Hellaby Hall, South Yorkshire (Hellaby Hall Hotel (Hellaby))

Member Name: micksheff

Product:	Hellaby Hall Hotel (Hellaby)
Date:	21/02/09 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely building

Disadvantages: Rushed service, expensive bar prices

Hellaby Hall in Rotherham was the choice of venue for my recent work's Christmas party. It's a well-known hotel locally and one of only a few 4 star hotels in the area. It wasn't somewhere that I had been to before so I was interested to find out what it had to offer.

Over the years it has established itself as a premier venue for conferences, wedding functions and other events. Beds are still available so it is still officially a hotel by the true definition of the word, although I imagine that this now only forms a very small part of its business.

Upon arrival I was rather impressed by the exterior of the hotel. Since its tucked away off the main road down a short private road its not really visible unless you are actually visiting it so this was the first time that I had seen it up close. The main part of the building is housed within a former country house and is now a Grade 2 listed building. Separating this building from a newer annex where the majority of the bedrooms are there is a large car park. Our function was inside the old building, which is where the majority of the function rooms are to be found.

The lobby was very grand with a small reception tucked away in a corner against the left hand wall. There were plush carpets and lots of tall house plants in fancy pots. We were quickly greeted and asked which party we were from and then directed to our private room. Our room was mid size with a capacity of around 100. There was a bar and prints on the wall as well as a fully decorated Christmas tree and a small stage/dancefloor. I imagine that there are dozens of rooms like this of varying size throughout the building.

Our tables were neatly arranged and first impressions were good but we would quickly discover that the prices behind the bar were rather steep. I paid £3.85 for a pint of luke warm Castlemaine XXXX lager. The next problem related to the service, it wasn't slow it was quite the opposite and very rushed giving us the impression that they wanted us out as quickly as possible for the next party. The food quality however was very good so this was a real shame.

Overall this seemed like a lovely place but it was let down by the poor quality of the lager (and other drinks which everyone else moaned about) and their extortionate prices and the rushed service with the meals.

Summary: A 4 star hotel in South Yorkshire