Newbridge on Usk

We arrived at the hotel for our 3-night stay on a chilly, mid-November evening and were checked in by Marius. It was a simple check-in and were immediately debited £50 on my credit card - not sure why but it was 'policy' despite we were guests. We were shown to our room in a block away from the hotel which was cold - I have no idea why the heating is not put on in anticipation of guests arrival.. it is not exactly welcoming. However, the room did have a Dyson heater which was extremely useful during our stay. There was also a balcony where we placed some milk we purchased for the tea/coffee. The room was lovely ('Friendly Kingfisher') and well appointed with a very nice bathroom. The bed was comfy but I would have preferred to have had king size pillows on the king size bed - makes sense, right? We booked to eat each night as it has a '2 Rosette' restaurant. On the first night (a Monday), we went for the Two Course menu and each had the fish and chips followed by desert (plum crumble for my wife and sticky toffee pudding for me). The fish and chips was a complete disappointment. Absolutely flavourless. We both felt the same; neither the fish or the chips seemed to be seasoned before frying. It looked OK on the plate, but not the palate! The deserts were fine. Following this experience, we cancelled the restaurant for the following two nights. Morning breakfast was also a disappointment. Imagine, a cold morning in the second half of November, but only a cold breakfast is available. Do it yourself toast and help yourself to yoghurts and cold cuts etc. Why? There is a full kitchen available! Jodie was kind enough to carefully make us each a perfect cafe latte on Wednesday and Thursday morning - thank you Jodie! The food situation at this hotel is enough to put us off returning despite its good location. Tip: If staying in the same room as us (Friendly Kingfisher), leave the key in the lock of the balcony to help stop a cold draft coming into the room.