Spicers Balfour Hotel

So disappointing. We had stayed here a few years ago and it was great. This time was not. We booked for dinner, expecting the Vietnamese influenced menu that was still on their website - and also on the QR code we scanned in our room. Nope. They had changed to a "shared plate", boring menu. The spiced nuts were 50% dust, several other dishes were small and bland, and we left hungry. Our water glasses were never topped up, and we had to pour our own wine after the first small glass. No wonder the restaurant was almost empty. The crowning disaster was that the coffee machine in our room was broken, and there was no alternative. Never again.

I find it difficult to recommend this hotel because I had a limited experience of it. Because of a 9.30pm arrival and supposed 6am departure we had no interaction with hotel staff (because there weren't any on premises over that period), other than a very difficult conversation arising because of a potentially disastrous problem when our 1.5-2 hour car transfer to the Spicers Scenic Rim Trail walk failed to materialise – the point being that we were at risk of missing the start of the walk and/or the whole weekend being aborted. This necessitated many frantic phone calls to the hotel's after-hours number, the Spicers Peak Lodge's after-hours number, and and anybody else I could reach. With regards to the hotel and the lodge, I was gutted by the initial responses that the Scenic Rim Trail was a different business which was nothing to do them, meaning that I was on my own to fix the problem (despite having booked all accommodation and trail components through the same Spicers agent). This was in the context of my arranging an expensive long weekend to celebrate my partner's significant birthday and seemingly all comprising 'Spicers' properties/products. I do acknowledge that it was the Balfours person who initiated a fix. In terms of the hotel specifically, my room code offered no access to the main hotel property (I tried), so I can't comment on it. Our (most expensive room option) Balfour Suite in the nearby Simla building was nice – certainly spacious, but looking tired and in need of a makeover. Because of our (supposed) 6am departure, we were unable to have breakfast in the Balfour Kitchen and Bar. Instead we paid for a 'breakfast box' which was in the room on arrival. Given that there is a restaurant on premises, I had reasonable hopes for... an interesting wrap... some fruit... perhaps Vietnamese inspired? What was provided was derisory, embarrassing, and pathetic – A cardboard box of the cheapest-looking, apparently gluten-free (not my request) muesli I've ever seen, plus another box of very ordinary yoghurt, together with a knife and fork, meaning I had to use the hotel-provided teaspoon. Really, Balfour, is this the best you can do?