Sophie, Millie and I went for lunch there for Mother's day a couple of years ago, (May 2009), against popular advice.
The food was disgusting and the service was slow and poor. The decor was tatty and dusty,
Weird hangings covered the chairs.
that made funny pointy hats.
And a creepy waiter.
We agreed that we would never go back there again.
It went into administration in June 2009.
Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne is now the owner of the four-AA-red- star, 26 bedroom Charlton House hotel in Shepton Mallet, Somerset.
His company, the Bannatyne Group, purchased the property from administrators BDO, for 3 million in May 2010, safeguarding the jobs of all 62 staff. ( That's probably the whole of Shepton Mallet and ten surrounding villages).
Anyway, my son Stewart, recently went to a wedding reception there, and was impressed. Not hugely gobsmackingly blown away, but after talking to Bannatyne's daughter, who was managing the place, recognised the hard work, thought and money that was being invested there.
So, despite our misgivings, when Sophie and I were looking for a spa day to chill and unwind from ,
we decided to give it another go. We booked in for a Spa day, the cost was 40, this included full use of the spa and a two course lunch, unfortunately wine wasn't included. If we wanted any treatments we could book them on the day.
.
The style of the house is Georgian and reflects the interest in classical architecture that was popular at the time. It looks very similar to my mother's house, well, up to the first drainpipe on the left!
A little fountain with a pissing nymph
Inside
The rooms connected to the spa have slightly more exotic style
lots of purple and gold velvet throws etc
Sophie insisted that we did an hour cardio before we could start lazing around.
It was a very small gym and fun while we had the room to ourselves.
A quick whiz through the sauna, tropical shower, pool, steam room and then three hours of relaxing in the warm jacuzzi outside.
With the sole purpose of working up an appetite for lunch
The two course lunch is £11.95, this is included in the Spa Day price.
We were both on the 'attack' phase of the Dukan diet, so carbs were off limits.
This proved really difficult when we were presented with a basket of warm crusty white bread and chunky rustic olive bread.
I ordered mussels to start. They were o.k., but tasted as if the chef had thrown in a whole pot of cream just before serving them.Oh well, I ate most of the sauce, then thought I had better mop the rest up with the bread!
Sophie had a tomato and rocket salad with basil and Parmesan shavings. And no bread.
We both had shoulder of lamb on mash. This was really rich and heavy, again the mash tasted as though there was a pint of cream in it. Oh well, mop it all up with more bread....and wash it all down with a second bottle of Prosecco
We'd sinned so much by now, that we decided that we'd might as well order a pudding, some brandy and coffees. This was a strawberry and black pepper sorbet...quite unusual... rather sweet on the way in....the left a burning sensation at the back of your throat!
A view of the outside terrace
The conservatory
The interior of the restaurant has been tastefully furnished
The walls are now painted a chic grey, the peeling Harlequin wallpaper has gone.
The shabby shag pile has gone
The strange chair coverings have disapeared
The creepy waiter was still there.
The verdict
There is something quite decadent about eating in a fluffy white dressing gown and toweling flip flops.
Taking it off and bobbing up and down in the jacuzzi after all that food and drink is quite another thing!
To be fair, there is a lighter menu to chose from.
Excellent value for money, I would recommend it and will certainly return.
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