The Kingfisher

Myself and my partner have visited this hotel regularly for the last 3 or 4 years and in that time we've stayed at the kingfisher between 20-30 times and it's definitely up there with the best hotels that we've visited the staff are always very friendly and welcoming towards us and our American akita Busta..🐶. It's a beautiful building inside and out and the beds are unbelievably comfortable. The perfect place to go to relax and feel at ease...

Twice on separate visits to the hotel after checking into my room somebody else let themselves in with a key as the receptionist had double booked my room otherwise love the place

I had dinner, which was nicely presented, and I paid for my meal at the time. Dining room and bar staff were very good. The receptionist when I checked in was good. However, the receptionist when I checked out was underwhelming. During the night an invoice for the dining room for two people was slipped under my door. This was an error, which was acknowledged by the receptionist. She wasn’t sure how to sort it out and asked a manager. She was still having a problem when the duty manager popped into reception, but he wasn’t interested. Eventually, the invoice was deleted from my account, but I felt the apology was begrudgingly given. If I’m honest, I felt I was a nuisance.

I put what I didn’t like in the above with what I liked. Not sure, I liked the music on the terrace by the river, but as it was the pub side ……

Loved the staff. The lady at breakfast with blonde hair and glasses on the morning of the 11th December was absolutely wonderful. She had explained in detail what had been going on with the terrible floods and the renovations that took place. She took her time to make it special for us also as it was our wedding anniversary and we had stayed our wedding night in 2019. The reception staff also helped us with our queries and the cleaners found out electrical appliance we had left and it was kept aside for us. They also greeted us in the morning. Was lovely and quiet at nighttime.

Our room was freezing (room 41). We couldn’t work out why the bathroom radiator was on but the bedroom wasn’t. It was ok though as we had packed extra layers so threw them on as it was snowing outside. Plus the duvet kept us warm enough from the neck down.

Breakfasts were excellent. Good ingredients are well prepared and the service is attentive. Poached eggs served with Eggs Benedict, Royale and Florentine were perfectly cooked. The best asset which The Kingfisher has is its staff. They are all friendly, polite, efficient, and happy at their work. What a difference a smile makes to a guest! .

The furniture in our bedroom was rather dated, and tired. We had dinner in the pub on one night but thought the food rather ordinary and unremarkable,

Lovely dining area by the river, food was good. Walking distance to town. Room was comfortable.

A warning to other guest about weddings would be great. Party went on till midnight, once finished the foot traffic on the pathways and corridors was disruptive. The weather was very nice over our stay so windows were open this didn't help. I know people have plans but just a warning would have been nice.

After a different hotel lost our booking and a mad dash at 8pm to find another hotel The Kingfisher was a very welcome, and incredibly last minute find. Beautiful setting on the river Ouse where you can watch the river as you eat breakfast or dinner in the dining room which does good dinners and excellent breakfast. Good, comfortable, clean rooms complete with tv, hair dryer, tea and ironing board (which was actually a welcome surprise!) checkout is at 10am but they were very relaxed about a slightly later checkout. The staff in the restaurant especially were excellent and very attentive, almost too quick to clear plates sometimes even when the restaurant was very busy! The kingfisher is a wedding venue and while we can’t comment on the wedding venue capabilities we can say how well kept the hotel is and how pretty the setting.

One minor comment I can make is at breakfast I ordered a cappuccino. What was presented was not a cappuccino… it was some sort of Americano where the hot milk had sunk to the bottom and there was the merest bubble of froth on top. When I asked if it was a cappuccino the staff said yes, but it might need a stir because the milk sinks to the bottom… Hilarious! That being said, the regular coffee from the pots the very attentive staff are continuously trotting around is very good so there is really nothing to actually complain about!

loved the position of The Kingfisher, really enjoyed sitting in the bar garden looking out onto the river Ouze, Our dog was made very welcome, offered water in restaurant and supplied with a bed in our room.

We ate in the restaurant on the evening of our stay, and chose the Sunday roast which was offered for lunch and evening meal, would have to say was disappointed and the meal tasted like it had just been warmed up after the lunchtime session. however breakfast the next morning was very good.

The room was big and comfy, it had a bath which I love and had tea and coffee making facilities which was lovely too. Breakfast was plentiful although not very hot but still very tasty. The view from the breakfast room was stunning and everything was laid out well and very clean.

It was a breakfast buffet which they said they didn’t normally do but did because it was very busy. This meant the food wasn’t as hot as I would have liked but it still tasted lovely and was just a very minor thing.

We stayed in two intervals with a break of one night, the first room 8 was perfect for us, a twin on ground floor, as I have a knee problem the ground floor was great, the staff were warm and friendly and very helpful, the second room was upstairs and the shower had poor volume of water, but the beds were good, only problem with room 38 was the outside light lit up the bedroom all night, maybe you could consider turning it off at midnight. The new dining room was lovely, food was good, some meals could do with a tweak, but plentiful, staff lovely helpful and suggested good ideas re drinks, all in all was a great stay

The stairs but otherwise loved the place.

Everything, probably the best hotel in the U.K. in this price bracket, fantastically helpful staff in ALL departments, great atmosphere, beautiful clean rooms, bar and restaurant is phenomenal, and the grounds and location are just stunning, I’m definitely going back, and I would recommend the wonderful Kingfisher every single day of the week without hesitation, thank you everyone who made our break so memorable..

Nothing at all..