The Falstaff Grill - Canterbury

Pre booked Afternoon tea for a hen party months in advance. When we arrived there was no one to greet us and nothing was set up. We sat down and no one checked on us for 25 minutes. Finally most of the drinks arrived (not all), half of them were cold. When we asked for new drinks, staff were not friendly and the new drinks took a while to arrive (if they ever did). After an hour of being ignored and no food, I asked to speak to the manager about the afternoon tea experience so far. There was no apology, only excuses. Very poor customer service. Afternoon tea arrived food was average, sandwich and cake options were limited. When I went to pay, I was offered an insult of a discount. After a discussion, there was a further discount but still no apology for the lack of service, unfriendly staff or incompetent management. No interest in the reputation of the place. Would not recommend.

The afternoon tea at this restaurant is terrible and overpriced. It is definitely not worth the money. The staff was very rude, and I would strongly advise against having afternoon tea here.

The Falstaff is a traditional hotel in a prime location for visitors to Canterbury. The hotel has on-site parking with a charge, clean and well-maintained rooms with simple yet stylish decor. There are possibly two annexes to the main building, and we stayed in one of them. The rooms are quiet considering the town center location, as long as neighboring rooms are not noisy, as the walls seem to be quite thin. The rooms are cleaned daily and come with fresh white towels, tea and coffee making facilities, a color TV, hairdryer, and a bathroom with a shower over the bath. Since this is an old building and not a new purpose-built corporate hotel, I imagine all the rooms are different with their own quirks. The breakfast selection is great, including a full English or other cooked options like eggs royale, smashed avocado, pancakes, as well as continental options like toast and cereal. Light meals are also available during the day, although we did not see anyone taking advantage of this service. Our room did not have any hooks for clothes in the bathroom and the toiletries shelf was too small for two people, but these minor issues would not deter me from returning. Overall, I believe it would be hard to find a better option for the price, especially considering the hotel's central location in Canterbury, close to shops, restaurants, historic sights, and the cathedral. I think this hotel is excellent.

We received a champagne afternoon tea voucher for Christmas and decided to use it at this restaurant. Booking was easy through their website and we were able to add two extra guests without any trouble. The room was beautiful, bright, and airy, and our table was set up when we arrived. The staff member who initially served us was friendly and attentive, although they did disappear towards the end of our meal. The food was delicious, and they were able to accommodate a member of our party who was gluten-free. We enjoyed the option of a cocktail or champagne, and the cocktail we chose was lovely. We savored sandwiches, warm scones, and various cakes. They even provided cardboard boxes for us to take home the leftovers. Overall, it was a pleasant surprise, especially after reading some negative reviews.

We were given a gift of afternoon tea from our eldest for Christmas. We decided to use this last Sunday and bring our two teenagers with us, and just pay extra for them. We were showed to our seats , 2 very low sofa’s which wasn’t practical for eating afternoon tea, but that was just the start. We were then told the coffee machine was broke so no cappuccino or lattes or any special coffees available. The food was brought out, the only good thing I have to say was the scones were nice. The sandwiches were hard, the ham was covered in mustard it was more mustard with ham. Cheese was tasteless, and the cakes were the blandest I’ve ever had at an afternoon tea. More like pieces cut of a loaf cake rather than anything pleasing to the eye. No savoury extras, just the awful sandwiches. For £23 a head this wasn’t value for money and we all left rather disappointed. My daughters opted for scones and tea. Two small scones and a pot of tea for £13.50 Once again not value for money. We went to the abode last year for afternoon tea and although it was more expensive than this one it was a lot nicer, I won’t be coming back to the Falstaff. The music was rather loud and annoying at times and all in all