We booked the Old Rectory for our Honeymoon, just stayed the 1 night, well you walk in and just think 'WOW'. It was just the perfect setting. You feel as if you are hidden away in the castle, so romantic we did not want to leave. We also booked a table in the Secret Garden which was superb. I had the lobster and belly pork which was to die for. The setting in the restaurant was so romantic. We will definitely be back next year to try one of the other suites.

We stayed in The Guardroom Suite on 6th September as a 1st wedding anniversary celebration.
Our Suite was amazing- had 5 rooms and was just gorgeous. So romantic and everything was perfect.
We ate in The Secret Garden restauarnt and it was fabulous.
This place definitely lives up to its hype and we can't wait to go back again!

After having eaten a wonderful meal at The Witchery 3 years ago, we booked to stay for our second wedding anniversary for two nights in the Armoury suite, with dinner at the Secret Garden.

We had been so looking forward to this trip and to say we are disappointed is an understatement. For a 'restaurant with rooms' charging £300 a night it seems laughable that we neither managed to eat or sleep here!

On initial impressions, the Armoury was very very impressive - beautiful opulent living area, stunning bedroom and totally over the top bathroom. When we arrived, we sat down and drank the perfectly chilled champagne and felt like kings.

It all went wrong when we went down for dinner. The Secret Garden restaurant is very atmospheric, but that is its only good point. We sat for over 15 minutes with no menus, then once we were served, waited another half an hour before our wine and starters materialised (having reminded the surly staff twice).

Our starters (wild salmon ceviche and a langoustine and scallop tian) were average at best, very small and bland and the langoustines had not been cleaned so were gritty.

We both ordered fillet of beef for our main course having had this last time and thought it was superb. Mine was extremely overcooked, luke warm and very grisly - so bad that we sent our mains back to the kitchen. The second lot that was presented to us was even worse. The fillets were burnt and leathery on the outside, totally raw and cold in the middle and had not been rested so the meat was pouring blood all over our plates. The accompanying chips were totally undercooked and flaccid. At this point, after having been in the restaurant two hours, we decided to leave. Our wedding anniversary meal had been totally ruined and the staff didn't really seem to care. On leaving, we heard the table behind complaining about rancid cheese, and numerous other tables were still sitting there without food, so I don't think our experience was out of the ordinary.

In the end, we got take away from a fish and chip shop and went back to our room, upset and thoroughly disappointed.

Our room had not been made up properly at all. While the bed had been turned down, dirty glasses had not been removed and our empty water not replaced.

We decided to get an early night.

At about 11pm a rock concert started outside the castle. This went on until at least 3am, if not later. The staff apparently usually warn guests if there is an event going on, but we had been told nothing (probably to stop us from cancelling). It was so loud it made us want to cry. We got absolutely no sleep and the people upstairs clearly didn't either (we heard them pacing about - and shouting at staff in the morning - the rooms aren't soundproofed by the way, so you can hear everything).

After a shocking night, 'breakfast' arrived at our room at 9am. To repeat what others have said, the pastries were stale and hard, the coffee was simply awful, the fruit was withered and the porridge was sloppy and cold. It was all inedible really (and remember we were starving at this point, having had no real dinner).

After only one night we decided to cut our losses and head back to London a day early (at an additional £200 for train tickets as we couldn't move our flights).

When we told the 'manager' why we were leaving, he didn't seem to care and actually made us feel like we were lying about the noise. We had paid a £200 deposit on booking and they didn't even offer us any of this back by way of compensation. Nor did they try to make amends and persuade us to stay. They clearly are very complacent and don't feel the need to address complaints appropriately.

Other points to note about The Witchery:

- The Armoury suite is VERY dark, only small windows looking out onto rooftops and walls so there is no natural light. I had to do my make up in the dark! It was very oppressive and after an hour or two I was craving some natural light.

- The shower over bath arrangment is a little tricky as the bath is very narrow and the shower very large. It's awkward, messy and very uncomfortable to use.

- There is no soundproofing at all between bedrooms, and considering most people staying there are either honeymoon or wedding anniversary couples, it might be a good idea!

- Although the suite was large, the only really comfortable furniture was the bed. The living area was furnished with rather odd stools and hard chairs, nothing to relax on. Odd.

- When you look closely the decor is actually pretty tacky. On first impressions it's incredible but once you've been in the room a while you start to see how cheaply and shoddily it's been put together. It's disappointing and I felt cheated for £300 a night.

We are going to set out our concerns in writing to the management, but given what others have said on here I don't expect to be contacted!

We have wasted over £600 on this 'experience' (£200 room deposit, £200 flights plus £200 early return train tickets) and we will be claiming this as compensation from The Witchery. I sense a long battle ahead!

If you are looking for somewhere really opulent and special to celebrate a special occassion or treat a loved one, please don't risk your hard earned cash on this tourist trap.

My husband and I stayed one-night in the Armoury Suite to celebrate my 40th birthday and I have nothing but praise for the room and the excellent service. Everything is carefully designed to enhance the visitors experience and the attention to detail is second to none. We arrived early and left our luggage with the staff at reception whilst we went sight-seeing. On arriving back at 3pm, our bags were in the room, along with chilled champagne, bottled water, cookies and chocolates. The suite smelled gorgeous- a mixture of furniture polish and pot-pourrie and there was relaxing music playing gently in the background. I felt like I had stepped into a Harry Potter film set....... absolutely magical ! The suite is really big and divided up into rooms, including a kitchen!
A lovely lady called Margaret showed us around and demonstrated how to use the sound system, adjust the lights and get the TV to rise out of the ottoman at the bottom of the bed. Talking of which- my husband has a chronic back condition and usually struggles to sleep in hotel beds, but the beautiful four-poster was exceptionally comfortable - a bit like the 'princess and the pea' you needed a step ladder to get into it, but it was like floating on a cushion of air! The bath is large and deep, surrounded by velvet drapes - gloriously camp and decadent- I loved it and spent as much time in it as possible (champagne in hand!!)
We had dinner in the Secret Garden restaurant which was gorgeous and very atmospheric - overlooking a candlelit courtyard. I have never been to a more romantic restaurant.
The next morning we had breakfast in the suite, delivered by the famous Roxy who was fantastic- very bright, chatty and helpful. He even insisted on carrying our luggage downstairs for us and ringing us a taxi. I now wish that I had stayed longer, and I will definately visit again. We decided against driving to Edinburgh due to the Tattoo and the Fringe Festival being on, and I am so glad that we got the train- 3 hours direct from Manchester with Virgin and the station was only ten mins away from The Witchery. A car would have been a hindrance and the hop-on / hop-off tour buses were great- (a single ticket can be used for 24-hours and takes you to all the major sights). The tour bus can be picked up just yards from the door of The Witchery. So, if you are looking for a romantic city break in an historic location, and have a penchant for the unusual - this is the perfect place!