Not sure what to say about this really - we had stayed in the other Birch previously, so knew the emphasis was making the public spaces special and the bedrooms just had a "light touch" makeover. So, that was fine and we were not surprised when we got here.
First impressions were good and on our first evening we had a lovely meal at Elodie (make sure to book well in advance!) and service was great. Friendly and professional.
It went a bit downhill on the Sunday when we had dinner at the main restaurant, Vervain. The staff who served us at breakfast were the same staff at dinner and they were also there the next day, so I have no doubt they were worn out, but Vervain was pretty chaotic. The supervisor/maitre'd was wandering around tossing water bottles like Tom Cruise in Cocktail and sitting at people's tables having conversations while the waiting staff were wandering around with huge trays of food, doing a complete circuit of the floor because they did not know where the food was supposed to be delivered, and walking back to the kitchen before a waitress ran after them. This happened at least 6 times. We were told the kitchen was busy, co could we wait 5-10 mins to place an order. It was 30mins before our order was taken yet the people who came in after us ordered and had their food before our order was taken.
At breakfast the following morning, our food was finished before the coffee arrived.
First world problems I know, but for £230 per night......