"Like most vegans, we spend hours scrutinising reviews for any mention of vegan food before booking a holiday. I’m writing this review solely about the food experience at this hotel; everything else will be covered separately.
We chose this hotel based on promising vegan catering reviews but were met with frustration and disappointment.
Breakfast offers overnight oats and chia pudding, cereals with soy milk, plus fruit. Yet, toast comes only with Lurpack butter - no dairy-free alternative provided. The cheese selection is vast but entirely dairy-based, with zero vegan cheese or plant-based substitutes for cooked breakfast items like veggie sausages or tofu scramble. No vegan pastries or croissants are available in their extensive selection.It’s clear vegan guests are an afterthought here.
Lunch is slightly better with allergen labelling on savoury dishes, but desserts are poorly labelled, with only a vague “may contain milk” note. A chef confirmed that nothing beyond fruit is vegan-friendly. There’s ice cream, but no dairy-free or sorbet alternatives, which is a minimum expectation nowadays.
Dinner mirrors lunch’s flaws. Savoury options are labelled, but desserts remain off-limits for vegans. While one chef was helpful and brought a vegan dessert from the kitchen, another steered us to gluten-free items - highlighting a concerning lack of understanding.
At the snack bar we ordered pizzas without cheese and chips from their fish and chips dish. Again, no vegan desserts available.
The coffee shop provides soy milk and a “vegetable sandwich” of cold roasted vegetables, but no cakes suitable for vegans.
The à la carte restaurant was a major letdown - lukewarm, oily roasted vegetables drenched in herbs that had no flavour and no protein source. A vegan pudding was the only bright spot, but soy milk was not available for coffee.
Although the local supermarket stocks tofu, the kitchen seems unaware or uninterested in incorporating tofu, tempeh, or seitan into their cooking. There are no meat or cheese substitutes. This lack of effort is disappointing.
Finally, the duty manager dismissively smirked when I expressed concern about the lack of vegan dessert options, falsely claiming vegan cakes were available upon request in the coffee shop. None of the staff knew anything about this or could provide one."
