The Criterion is a very nice place to spend an hour or two. We had a few drinks in the front bar and had a great time chatting with some of the locals. Best way to get information about an area, especially one steeped in...history. We also had dinner in the dining room, which is separate from the bar. The dining room is a beautifully restored part of the building and is split into two sections ... one carpeted and the other old Baltic floorboards, both have soaring ceilings, original sash windows and open fires The tables are nicely set over white table cloths. The wine and food choices are a simple fare, but very good quality and well prepared. Absolutely delicious and overall, would suit a wide range of tastes. We were having a wonderful time until the arrival of an inconsiderate couple and their horrible child, who insisted on playing games at full volume on an iPhone, was continuously yelling at its parents for attention, and running back and forth between dining rooms. This totally ruined an otherwise perfect evening.
There was something similar occurring in the other section of the dining room also, except that child was running wild and crawling on floors, so we couldn’t asked to be moved. The custodians of both children were intent on ignoring the bad behavior, so both remained unchecked.
If I could make a suggestion to the owners ? Please contain people with children to *one* half of the dining room, preferably the carpeted side to soften the noise, and leave the other to those wishing a peaceful meal without children crawling under tables, and playing kiddy games on devices at high volume.
The hotel deserves 5 stars, the people allowing their children to run riot in a dining room that’s very obviously not a substitute for McDonalds deserve 0.More