The Orchid Hotel, Bournemouth.

Before we begin we'd like to apologise that these pictures aren't of the best quality as they were taken with an Iphone not camera. The Orchid Hotel is a pleasant hotel to come across in Bournemouth. It's two streets away from the East Cliff opposite the rather tacky Celebrity Hotel. I've walked down this road many times and never actually noticed this modern building tucked slightly away from the road. It's definitely my type of hotel, it's recently been refurbished and it's very modern. I really love the layout and before I get started talking about the tea I have to say that they had lovely toilets haha with Orla Kiely soaps and moisturiser! The room to have tea in has been the smallest I've ever been in but on a plus side it meant it was completely full and it was really nice to have an atmosphere whilst eating.

The best part of this tea was the good service and the fact that as soon as we sat down a jug of ice water was brought over, without asking. This has never happened at any afternoon tea and very little restaurant meals in the UK. It was also really nice to have a pot of hot water delivered with our tea so we could top up as we wanted. Basically The Orchid Hotel has got drinks down!

This tea is on the pricey side at £18.95 per head! This includes finger sandwiches, home made cakes, home made scones, tea or coffee and a glass of prosecco. 

The tea looked really pretty with vintage inspired mismatching plates. We were given two tables as we had 3 glasses of drinks each, in addition to three pots of tea and jam and cream! So it was a very comfortable tea and was a relaxing afternoon.

However pretty it looked it couldn't disguise the food unfortunately. There were 9 sandwiches with cucumber, ham and salmon. Tom demolished the ham and the salmon and I decided to keep to the cucumber! They really have become my favourite sandwich since having afternoon teas.  The scones were really horrible, we both really disliked them. Firstly they were so tiny, which did turn out to be a plus once we tasted them haha. For some reason they were really salty, not a nice experience. There were only two cakes, one was a chocolate brownie with a nutty ice cream on top and the other was a lemon posset. They were both more of a pudding than something to have with afternoon tea and felt like it was something served in their restaurant for dessert. I didn't enjoy either of these sweet treats and Tom only liked the brownie.

We both decided that we won't be hurrying back for tea but would definitely recommend anyone who was looking for a hotel to stay in to go there! We shall be giving them 2 tea cups as we loved the hotel and the service!

Sophie & Tom

Hallmark Hotel Bournemouth Carlton

We are starting the blog off on a high! We recently popped to the Hallmark Hotel, Bournemouth Carlton. Situated on the East Cliff, this is a short walk from the town centre and beach. This convenient location also means you get a pretty view if you're sat by the window. The room to have afternoon tea in is also the breakfast room and I assume they serve other meals here too. It's a large room with a luxurious look and most importantly had comfy chairs with tables of the same height! Nothing worse than constantly leaning over to a coffee table whilst trying to eat. 

There are three types of tea to choose from, champagne, traditional and sea side! We had the traditional afternoon tea. 

The most memorable part of the tea was by the far the fact that the waiter gave us a menu and we got to choose the sandwich fillings. I've never had this happen and being someone who doesn't eat ham it was lovely to be able to be able to eat all of them!

The scones were really big and I was pretty much full after eating one. We were really impressed with how much clotted cream was given, far too much for both of us really!

There were a lot of cakes to choose from, four each! Tom loved the circle sponge cake which had lemon icing and I liked the healthy option of the meringue topped with cream and fruit!

After tea Tom and I retired to the lounge outside the dining room. We are like two pensioners really. Again this was another lovely room and would be so relaxing around Christmas time!

After much deliberation from the judges I can say we have given the Hallmark Hotel Bournemouth Cartlon 4 Tea Cups, due to not liking all of the cakes!

I hope you enjoyed our first review! It was a delicious afternoon tea and I can't wait for the next!

Sophie & Tom

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