If you believe the marketing people then Northop Hall is the premiere place in Wales to hold a civil wedding. Having spent an evening there recently at a wedding there I'd beg to differ.

The hall is in a fabulous location, the grounds are superb, theres ample parking for around 40 cars and seating for around 60 guests wedged in like sardines in rows too close together to shuffle between. The room sanctioned for the ceremony would once have been absolutely stunning but was rather tired looking and could have done with a fresh coat of paint to spruce it up.

The entrance lobby boast a huge staircase but this opens onto an equally enormous door which sucks all the heat out of the building. Despite several archaic radiators and an enormous open fire one minute you were baking and the next the door opened and the temperature dropped significantly. Rather strangely the hotel lobby was full of tourist leaflets which detracted for the grandeur of the setting.

The reception room boasts authentic dark wood panelling and huge windows which would be rather majestic with fabulous views were it not for them being etched with the hotel name at eyeball level on each and every pane lest you forget precisely where you are. There are plenty of enormous picnic tables outside for summer months but no where for smokers to shelter in the bleak welsh winters.

Those with SatNavs were a tad confused by the hotels Chester postcode despite it being in Wales. Garmin owners didn't realise they needed to change the country and so struggled to find the place.

Dinner was quite frankly disappointing. A rather nice soup with a very dry bread roll was swiftly followed by chicken legs wrapped in bacon served with two roast potatoes and a selection of serve it yourself vegetables which were confiscated before we'd finished eating without asking I'd we'd like more. The service would have been more suited to a speed dating evening than a formal wedding. Barely had you finished the last mouthful than your plate had been whisked away and the next course appeared in its place. Desert was a mass produced tasteless cheesecake unimaginatively presented and unevenly cut with some guests receiving enormous portions whilst others were consumed in three small mouthfuls. Lukewarm coffee arrived in demitasse cups before we were evicted from our seats to make way for the live band.

The bar was overpriced but you come to expect that at isolated venues.

The toilets were nothing short of grotty with fag burns on the seats, peeling paint and taps which struggled to provide a trickle of lukewarm water. Not quite what you'd expect from the myriad of brochures describing it as a tastefully decorated Victorian mansion decorated to the highest standard.