Rowton Castle

Atmosphere: The hotel is frequently praised for its stunning castle and picturesque grounds, providing a magical and exclusive atmosphere.

My husband and I arrived on Friday 7th November albeit slightly early (we did fill in the online booking document and said that we would arrive middayish) to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary. We introduced ourselves on arrival and the receptionist’s first words were “check in is at 3 o’clock and check out is 10.30am) she had a very unfriendly attitude and it felt like we were being reprimanded. Not the warm welcome we were expecting or hoping for! We left our bags in the cloakroom and because we had been driving for 4 hours we wanted to sit down for a while and have a coffee and maybe a light lunch. No refreshments were offered despite us sitting in the lounge in clear view of the reception staff that were too busy chatting. The hotel was very quiet at that time so there were no other guests to tend to. We did get a coffee eventually but my husband had to go and ask. When our room was ready we had to climb 4 flights of stairs as it was on the top floor. We were offered no help with our bags. We had a meal in the restaurant in the evening with my daughter and her boyfriend who live locally and it was superb. The food was perfect and the staff were lovely and we enjoyed the evening very much. Breakfast was great as well. The hotel was preparing for a wedding the next day so it got busier and was a lovely atmosphere. The hotel itself is beautiful inside and out and spotlessly clean. Unfortunately the lack of welcome, in fact we felt like we were an inconvenience, spoilt it for us as we were celebrating a happy day. I did mention this to the receptionist when we checked out and she did apologise and said that she hadn’t looked at the paperwork. My husband and daughter had both emailed in advance to say that we were celebrating our 39th anniversary but it had clearly gone unnoticed however regardless of whether you are celebrating a special occasion or not hotel reception staff as first point of contact should be warm and welcoming and what we experienced sadly was the total opposite!

I rarely do reviews but our experience here was fantastic. My wife and I had been on a touring road trip to Scotland to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary and were making our way back to Devon on the last night of the journey and decided to stay in the Shrewsbury area. Rowton Castle popped up and looked lovely so we booked it on the morning of our visit. We're so glad we did, the whole experience was fantastic. We booked a turret room because we could and it was great, a four poster bed, lovely views and a bath in the en suite. I would say the pictures of the room on the website don't actually do it justice, it was a lovely room. We decided to eat at the restaurant which is lovely with silver service and a beautiful wood panelled castle room. The menu isn't huge but there were dishes to please most people. I opted for the steak which is something I rarely do as I'm easily disappointed but it was gorgeous, my wife had chicken also excellent and a couple of lovely puddings, and in my opinion extremely reasonably priced, we've paid similar at some pubs. After dinner we sat in the guest lounge with a drink a a book. But it wasn't just the setting the staff were simply lovely friendly and attentive without being over attentive, authentic right balance and that's a skill a lot of places fail on. Had a good night's sleep and an excellent breakfast. We would definitely stay there again and recommend it to others. We stayed mid week and it's obviously a wedding venue and I would imagine if you got married there you wouldn't be disappointed and would have as long and happy marriage as we have.