"Travelling with three young children, just spent two great days at another Merlin resort and looking forward to more of the same, the earliest table booking we could get was 1945. Table wasn’t ready on time, but once seated the service was desperately slow. No one did the industry standard “is everything alright?” Starters arrived fairly promptly but drinks took a while. Once starters were finished it took nearly an hour for the main course to arrive, by which time the kids were over tired and barely able to eat. We had to ask for more cutlery for the main course, and when we eventually got the attention of a server for a further round of drinks it took 20 minutes to bring them. It was not busy, hardly 40% full. Two other tables nearby were complaining about the slow service- also with young children. There were plenty of waiting staff on, they just seemed to prefer congregating by the tills and apparently gossiping- the three at the till near us were recounting an anecdote of another patron also complaining of poor service. By 2115 the kids had enough and needed to go to bed. I asked for the bill and was astonished to find that restaurant items cannot be charged to rooms, necessitating a trip back upstairs to get a phone with which to pay with children in tow. I asked to see the manager and explained that the service was dissatisfactory, and she seemed more concerned that they were all due to finish at 2200. The food was average at best, the prices above average, service well below average, and management indifferent. It was explained that the catering is not provided by the same firm as the hotel- it is Aramark, who are more your staff canteen contracting outfit than restaurateur contenders. Knowing this I’m amazed there was table service at all, or that the condiments weren’t in single serve packets. I will not be eating here again, other than the inclusive breakfast with room rates. I will, like previous visits, take a walk up the road to one of the several pubs nearby that offer better value and service. A highly disappointing start to a much anticipated visit to chessington world of adventures."
Kingston upon Thames
