The Orwell Hotel, Felixstowe

The tea was very nice, but the hotel itself is in need of a general refurb. Staff pleasant and obliging. I think it is under new ownership so will have to visit again to see how it's getting on

Not a good experience. On arrival was asked to sit and wait in what felt like a waiting room which had a large group of people already in there. A lady then appeared and said she was busy but would be with us asap. When she returned we were shown to a small coffee table in the same room which had a table cloth and two tea cups. We were quite shocked we were not taken to a different room. We asked for tea which arrived, outside of tea pot was dirty and no spoons provided for sugar or stirring. We could not ask as there was no one around. About ten minutes later the afternoon tea arrived we were not asked if everything was ok or if we needed anything. The afternoon tea was awful, big chunks of warm salmon in stale bread, large bits of onion in the egg sandwiches and french mustard with warm ham all with stale bread. As for the cakes we could not make out what some were and tasted terrible the only ones we were sure of was a mini victoria sponge which was hard and dense and the scone had no flavour. We were also given a small cheese cake served in a small shot glass but we had no spoons so my partner did attempt to eat it with a fork that was on the table. At no point did anyone asked if we were ok or needed anything. However the large group of people also in the room which were not having afternoon tea were constantly asked if they wanted any refreshments and we were totally ignored. Please be aware this is not luxury or a proper afternoon tea we have been to a few and I would never recommend here even with the groupon voucher as it was not even worth this saving. We left without anybody asking why were leaving. Please avoid.

Despite reading some poor reviews, our experience was very good. Helpful staff, table laid in sunny, comfortable and nicely decorated lounge. Ample freshly made sandwiches, sausage roll, scone with jam and cream, a little chocolate mousse and 3 or 4 fancy cakes each. Ample pot of tea with refill. All nicely presented with friendly smiles. A very happy experience

Very relaxed atmosphere in a lovely bright room within the hotel, excellent cream tea and service from staff