We are all booked up for a mini adventure for Valentines Day. The mini break includes a very belated 2022 Christmas gift from me to Mr C. At long last there is a RSC performance that captures his imagination.

Midsummer Night’s Dream and Edward Moon here we come…

We set off a little later than planned because Mr C had been away in London at a conference and needed to pack.

With lunch in mind, just outside of Stratford, we noticed a Dobbies garden centre. We negotiated around a car crash that was outside the garden centre but, on arrival at the cafe we found that only drinks and ’sweet treats’ were on offer. The sweet treats looked a lot sweeter than either of us would enjoy so we decided to lunch in Stratford, which was only a short distance away. It was too early for access to the hotel carpark so we parked in a multi-story car park and made our way into town.

We found a delightful tea room, Huffkins arriving just as a table was being cleaned and reset. Several people who arrived just after we did were turned away as the café, was full. I chose a warmed Almond Croissant with Elderflower Presse. We then strolled into town, visiting the Guild Chapel, the Shakespeare bookshop, Waterstones, the magic yard and the antiques emporium before returning to the car to drive the short distance to the hotel car park.

We checked into the Arden Hotel and were taken to our room on a never-ending up-and- down corridor to our room, which was called Juniper. The room was fabulous and we accepted the offer of the ‘Bed turn down service’. This was sheer luxury after hit and miss room service during the previous two years because of Covid-19 restrictions and laziness (or lack of staff) after the restrictions were lifted.

Before walking to our chosen restaurant we had a pre dinner drink in the hotel bar. The service was slow and chaotic. Our gin arrived in a gold fish bowl full of ice leaving us to duck and dive with the provided straw to find the gin lurking in the bottom of the glass (bowl). Whilst drinking our gin, we enjoyed watching a couple of the staff videoing their attempt at making a hot chocolate drink crowned with cream and chocolate drizzle. It didn’t work out as planned and take two was needed.

We dined in the Edward Moon brasserie where I chose butternut squash and coconut chilli. Mr C opted for chicken and mushroom tarragon pie. We shared a lemon brulee dessert. The food and service were both excellent.

We stopped off at the Garrick Inn for a nightcap before returning to the hotel. I didn’t really enjoy the nightcap experience; it involved climbing onto a high bar stool which isn’t an enjoyable experience when dressed up in a skirt and even worse there was the underlying feeling that the customers were a nuisance and the staff couldn’t wait to go home. Lights were turned off as customers left areas of the bar.