Villiers Hotel, Sky

The positives about this hotel are 1) the friendliness of all the staff, 2) the comfortable beds, 3) the delicious dinners on the 2 nights of our stay, 4) the on-site parking, and 5) the great location about 15 minutes drive from Silverstone. There were unfortunately, also some negatives, mostly surrounding very poor service, despite the friendliness of the staff. 1) We had booked a twin room, and the receptionist acknowledged this upon our arrival. But when we got into our room there was just a double bed there. So we had to wait while they said they would alter it to a twin room by separating the 2 beds which had been pushed together to make the double bed..... However we were eventually put into a different room with 2 beds. 2) Later, we realised we only had towells for one person. I went back to reception to get towels for 2nd person and offered to wait whilst they got them for me. But I was told they would leave them in our room. Subsequently, when we returned to the room late at night, the towells had still not been brought to the room. Eventually, the very friendly night porter Keith, had to get towels for us. 3) The bathroom was a problem for us. Firstly the mirror over the basin is in a very dark area with no light. So it is very difficult to use for wet shaving. Secondly the shower is in the bath, which has high sides. There are no hand rails whatsoever. As seniors (with one of us having 2 knee replacements), it was extremely difficult to get in and out of the bath, even when only using it as a shower. We both had to reach out to clutch the counter beside the basin to help us get in and out. We were very fearful of falling every time we used the shower. 4) During our stay, our key cards stopped working and had to be replaced. If this had happened late at night it would have been extremely inconvenient with only a night porter on duty 5) The biggest problem for us was the deplorable breakfast service. At weekends breakfast starts at 8.00am. We had deadlines to meet on our first morning, and needed to be out of the hotel by 9.00am, which should have allowed plenty of time. However, despite being one of the first entering the breakfast room at 8.00am, and giving the breakfast order to the staff immediately, it took 45 minutes for the food to arrive. And to make matters worse, others who had arrived and ordered their food AFTER us were served before us. As a result we had to rush the meal - not an enjoyable experience. The next morning was much worse. I waited a full hour between ordering breakfast and it arriving. Many other people were equally delayed, and eventually the situation deteriorated, with people from another table thumping on the kitchen door to get talking to a staff member to find out what was causing the delay. In the end a number of tables of people were complaining, with people demanding to speak to the manager. The staff in fairness were very apologetic, but it still took further time before food started appearing. Whilst our food eventually arrived after a full hour, mine was served before others who had ordered before me. After breakfast everyone was complaining, and we understand that some people were eventually not charged for their breakfast, although this did not happen with us.

Great historical building, although our room was dog friendly it was very dark... There are no grassed areas nearby. Dinner was delicious 😋 we both enjoyed the vegan choices on the main menu, service was good. Breakfast was limited and finished at 9.15 a little early, Kelsey was a great server.