The Relais Cooden Beach and Spa

Not quite up to the standard it used to be several years ago & disappointing that there is no longer a swimming pool.
A seagull pinched my food on the terrace

nothing

The first morning we were able to order a cooked breakfast. The next two days it was a buffet. This proved problematic. I am a vegetarian and had to ask for something to be cooked that I could eat. It was only because we were there the morning before that we knew we could order, it was not offered. The staff were struggling to keep up with the demands. It was clear that there were less staff than needed during the breakfast rush.
We booked a meal in the restaurant on the first evening of our stay. The restaurant appears to have been recently refurbished and was lovely with great views of the beach. We were lucky enough to have great weather but unfortunately this resulted in lots of people from the local area having drinks and bar snacks on the terrace. The hotel did not have enough staff to cope with both hotel guests and general public (they appeared to take priority) and we waited 1.5 hours for our meal, along with others in the restaurant. The food was fabulous, but we did not wait for a pudding. We had lost the will by then. There appeared to be no access to the bar area for the public visiting apart from through the restaurant where guests were supposed to be having a relaxing meal during their stay. Unfortunately there was a walkway beside our table which was used as a short cut for people walking from the bar to the terrace. At least 60 people walked past us during the evening. Not great for what was supposed to be a special meal for a 60th birthday celebration.
Our room was a double room in the eaves of the hotel. It was fine, but not really 4 star. It was cleanish, but there was rotten wood on the door frame. A family of wood lice came out of the rotten wood every evening, to visit us! The carpet by the bathroom wasn't great, rotting due to water erosion. The shower was great, but clearly the water was not contained within the shower area and hadn't been for some time.

Wie so oft bei Buchung über booking.com bekommt man die schlechtesten Zimmer !!!!
In unserem gebuchten „Meerblickzimmer“, war offensichtlich kürzlich eingebrochen
und der Schaden nur notdürftig beseitigt worden.
Außen zog sich rechts eine lange Mauer längst und auf der linken Seite kam direkt die
Abluft aus dem Restaurant. ein Traum.
Meerblick auf den man dann auch verzichten kann, aber extra bezahlt hat.

Zimmergrößen sind ja meistens angegeben, aber die Breite der Betten nicht.
160 cm ! Mein Mann ist 1.88 groß und nicht gertenschlank …

Aber bei Reklamation hört man dann grundsätzlich : wir sind leider ausgebucht.

Wir suchen künftig weiter auf booking.com, aber buchen dann direkt.

Allerdings dieses Haus nicht wieder! Ganz miese Dienstleistung nenne ich das.
Grundsätzlich können die doch froh sein auf solch einem Portal vertreten zu sein,
sonst würde man sie ja nicht finden.

The restaurant menu needs more ingredient detail. Door hooks needed on bathroom door.

King size bed was uncomfortable

I have been charged twice and booking com say the hotel would refund me but they have not it’s over a month.

Leak from the room above but maintenance fixed

The size of the room let our stay down. It did not match the photos and was much smaller in reality. The heating in the room was overwhelming the next morning, unable to open the windows very far it made the room uncomfortable.

Nothing - it was great!

"Cosy Double"
Very hot double! No aircon, no window that opened. No curtains closed west facing on and 30 deg.very noisy kitchen extraction fan
All in all room 101 not fit for purpose. Wouldn't change room as hotel full and no refund. Had to find alternative accommodation for the night. Not happy

Room had no view

Dog friendly area is basically cramped and includes the pool table - not somewhere you would want to entertain a guest unless they like conversation interupted by noisy pool games. Room was first floor in annex, but nobody thought to offer to take cases up for an elderly couple. Food was well cooked but a limited menu of variable value. The dog friendly room was clean but small, not worth £300/night.