Cantley Lodge

I eat here fairly regularly with my young son. Mostly because it is a convenient pitstop with its own large car park, and is usually nearly empty, which means I can get a fairly grown up and decent meal without my nearly-​two-​year-​old disturbing too many people.
The décor of the place is a little dated, owing more to the 90s than this century, although they have recently replaced all the nasty green chairs with leather and suede in browns and beiges.
Foodwise, I pretty much always order the burger and a couple of side dishes for me and my son to share.
The burger itself is small, often on a plain white bun, though it is usually very nicely cooked, and topped with decent relish and very tasty cheese. The accompanying salad is basic to the point of disappointing –just a big pile of chopped iceberg, sliced cucumber and tomato. The potato wedges are usually pretty tasty.
Garlic bread is in sliced baguette form and you can get it topped with the same tasty cheddar that is on the burgers.
What lets it all down is that it is all bizarrely served on cold plates!
The greeting here is usually very friendly, particularly from the foreign waitress who seems to be the regular server on Saturdays. However, their opening hours for food at the weekend are rather restricted — currently just two hours on a Saturday lunchtime — and if you catch them a touch early you’d think the place was closed (even though the bar currently doubles as the hotel reception), and you’ll need to wander around looking for a member of staff.
One interesting thing about this place is, as the name suggests, its nod to local artists. There are always different pictures and artwork on the walls and in the cabinets when I visit, all for sale.
Nearly every time I’ve been lately, they have talked of being under new management and talk of a new menu. Some changes have certainly happened, such as the new furniture, but the menu has been static since I first started going nearly two years ago.
All in all, it’s nice enough to keep me going back, and reasonable value for money. But I can’t help thinking it could do better. This place could be a little gem. They seem to be trying… Just not hard enough.

The room was small and hot. it had no air conditioning.
The hotel was outdated and looked a bit shabby.
Breakfast was small and no particularly nice.
However it was clean and cheap.
We only encountered one member of staff and she was polite and friendly. Although did ignore us somewhat and her duties at breakfast (no juice, no menu etc…). But she was pleasant.