Caffeine&Machine

Must-visit for a car person, a good stay for anyone else. Amazing location with beautiful garden with a perfect event venue. Lovely shop with great service. Good location for countryside exploration.

I was nearby the venue for the weekend (usually a 3 hour commute) and it was recommended by a few people, I’d only ever heard great things so I decided to book a ticket and pop along for the day. Upon arrival there was a small queue (about 3 cars) and once I was at the front I saw that the entrance was steep. I drive a lowered car so I did my best to angle the car to avoid having to take off any body panels. However my rear bumper had caught on the ground and was stuck, inevitably it would snap the bands (quick release) and pop off. MY friend I was with was still at the first Marshall at the entrance so I believed I had the time to quickly detach the rear bumper and place it at the side of the entrance out the way. However, as soon as I exited my car I had the first Marshall rightfully so telling me I needed to keep moving, by this point I had a small queue of stationary cars behind me that could all quite clearly see what I was doing and the Ferrari directly behind me could clearly see my bumper had grounded and wouldnt make it into the entrance, I had already started moving the bumper out of the way. I called to the Marshall whilst I was moving the bumper to explain that I needed to move the body panel out of the way to which he began shouting at me constantly, telling me No you can’t do that here, you need to move, Don’t do that there, get out the way we need to keep cars moving. He kept repeating this. Whilst I appreciate he has a job to do and the importance of getting people in and off of a busy road it had taken me less than a minute to move the bumper out of the road and I continued to apologise as I made my way into the venue. The cars behind seemed completely unbothered, I had apologised to the Ferrari behind me also. Not once did your member of staff offer to help me, he continued to shout at me. I drove in and again explained that even if I moved my car at that point my bumper was blocking the road. So I still would have needed to get out and get the bumper to the side. The cars behind me would have still been blocked by my bumper. It’s also important to note that the car in front of me (my friend) was still only at the second Marshall by the first tent. So the queue of traffic would have still been there. Maybe 2 cars less, but still there. Needless to say, I had payed for a ticket and expected to be respected as a paying customer and a fellow car enthusiast. I was parked and retrieved my bumper from the main entrance, feeling rather embarrassed. I know not everyone desires to have a low car but as a car venue your staff should understand that there are multiple aspects of the car scene and each one should be treated equally. As I said not once was I offered help, just shouted at from the top of the entrance whilst being watched, struggling. After an hour I felt it was time to leave, the food and the fellow car enthusiast’s were the highlight of the day. I chose to double check the exit, to prepare and warn the exit Mars

Expensive for a basic room although staff very polite. Food was good but the long wait in a empty restaurant was a puzzle...you need to be aware it's a car venue with lights and loud cars into the night. Set really good as long as its not too busy.