Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Alexandra Terrace

Published on: 24 Mar, 2012
Updated on: 24 Mar, 2012

The Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Guildford

This week we tried Guildford’s newest and only four star hotel, The Radisson Edwardian at the top of the Upper High Street in Alexandra Terrace. The lobby is impressive but there were no obvious signs to direct us to the restaurant bar however, we found our way fairly quickly.

We asked at the bar if they served coffee and they quickly confirmed that they did and asked us to take a seat. However, it quite quickly became apparent that they were not really geared up for the coffee and tea drinkers that might walk in off the street. We asked if there were any cakes. There weren’t!

They were very apologetic and one member of staff went off to see if there was anything left over from breakfast. This was getting embarrassing! We had not meant our disappointment to convey that it was a life or death situation. To be honest we could probably both go a week or so without so much as a sniff of a biscuit but it was good to see their desire to meet customer requests.

The coffee was fine and nicely presented but I could not help but feel that, in common with most four star hotels these days there was little to say that we were in any particular place, at least in the restaurant area.If you had been taken there blindfolded and walked out into Bratislava say you would not be shocked.

There was nothing to say we were in Guildford, Surrey, England… until, that is, we spied the menu card for Afternoon Tea. However, the Lewis Carrol/Guildford connection is not explained on the card and I wonder how many who order their Queen of Hearts Tea (which sounds great) remain oblivious to it?

Subject	Comments	Score
*Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Alexandra Terrace, Upper High Street*
Coffee	A little above average and well presented. £2.50 per cup.	3
Cakes	Not available	0
Menu range	Extensive snack /lunch menu. Queen of Hearts tea available pm. No cakes am!	3
Interior	Modern typical hotel quite bland unusual chairs. Very clean. 4	4
Atmosphere	Not many customers when we visited, cleaning machine noises in the background. TV going continuously with subtitles displayed. A little sterile but, to be fair this was a hotel restaurant and not a true coffee shop.	2
Access	A new building, excellent access for all throughout.	5
Service	Service very good polite and helpful A discretionery 12.5% was automatically added to the bill.	3
Information	Table menus available but they gave no price for coffee. Wifi good. Papers available in the lobby but not visible from bar area.	4
Value for money	Bill total for just two coffees £5.63 – £2.50 per cup plus 12.5% service charge. This is the most expensive coffee we have found in Guildford so far.	1
Opening hours	Early until late, as per hotel
Address	3 Alexandra Terrace, High Street, Guildford Tel:01483 792300 Website: http://www.radissonedwardian.com/

Our order two coffees ... and no cakes!

The hotel's interior, nothing too distinctive

What they say about themselves:

Queen of Hearts Afternoon Tea – This spring, Relish introduces an afternoon tea fit for a queen. With a delicious selection of freshly prepared sandwiches, cakes and pastries as well as such tea time treats as strawberries to dip in chocolate sauce and “Queen of Hearts jam tarts”, you’ll be grinning ear to ear with pleasure whatever your age.

With a range of irresistible infusions for grown-ups as well as the Mad Hatter Milkshake for kids, this really is Guildford’s ultimate tea time treat. The Queen of Hearts tea is served daily exclusively in Relish from 2-5pm.

Click here to see last week’s survey – The Glutton & Glee cafe. Which one will it be next week?

Have you used this coffee shop? What are your views? Please add your own review by using the ‘Leave a Reply’ feature below…