We spent four nights here on a recent holiday, using it as a base for exploring this part of Derbyshire. It was a good choice, but very expensive - our room, which was quite ordinary, cost £295 per night for the first two nights and £360 per night for the Friday and Saturday nights. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant on our first and last evenings and the food and service were excellent. The total cost of our four-night stay with two dinners was well over £1700, making it easily the most expensive (but not the best) of the five hotels we used on this trip.

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This was a disappointing experience. Having read the glowing reviews we were anticipating a memorable evening. Unfortunately it started badly, pre dinner drinks took an age to arrive. We felt neglected sitting in the lounge with no sign of staff after the initial greeting. The drinks did arrive eventually and we were subsequently taken through to the dining room. It is an oblong room, not particularly large, with a row of tables along each side, it seemed quite dull. There were several couples, but there was a hushed awkwardness, not relaxing at all and not easy to have a conversation over dinner. The atmosphere for us was poor. We found the food ok but not stunning. Perhaps we were expecting too much. We were not expecting it to be cheap but we certainly did not feel we received value for money and to include a 12.5% service charge was totally not merited. We would not return.

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The bar was lovely. Really cosy with lots of atmosphere. The dining room however was very different. It’s a long room with tables down each side. There was absolutely no atmosphere and it just felt really cold and not at all welcoming. The staff were friendly but it all felt a bit stilted and unnatural. Luke they were scared to put a foot wrong or show any personality. The food was gorgeous. Really tasty and fresh but the portions were small. We ended up stopping on the way home for a packet of crisps! This would be so much nicer if the staff relaxed and the dining room was rearranged and decorated.

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Our stay at The Peacock at Rowsley was great. The hotel has a nice mix of historic charm and modern comfort. The staff was really friendly and made us feel welcome from the start. Our room was cozy and beautifully decorated. The dining experience was a real highlight. The restaurant’s menu was varied, and each dish was prepared with care. The parking was convenient too, which made things easy for us. Exploring the hotel’s surroundings in the Peak District was lovely, providing a peaceful and scenic backdrop for walks. Overall, The Peacock at Rowsley offered a nice blend of history, comfort, and good service, making our visit really enjoyable.

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Excellent setting, food and service. Beware if you order a lime and soda as this will cost you over £7, far more than London prices. Soda splash is £1.60 so just ask for more splash. Whilst prices are clearly marked you would not expect to be paying this price for a lime and soda.

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We stayed here on our wedding night and it was simply superb from start to finish. Great service, we were made to feel welcome and looked after throughout. We had the tasting menu in the evening and all our compliments to the chefs, they should be proud of what they are doing because that was easily one of the best tasting menus we’ve had. Just class from start to finish and very well thought out. Just when you think it can’t get any better, breakfast! Wow, one of the best cooked breakfast’s we’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. The whole stay was a lovely and welcome break, you get what you pay for. An absolute gem.

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The food is stunning, good quality and sourced locally. The private dining room is wonderful, full of character and intimate. The gardens are beautiful and the terrace a great place for dessert/tea or coffee. The reception team can be quite inflexible but if you manage to speak to the Chef they can accommodate certain requirements. We had locally sourced fish, hand reared lamb and the most beautiful desserts.

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We recently spent 7 nights at the Peacock and enjoyed every minute of it. The room was spacious, clean, and comfortable, but it was really the atmosphere of the place and the wonderful staff that made our stay so memorable. From the moment we got there, on a chilly, rainy evening, nothing was too much trouble. When we were unable to open the trunk of our rented car, the receptionist--not bothering to put on raingear--ran outside and stood there for awhile fiddling with it until she figured out how to get it open. Because of unexpectedly bad traffic, we had arrived, quite frazzled, just 15 minutes before the time we had booked dinner, but the receptionist told us not to worry, take your time, get settled, come down only when you're ready. On another occasion, a different receptionist spent a lot of time explaining to us where we could go to see spring bluebells (a major goal of our visit), how to get there, and quite specifically how to do the walk, which she assured us we'd have no trouble doing as she did it with her mother all the time. The same attitude was true for all the staff, from the gentleman who helped us with our luggage up the extremely tight stairway leading to our room to the waitress who very patiently, and with great good humor, explained to us exactly what was in every dish we had just had for dinner--from a complimentary brioche with rhubarb puree and chicken liver parfait at the beginning of the meal to the main course to dessert--so i could write it down in the notes I was keeping for the trip. Which brings me to the food. Sensational. Everything was great. Some favorites--halibut with salsify and leek ragout; local lamb leg with wild garlic, spring vegetables, and goat curd; duck with turnip puree, panfried turnips and poached rhubarb.. Breakfast was excellent too. And then there's the bread--every dinner came with two breads, a sourdough, which was very good, and a black treacle bread which may just have been the best bread either of us had ever tasted. The restaurant and cozy bar serve meals Tuesday through Saturday; we ate in the restaurant on three of those nights, in the bar once, and on another night, when there weren't enough tables in the bar, we were allowed to eat in the lounge, which was lovely. The Peacock also has a patio and garden out back where you can sit over drinks brought by a waiter through the French doors leading out from the dining room. If you get tired of sitting, there are paths from the garden leading to a lovely walk along a stream. The hotel is close to many attractions. Chatsworth House is a 10-15 minute drive away (residents get a 20% discount) and Haddon Hall, a medieval manor house is only a mile down the road and is free for hotel residents. The market town of Bakewell is also just a short drive away. In addition, the hotel has descriptions of a number of walks starting right from the hotel's entrance. We took one of them to the Nine Ladies Stone Circle on Stanton Moor and the views were fabulous. All in all, we had a wonderful time at the Peacock and look forward to staying there again the next time we're in the area.

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I'll get straight to the point of this review and it centres on the cost of a coffee at this high-end hotel, which is in a delightful corner of the Peak District National Park. £7.40 for an average double espresso is the most I have ever paid for a coffee, anywhere. A pot of coffee for one was the same price, which just about produced two cups of coffee; at least it was served with a very well cooked, slightly warm shortbread biscuit. The double espresso arrived on its own. I didn't notice the individual cost of items at the time of paying (the £25.80 bill included a diet cola, tea for one, coffee for one and the double espresso), but I did wonder if we had been charged for something we didn't have as I drove off. When I returned home I couldn't help myself but call reception to question price of the double espresso. It was explained that the cost of any coffee is £7.40, irrespective of the actual coffee ordered. The person on reception asked if the double espresso had been served with a biscuit, as if being presented with piece of shortbread would have helped to soften the blow. No, the coffee was served sans biscuit. 'Oh', I think was her reply. I fully accept that I had chosen to visit one of the leading hotels in the region and that a few years ago, when they were filming at Chatsworth, some of the stars had stayed at this hotel. So, I wasn't expecting bargain basement prices and I am prepared to pay for luxuries. But, I wasn't expecting to be charged more than some other places, which are arguably at least as good as The Peacock, if not better. For balance, I decided to check the prices of double espressos elsewhere and the results were interesting. The Cavendish Hotel in Baslow charges £4.25 for coffee; The Savoy in London is just £4 for a double espresso and Claridge's charge £3.50 and £4.50 respectively for single espressos and Americanos. The service at The Peacock was as professional and understated as you would imagine and they obviously don't need to worry about what their prices. But, to charge £7.40 for a double espresso was, in my opinion, extortionate.

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