staying at fishmore hall hotel
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Staying at the Fishmore Hall Hotel in Ludlow

For our recent mini break away in the UK, I did my usual look up of hotels that were available in the locations we wanted. My pre-requisites are free parking, free wifi, and included bed and breakfast. Ideally walkable into the town centre for evening meals. Diverted home from Tenby for one night, the Fishmore Hall Hotel was our chosen Ludlow hotel

staying at fishmore hall hotel

Fishmore Hall is a pretty looking hotel, with plenty of parking. It has 3 ratings from the AA for Small Hotels, but from our experience I think it rates just as well as 4s we’ve stayed in. It’s situated just over a mile outside Ludlow town centre, although it’s a bit more of a walk than we’d do in the evening. On top of a hill, it’s surrounded by countryside, and in spring we saw sheep and lambs in the fields behind.

fishmore hall hotel ludlow frontage

I didn’t receive the online check in emails until well after we’d arrived (then received about 6 of them for some reason). So on arrival we called through to reception, and they checked us in. I had worried they said the room was a double, but on checking they had made us up a twin room as I’d requested. The hotel is decorated really nicely, with a welcoming but friendly downstairs.

inside the lobby and reception area at fishmore hall hotel
in the lounge bar area for fishmore hall hotel

Bedroom at Fishmore Hall Hotel

Our room was on the first floor, with only one room past ours. Yale locks make the doors feel secure and it was lovely to have a hotel room with opening windows. Ours was already open at the top sash, airing the room. We overlooked the entrance and car park but could see fields behind. It was nice and quiet – I only noticed road noise once, the rest of the time, it seemed quiet and peaceful.

The room itself was lovely (N questioned the pretty vase as pointless but what does he know). We found the plugs, although there weren’t any next to the beds, but we did have 4 to play with that didn’t involve unplugging lights or kettles.

In the room there were fluffy bathrobes, ‘slippers’, a coffee machine, tea and coffee tray (complete with hot chocolate – yay!). N was disappointed there was no food provided (he expects biscuits of some kind), although in the information sheet it said you could ring down for homemade cookies. It was great to have a fridge – inside were complementary bottle of still water and fresh milk. Plus chargeable crisps and other drinks. I’m not a coffee drinker, but there was a coffee machine (plus the usual hair dryer).

view from the door of the bedroom at fishmore hall

I really liked the choice of bedside light or reading light. The reading light meant I could still just about blog in the evening while N slept, without disturbing him.

The twin beds were firm and comfortable, the pillows a decent firmness. N liked that the duvet was tucked into the foot of the bed, and not right up under the pillows. There was a turn down service between 7-9 where they will also restock coffee trays, but we put out our don’t disturb, as we were back from eating out by then.

There was plenty of storage for clothes – a wardrobe plus some drawers. Two chairs with dressing table and decent mirror, and a small coffee / side table. I also found an electric fan in the wardrobe so they cater for all weathers (and no drying air con needed). Having a window that opens at the top meant the room wasn’t hot like so many hotel rooms are, and you didn’t get hit with a cold breeze either.

The only issue that I missed was having nowhere to store our suitcases. There was no luggage rack and the wardrobe wasn’t big enough as there were shelves inside.

Being above the front door to the hotel I only heard one couple arriving back late, presumably having been dropped off by a taxi. The woman was loud, shouting her thanks. Other than that, it was really quiet. We both slept really well. I often don’t sleep well on a first night somewhere, but slept straight through with no waking up until N woke me at 6.30. Yawn.

glass shattered ball banister decoration with boy reflected inside

Bathroom

The bathroom was the highlight though. N was very surprised when he walked in to see the shower. It was a huge black open feature shower with a huge showerhead, and a step up into it. Two cubby holes to stand up shower bottles, as well as having Elemis toiletries provided.

bathroom at fishmore hall hotel

There was no blind for the window, but with noone overlooking us, anyone in the carpark would have had to looked up some way to see over the slightly raised wall below the window to see in.

The shower was nice, but I did find I had to turn it right up to get warm water, run it for a long time. It didn’t really get as hot as I’d have liked. I did like having a pull out make up mirror with the reverse being magnifying. I didn’t spot a shaver plug, so I’m not sure what men with electric razors would do.

bathroom sink and mirror at fishmore hall hotel

Breakfast

We didn’t eat in the Fishmore Hall restaurant, although they do offer evening meals, including to non residents. The food was too fussy and pricy for our liking so we ate in town.

Breakfast was between 7.30 and 10, and I think we were probably the first down in the morning. We sat in the conservatory overlooking the wooden spa buildings and outdoor seating area which looked nice for warm weather eating and drinking. They still have screens dividing tables.

view across the garden to the spa rooms at fishmore hall hotel
breakfast setting in the conservatory at fishmore hall hotel

We really miss having a buffet, and here everything was delivered on request from the kitchen. There’s continental options of cereal, croissants, toast, yoghurt, granola and fruit. Then various hot options including eggs benedict and florentine, full english and more. I had the yoghurt, fruit compote (was basically jam), and granola (which was just seeds and nuts, not what I’d class granola). It was delivered in a deconstructed pretty glass and pots, and tasted ok. But not what I’d hoped. If it was a buffet I’d probably have made a different decision.

yoghurt granola and compote for breakfast at fishmore hall hotel

N opted for croissant, toast, sausage, scrambled eggs, and black pudding because he wanted to try it. A brave choice given I won’t eat black pudding. He decided it was a bit strange, so not his thing. But good on him for trying it. I had bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs. I thought the sausage was really good – nice and herby, and the scrambled eggs were really buttery and smooth. Nice. I wasn’t keen on the bacon which was a shame. It was an ok breakfast but not the best we’ve had at hotels.

I think for us, a buffet works better. I feel under pressure to decide when I want to see the food. I worry that we’ll end up leaving bits we don’t like, whereas with a buffet we’d make a choice based on sight. N would have liked beans, but they weren’t offered. I think with a buffet you get better value too, and more drinks because you can go back a second or third time.

We lounged around after breakfast until we were ready to go.

Check out was simple and fast. The staff on reception had been welcoming and sent us on our way with good wishes. It’s a shame we didn’t have more time at Fishmore Hall hotel because it was a really comfortable room.

Have you visited Ludlow before? Where did you stay?

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