Northcote

The accommodation in Ribble Valley provides exceptional breakfast, spacious and comfortable rooms with pleasant views, and a tranquil setting. Guests appreciated the cleanliness, friendly staff, and attentive service.

The hotel had more of a corporate feel than on our previous visits - we have come here quite a few times in the last 30 years. For example, the interior decor seemed rather grey in overall tone and a little bland, not-to-say just a bit tired in places. Our room, on the ground floor, although large and comfortable, needed some attention to little details, some of which may seem nit-picking, but are important given the price being paid. These included a couple of flickering bulbs, low battery on TV remote, a small (admittedly initially unnoticeable) crack in the sink, missing grouting to tiles, an empty pack of shower gel & some badly executed trim around the bath. Such things betray the lack of a personal touch / attention to house-keeping that we felt the place has always had in the past. On the outside, there are EV charging points in the car park, installed since our last visit. Breakfast service was attentive without being intrusive. The staff were especially good with our young grand-daughter, who had been well-looked after the night before by a local baby-sitter while we had dinner.

Having dined here before my expectation was high. Lisa Goodwin Allen is an exceptional chef. However, on my recent visit with my husband the quality of the cooking was lacking, which makes me think it was Lisa’s night off. I started with squab pigeon which, whilst extremely flavoursome,was awkward to cut with sinew down one side. Not a Michelin quality dish- I then had a piece of Halibut which sadly was slightly over cooked and swimming in an extremely pungent parsley sauce. Very disappointing. Not the usual standard at all. I did mention the meat being on the tough side to the female server, who just apologised for my not liking it. Standards should not be allowed to drop when delivering a Michelin experience. Fish doesn’t need a strong punchy flavour as my husband also found with his starter Scallop.