The Red Lion Hotel

This is intended as a constructive review because there is much to recommend the Red Lion and much to improve. The welcome was friendly, warm and humorous, the room was lovely with a view of the sea and harbour, albeit a tiny bathroom. The location is utterly beautiful, the village quaint and charming and, if you don't mind stumbling over pebbles and rocks, there are walks in every direction. We were asked to choose a dinner venue in advance. The restaurant main dishes started at £32 up to £60 so we chose to eat in the bar, usually a good option since the food comes from the same kitchen. At this point I discovered that, upstairs it is all Club Lounge. Walk into the bar and it is Ryanair. We opted to eat outside and were given a greasy gadget which told us when to collect the food. Fish and chips, £20 and literally fish and chips only, came in a takeaway box with disposable cutlery, no-name sachets of acidic orange ketchup and there were wheelie bins for disposal of the boxes, presumably because the tables are seldom cleaned. This is not my usual experience of a £200 a night hotel. There seemed to be constraints on when we could eat which indicates a shortage of staff in the kitchen. On the plus side, the breakfast was excellent and beautifully served. I can see the constraints of both finding staff in such a location and catering for the many tourists but both the way guests are treated in the bar and the quality of the food supply should be a matter of concern for a diligent manager.

We did not stay there nor attend the fine dining because you only have two options, very expensive or very casual. Unfortunately we chose the casual which was shocking. Clearly staff is limited like the food options which was basic and completely overpriced! Drunken empty and sort of down in the sellers atmosphere where service was completely neglected (waiter tried but was occupied completely with chatting to drunken customers or serving at the bar next door!!) Tables with left cutlery everywhere and we were there 40mins before getting to a meal. Not a great atmosphere at all. We decided to leave, was really uncomfortable and unwelcoming. Drink was also wrongly served probably too busy trying to manage too much on his own.

The vegan fish and chips is very nice! I was very skeptical and was pleasantly surprised as it was made of jackfruit. Obviously the location is incredible too.