The Peacock in Lewes

Brilliant food, delightful setting

Restaurant .........Was looking forward to visiting this place but unfortunately was rather disappointed. Very clinical and extremely quiet. Service rather slow. Chips cold. Very overpriced.

We had a disappointing stay at the Peacock. Given the price (£310 per night), marketing & the recommendation from Mr & Mrs Smith - we assumed we were in for a weekend of luxury. Our 'superior double' was very basic with an extremely small, run down en-suite - no bath, chipped tiles, dirty grout and no where on the vanity to store personal belongings. There is no coffee machine in the room which is something I have come to expect in 4* hotel.The common areas (bar, lobby, dining areas) had no atmosphere or music and were freezing cold. Despite being a sunny weekend, there was no effort made to setup the tables outside and offer people drinks in the garden.The food was very tasty, but all of the starters we had were ice cold to the point of brain freeze. The servers all seemed a bit confused - bringing wrong orders, forgetting sides & not once asking us how the food was or if we wanted something else to drink. Breakfast was quite average, again we were not offered sauces or asked how the food was.We purchased discounted tickets to Chatsworth House and was told by the receptionist that they were valid for all time slots, so imagine our surprise when we arrived at Chatsworth House at 10:30am to only be told the tickets were only valid after 12pm.Our checkout bill was a bit vague, not going into itemised details about what we had ordered but instead listing "food" or "drinks", and I was not asked how my stay was. I have left feeling a bit perplexed as to why the high price & ratings.It all felt a bit 'fawlty towers'.

Always love this country house hotel/pub. Particularly enjoy a leisurely lunch in the bar. Bar menu small and tasty!

Firstly, the quality of the food was outstanding, the complexity of the dishes for the money paid demonstrated very good value.The disappointment however was that we were unable to order the tasting menu. We were informed that due to how busy it was, a-la-carte would be the only option. Tasting menu dining would need to have been pre-booked.I have never had this stipulation before and I would expect the opportunity to read the menus before making this choice on the day. The messaging when making the online booking was not clear around this requirement either.We had a very nice dining experience, but I feel compelled to drop two stars due to this service issue.

A celebration in a private dining room for an 18th birthday celebration. Everything was excellent, the food and wine superb and enjoyed by everyone. Would thoroughly recommend the Peacock.

Lovely hotel. Staff very helpful and friendly. Food exceptional.

Cancelled my partner’s birthday dinner reservation that we had for weeks on the day due to staffing shortages. Presumably you would have known about these before the actual date. Had to scramble to find any other reservation. Exceptionally poor communication.

Service average. Atmosphere stuffy! Steak was the worst with 50% of fat. Did mention it but completely disregarded by the waiting and reception staff. Have visited before but won't be revisiting again. It was a very disappointing anniversary dinner.

Main meal was passable but didn’t justify the price. The sweets, although given fancy titles were poor. The chocolate chambaux was just heavy fudge cake and the cold rhubarb and rice contained rock hard lumps in it. Not good. Won’t be going again.