The Potters Heron - Test Valley

We stayed for just a couple of nights as a get away from it all mid week break. Had a nice and clean room and the bed was very comfortable. The hotel is very nice and comfortable throughout and all of the staff are very accommodating to make your stay a very pleasant experience. We found that the restaurant menu is fairly small but I personally prefer this as I believe too much on offer has more to go wrong. Portion sizes were large and the meals we had were delicious, breakfast is a help yourself continental including a buffet style 'full english ' etc all very nicely cooked and presented. We enjoyed our stay and will hopefully be able to return for a 2nd visit soon.

Had dinner here recently on a mid-week night. The atmosphere was soulless as there were maybe only around ten people in the whole place. The food, while just about being ok, was crazy expensive and not good value for money. Example a simple plate of beef stew with three crispy roast potatoes was £18. Then a dry chocolate fondant with a tiny scoop of ice cream £9. I wouldn’t recommend it or return for these reasons, which is a real shame as I’m local and it could do so much better…

I stopped by for some drinks and found the place to be clean and orderly. The staff were friendly and quick in serving us. There was ample free parking in the front which made it convenient.

A beautiful place (no doubt) in 2007, tired now but staff were friendly, bright and helpful. Evening meal was dire with the chef clearly on their way out the door at the end of a long day. Breakfast was delicious with the chef clearly starting a new shift revived! Still better than a souless Premier/Holiday inn but it’ll need more than a lick of paint soon.

We decided to have our Christmas Day lunch at the Potters Heron because we had previously attended a wedding there and had enjoyed lunch there a couple of times. The setting is lovely and there were 8 of us in our group. We had a wonderful time, as the food was delicious and plentiful, and the staff were very friendly. We were seated in the garden room with a beautiful table setting. We would definitely choose to dine here again for Christmas. The only suggestion we have is to have some Christmas music playing in the background to add to the festive atmosphere. Overall, we had a great time and thank you to the staff for a wonderful experience.