Lord Bute Hotel & Restaurant

We’ve been coming to the Lord Bute for 17 years. We always loved Chris and Simon but the food did start to suffer around 2013 and in 2018 we had our last meal there. We then heard of the change and went with probably more apprehensive than we needed. From starters to desserts it was just phenomenal. We spoke to the waiter who was friendly and knowledgeable, and just loved the restaurant and are so pleased “The Bute is back”. To be able to eat that level of food within a mile of our is perfect! We are so happy!! Well done!!!

Had high hopes for this place but it proved to be a real disappointment. Our £195 a night room was comfortable with a lovely bed but failed in lots of others areas. The bathroom had not been thoroughly cleaned with hairs and other debris on the floor. Some mould in the shower needs attention and 3 tiny shower/hair/conditioner bottles for a couple is rather mean. A Nespresso machine is a nice touch but you only get 2 pods. The AC unit blows directly onto your bed and even on low had to be turned off. Inconsiderate guests coming in late at night let the front door slam shut waking us up. This door needs a damper adjusted accordingly and is a real failing. And so to breakfast. Well the dining area decor is not to my taste looking like it has been furnished from B&M with lots of glitzy mirrors, lamps and plastic flowers. Oh well. We sit down for breakfast and our server greets us with "What would you like for breakfast"? "How about a menu " i reply. No they don't do menus so she rattles off a few options and we decide on fresh fruit with yogurt which was actually very nice ,a watery glass of cranberry juice and a full English which i have to say was really very poor. A poached egg which had the palest yellow yolk and was tasteless. A piece of dry thick cut bacon, a sausage ,hash brown, a few mushrooms and 3 tiny on the vine tomatoes. Oh and 2 small pieces of half toasted bread. That's your £15 per head breakfast. Simply not good enough. I cannot recommend this place given the many other better value options available in the area.

Lovely double room, easy to get to, continental breakfast included but paid extra for the full English. Didn’t use the restaurant or bar. Easy access to beach via Highcliffe Castle nearly a 100 steps. There are easier walks down to the beach if preferred.

The staff were lovely, especially the two young men serving at breakfast, on both days clearly understaffed. The rooms were dated & many things were broken like the safe, plug sockets. Room hadn’t been cleaned, which may have been an oversight but with a dated room, carpet stains, small, taps broken & an odd full size fridge in the corner with a towel over it, the experience was one we will never repeat.

We had a cream tea which was a gift. Champagne greeted us, the food was amazing. Beautiful sandwiches excellent scones with jam & cream & to die for small patisseries. We had a wonderful afternoon. It was finished with a pina colada. We will be going back very soon.

We attended a meal i had set up for my parents Birthday, the greeting we received was very friendly and a good first impression, we sat outside and the waiter came out to explain our dietary requirements had been noted and was a fun character however did ask us the same questions multiple times. we had a bottle of champagne and ordered food, we were then shown inside to our table, the restaurant is lovely but for a Saturday night it was completely dead and didn't pick up at all so lacked ambiance. it was hard to gain the waiters attention to order a bottle of wine for when our mains came out. The food looked good on paper but i found it very bland, the scallops were well cooked but over all the dish was bland. My father enjoyed his duck confit and my partner and i ordered the steak. His came out medium well and mine well done even though we requested rare - medium rare. i sent mine back and a new one came out by the time everyone was almost done, again this was over cooked for my request and more medium well but at that point i just wanted to catch up with everyone and eat. The meal itself again was just bland, nothing was seasoned and the chips were completely passable just skin on unseasoned potato, The only saving grace was the garlic which added flavor and was pleasant. I did not leave a tip as nothing was offered for the fact i had to eat after everyone else, it would have been nice to of maybe offered to even take the supplement for the steak off the bill. All in all i would have left a 3 star review however that night i was incredibly poorly and had stomach cramps. The 2 stars is purely for the friendliness of the service, Value wise at £330 for 4 2 course set meals, a bottle of champagne and a bottle of wine, had the food been of standard i think this would have been good however i have had better food in local pubs.