The Grove Reviews 10

DO NOT CONSIDER FOR CELEBRATING SPECIAL OCCASIONS.

This is rated as a 5* hotel. Yet the service was nowhere near that.

Going around the car park for 30 minutes before finally finding a spot? Not a 5* experience and I've had plenty. This is simply not acceptable.

Having to book the restaurants within the hotel separately and not being told this beforehand? Not acceptable. I arrived and my only option was the lounge.

I've had to go all day without food after a long journey as the restaurants were fully booked. In no world you will go to a 5* hotel and be turned away from the restaurants on the premises.

On top of the above, the restaurants close really early for some reason? You mean to tell me that I must have dinner by 8:30? Ridiculous.

Mind you this wasn't for a weekend getaway, this was for an engagement celebration in a 5* hotel where we'd shouldn't have to worry about these types of things.

There is also no option for a late checkout. It wasn't an option to pay for this service. There is no such thing in a 5* setting.

The heating in the room was just not working, I set it to highest and it was blowing cold air.

The only decent thing about this experience what the doorman who was very friendly.

If I could give the grove a minus I would. For anyone thinking of going to eat especially afternoon tea or the glass house please please keep your money. The food is extremely sub standard and the hygiene is non existent! It all looks very nice on the website but please don’t be fooled.

I HAVE HAD the privilege of staying at luxury resorts and working closely with global high-end hospitality brands. I've come to know what a high-end standard of service is—especially from properties that proudly boast a five-star rating. However, my recent stay at The Grove in Hertfordshire not only fell short of these expectations but also revealed a concerning lack of accountability when issues were raised.

The Promise vs. The Reality
As a birthday surprise, my girlfriend booked a weekend at The Grove based on the hotel's reputation for excellence. The estate is impressive; once you turn off the main road, you will be greeted with manicured grounds and understated elegance. But luxury is more than just aesthetics. Its attention to detail, customer service, and a genuine commitment to guest satisfaction.

Our first red flag came during dinner at The Stables. What should have been a fine dining experience quickly became mediocre. The food was underwhelming—lacking the quality I've come to expect at this level. The service was unobservant at best, indifferent at worst. Despite leaving half our meals untouched (the universal sign of dissatisfaction), the staff cleared the plates without comment.

When the waitress asked about dessert, we said yes—partly hoping she'd recall mentioning my birthday earlier and make some small gesture. No such luck. In fact, they forgot to bring the menu at all. My girlfriend quipped, "Why did the horse bring a mop to dinner at The Stables?"

"Because he heard the service was sloppy!"

Had anyone enquired about our uneaten food, we might have shared our concerns. Instead, this experience—now ended as a bad joke.

The (Lack of) Resolution
I sent them a polite but candid email outlining my concerns rather than venting on TripAdvisor or my blog to give The Grove the opportunity to respond privately. Even the best establishments can have off nights—what matters is how they deal with them.
The reply from Megan, the Kitchen and F&B Office Manager, was telling:

"It is disheartening to see from your email that we fell short of this goal on this special occasion."

That is a nice sentiment—but where was the solution? Instead of acknowledging the specifics of my complaint or offering redress (a refund for the subpar meal, a gesture of goodwill), I was asked to repeat the details I had already provided. This is not how a five-star hotel handles criticism.

The Final Straw
When I pushed back, noting that their response felt dismissive, Megan doubled down:

"My request for further details is to enable us to complete a thorough investigation."

My experience is baffling: Why should I have to chase resolution at a luxury resort? When two people say the food and service were poor, the burden is on management to investigate—not on me to repeat my disappointment. Worst still, there was no offer to make things right. No apology. No recognition that our experience had been compromised.

Why This Matters
When an establishment that markets itself as a premier destination is faced with constructive feedback, its priority should be accountability—not pushing back with bureaucratic deflection. I have never known a 5-star establishment to ask guests to prove their dissatisfaction; it acts swiftly to restore confidence.

They could have avoided this by saying, "Sorry your meal didn't meet your expectations or ours—we've refunded the cost and would love the chance to welcome you back." And this blog post wouldn't exist. Instead, how they dealt with me has left me with no choice but to share my experience publicly.

The Lesson for Luxury Hospitality
• Listen Before Being Defensive: If a guest takes the time to write, they give you a chance. Don't waste it.
• Act First, Investigate Later: A refund or complimentary gesture costs little but preserves reputation.
• Train Staff to Read the Room: Someone should notice if plates are being returned half-full.

Final Thoughts
I'll end with a nod to Kyle, the breakfast chef, who was the lone standout—proof that excellence is possible at The Grove. But one bright spot doesn't excuse systemic indifference. Until the hotel learns to side with the guest first, my advice is to enjoy the breakfast and gardens for afternoon tea—and dine elsewhere in the evenings. Unless golf is your thing, try the Cliveden, which is slightly pricier but offers more consistent luxury.

We celebrated a birthday here at the Stables.
Food & ambience were great.
A special thank you to our lovely waitress Sandra, who was attentive, friendly and provided excellent service all around.

Waiting time to be served 45 minutes on a Monday evening when the restaurant wasn't that busy!

Manager Ivette eventually arrived and with bad attitude served the deserts!
She will need to improve her listening skills as she did not want to listen to what we wanted to say and kept talking over us!

it was so shit you could only taste a miligram off the food so shit i threw up for twenty whole houers. so shit no recomend

Hey!

I placed an order after receiving a some money for my dream bag that for the first time I could finally afford 💖💖 And then 24 hours later it was somehow out of stock. I was devastated. (My husband still doesn’t understand how I’m so sad about a bag!) I pick a very 2nd choice and some Gucci flats to be delivered to the Nordstrom The Grove, in Los Angeles.

I caught the error of it being sent to the Melrose location the next morning, and called them first thing when they opened. To be fair, the Melrose were superstars! Kindly they were so sweet and found a solution - send it to the Grove store by 2 pm. I called them back that after and confirmed they sent it. They said they had.

I called the Grove location to confirm they had it and let them know I was having a bad pain day so my husband was getting my new luxury bag I had worked so hard for. The woman was straight up rude and very un-Nordstrom. She informed me that I was “making them work” and had to go check the store room. It was not there and she said “I needed to just figure it out”. I asked if it could be anywhere else and she sighed and said, “you really want to make us go down to the loading dock?!” I asked if she wouldn’t mind because I was SO excited about it, it was thousands of dollars and my husband just drove an hour in LA traffic and parked at the Grove to get it.

She never asked my name even or said hi. She never got the order number right either. I asked what her name was and she said something like Ahaha? I don’t think it was real. Then she hung up without saying even bye.

I’m a disabled chronic pain patient and can’t drive so my husband left an appointment early and drove from all the way from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills to pick it up. My husband stil went just incase they found it and he wanted to surprise me with it! He stopped by and they were just as rude to him as they were to me. He happened to get the same woman! She said “your wife just needs to figure it out tomorrow with the Melrose location”

Honestly I’m shocked and disappointed. I’ve always shopped at Nordstrom since my teens, even though it was out of my budget. But now that I came into some money regarding horrific things from childhood, I thought at least deserved a purse I have always wanted to treat myself.

Today took that excitement away from me and now it just feels like work and like I’m inconveniencing people. I’m just disappointed at the decline of customer service at the Grove location and at my favorite store, the cancellation of my dream bag, and the behavior from this woman today. My husband said she was really rude to him as well, never asked him his name and didn’t even say goodbye. Apparently we are just a big inconvenience.

I just want my stuff now. I’m not even excited anymore but it was expensive. So yeah. There is a screen shot below of my order number, my name, payment I for and address.

My husband doesn’t have time to stop working and drive to another location. So I guess I need it shipped and it gets to me when it does. If it is shipped, I need to give delivery instructions to ensure I get it and it isn’t stolen.

I had fantasized about strolling out (or rolled in a wheelchair) out of Nordstrom to the gorgeous Grove at night with all the lights and fountains — and me, with a big bag silver Nordstrom bag filled with a perfectly hand wrapped luxury bag from Saint Laurent bag in its box and beautiful Gucci slides. Now…it’s just kind been ruined. I’m really sad and kind of tired of always being let down.

Thank you for reading this and have a lovely day,

Anaiah Shehori

I have been in contact several times with the Grove since January of this year trying to book a special family lunch to celebrate my 70th birthday. Finally yesterday was the first time I could make my booking for my immediate family to join me for a celebratory lunch. But after all my contacts I have been refused as our party is too big. My party would have been for 19, with 10 adults and 9 children aged from 16 to 2. This is just my four children with their immediate family.
We always go to the Grove to celebrate special occasions, but not to be this time.
I am really disappointed after trying to book as early as possible to ensure that the date is available.
So my message is do not expect to get a booking for a special event at this hotel.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Tim the owner is rude, obnoxious and clearly has no idea what customer service is.

I’ve been going to French and Byrne throughout Covid to support a local business, and clearly been lucky enough to avoid meeting Tim until now.

I’ve never met such a rude individual that had zero respect for anyone.
I walked inside and straight away he was in my face telling me that I needed to wait outside, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but he clearly has no social skills in the way he delivered this, not to include that the weather had dropped significantly and was below freezing, which I found odd that this new rule had been introduced during this time of year, I also made him aware that I have a chronic chest illness that makes it difficult for me to be in the cold for too long, his response was ‘I don’t care’ After waiting we sat at a table and tried to order, however after the interaction, I’d asked our server to call the manager over so I could express my disappointment in the way we’d been treated, he came over and took the menus off us and told us to leave because ‘it doesn’t bother him what we thought’ I’m so shocked that he can get away with speaking to customers like this, and sincerely hope that this is an isolated incident, because I’d hate to think anyone else would have to be treated like this, sadly this is not that case, after talking to a few people this has happened several times.

I will never step into this cafe again, and frankly now I know the Sandy family also own the Soup kitchen in Stafford, I will also be avoiding there too.

This was my favorite place to go to when I was a child. It's really beautiful and being an outdoor mall you can have nice time spent at bars or movie theatre that serves snacks and drinks. The only thing is that there are not so many shops so it is not the best place for actual shopping. Still I do love going there from time to time and will definitely bring my kids once I have them