubby. ||Hotel automatically adds on 12:5% service charge (even though I ordered at the bar) which when I questioned, refused to remove, explaining it was automatically added and couldn’t be removed, I persisted so they still made me pay it but gave me a can of Guinness for no charge in ‘compensation’ .||The breakfast was meagre, cooked options available (overly greasy) and the bread available was basic sliced pan brown & white, no rolls or artisan bread selection. Pastries and muffins were awful, like the cheapest kind you get in a basic supermarket. There was a small plate of salamis and cooked meats that appeared discoloured and curled under the lights. They did have some fresh fruit, apples, oranges, bananas and fruit juice. Coffee was from a machine rather than freshly prepared in a pot which was disappointing, ||In short the impression I got was the hotel had prepared a menu where they could charge as much as they could dare to get away with using food and ingredients that were as cheaply sourced as possible and basic. ||£7:50 for a 440ml can of 0% Guinness is a joke! They had draft pumps for Heineken 0% but it wasn’t working and they couldn’t use the draft charger for Guinness as it takes the larger cans and they only were stocking the 440ml variant. Whilst the bar man was pouring my 0% Guinness, the waitress (standing customer side of the bar) asked in a sarcastic and mocking way ‘who is having nil perfect beer lol’ without realising it was me standing next to her. The barman indicated sheepishly it was me and she hiccuped ‘oops I didn’t realise’ How insensitive!!!!!!

amiralike

We recently stayed here and had an overall lovely experience. The rooms are a bit dated, but the beautiful grounds and excellent service more than made up for it. We were celebrating my husband’s birthday, and the staff went above and beyond to make it extra special with thoughtful, personal touches that made us feel so welcome.

One of the highlights was definitely the spa. Natalie, in particular, made sure my experience was exceptional—she even tailored my treatment to ensure I was as relaxed as possible, which was truly appreciated.

The restaurant food was decent and the staff are lovely and the driving range was a great spot for beginners like us to practice our swing. All in all, a memorable stay with attentive service and beautiful surroundings. Would definitely recommend for a relaxing getaway!

Anthony

The rooms were lovely and warm until we woke up in the morning feeling cold, as the windows weren't closed properly. The bathroom had plaster missing around the light, fire doors on the first weren't closing. As per the website description that swimming was available 6am to 9pm got to the pool that 8pm to 9pm on a Sunday was for adults only no mention on the website about this..

Carys C.

I booked a spa trip for my partners birthday to which we had full spa access for the whole day, a glass of mulled wine and a 30minute back massage each. |The spa it’s self have everything you need, a little dated but the sauna and stem room were hot and roomy. The hot tub was on and hot and the pool was clean and warm.||The spa was lovely and the staff were very welcoming. The massages, we agreed, were the best massages we’ve ever had! ||Would defo recommend the spa treatments! ||The cafe was nice with a great selection of drinks too!