This is a difficult one to rate as the hotel is undergoing a lot of refurbishment. The imposing Edwardian external facade (which requires a massive amount of work) belies the degree of modernisation of internal public areas and bedrooms. Acres of dark wood, mirrored panels and striped carpets in the reception area worked for us, as did the aesthetics of the spacious bedroom with black and gold design wallpaper panels matching the curtains, contrasted by the neutral colour of other wall areas. Furnishing & lighting was excellent and if you like your TV there was a monster fixed to the wall, so there was no craning forward & squinting at poor pixelated images! The bathroom was another matter, however, with a new shower unit incongruously gleaming in a tired setting, typical of work in progress. Tired can be applied to corridors also, but everywhere was clean & tidy. The dining room was more subtle in its decor, easy on the eye, but "on trend" with unusual crockery framing a very good cooked breakfast. The staff were very friendly and helpful and our short stay was pleasant, but I'm not sure the cost represented good value. Perhaps visitors making use of the spa facilities during a longer stay would disagree. In the future, as refurbishment progresses, this has the potential to be a very nice hotel indeed, with imagination hopefully extending to the extensive garden area also.