wildwood
Well-Known Forumite
Well I went in last night just for evening drinks post Swan. What a beautiful place you can definitely see where the money has gone. On walking in you are greeted by 2 members of staff, one a doorman the other a girl dressed in their grey/pink uniform who greets you very politely and opens the door for you. Inside there were plenty of staff manning the bar and the surrounding area and they were all very polite - the girls were all stunning and so were the men I guess 
. 2 pints were ordered - ok a bit on the steep side at £3.55 I think each but not the end of the world - nice little touch your change is given back to you on a silver tray. Standing at the bar we see Derek Foster himself very involved with the running of the place - there was a small puddle of spilt beer on the bar he noticed and within seconds it's gone.
We started speaking to one of the doormen asking if we could see the upstairs - he went off and within a minute Derek Foster was back - he had our drinks put behind the bar and then proceeded to give us a full tour of the place. He took us upstairs to see the upstairs restaurant and the separate function rooms (of which there are 3) they all have their own ipod/ipad docks so you can play your own music - also projectors which he says you can bring your own movies - or they have a choice of 150 in house movies. Everything has been finished to the highest standard and no expense spared - turning the lights on upstairs wasn't done by flicking a switch - but by a touch screen panel on the wall!
Moving through there was another large room with a small dancefloor with it's own bar. This room also has it's own private entrance accessed round the back by the old staff car park, so if you want to avoid the goings on downstairs your group can come and go as you please.
Any rumours of the chef leaving are untrue. We were introduced to him - also given his business card with his direct dial number on to book. His name is Matt Pickop - googling him brings up his history - but most noticeably he spent many years working for Gordon Ramsey. For functions Derek says they are very flexible - if you want to spend £25 per head then they will work with you to put something together - or if you want a full 6 course the sky the limit. They will cater for what you want. He was aware of some of the comments he had been receiving but he spoke very honestly and admitted he had had problems but they are all getting together now and getting ironed out slowly.
Coming back down the side stairs - you come down to the "nightclub" - the bar is very impressively laid out. It was fairly busy for a Friday night considering the rest of the town was fairly quiet - the Swan was very quiet. There wasn't any music on as such - no DJ but some background music which was just enough. Anyway we shook hands and wished him all the best - it was nice of him to take 10-15 minutes of his time to show us round. Hopefully they can sort their daytime service that people are mentioning and end up getting a good name for themselves - it deserve to do well the amount of time and money that has been put into it. I'll definitely be going back to sample the food - and definitely use it again as a stop off for a few beverages on a night in the town.
. 2 pints were ordered - ok a bit on the steep side at £3.55 I think each but not the end of the world - nice little touch your change is given back to you on a silver tray. Standing at the bar we see Derek Foster himself very involved with the running of the place - there was a small puddle of spilt beer on the bar he noticed and within seconds it's gone. We started speaking to one of the doormen asking if we could see the upstairs - he went off and within a minute Derek Foster was back - he had our drinks put behind the bar and then proceeded to give us a full tour of the place. He took us upstairs to see the upstairs restaurant and the separate function rooms (of which there are 3) they all have their own ipod/ipad docks so you can play your own music - also projectors which he says you can bring your own movies - or they have a choice of 150 in house movies. Everything has been finished to the highest standard and no expense spared - turning the lights on upstairs wasn't done by flicking a switch - but by a touch screen panel on the wall!
Moving through there was another large room with a small dancefloor with it's own bar. This room also has it's own private entrance accessed round the back by the old staff car park, so if you want to avoid the goings on downstairs your group can come and go as you please.
Any rumours of the chef leaving are untrue. We were introduced to him - also given his business card with his direct dial number on to book. His name is Matt Pickop - googling him brings up his history - but most noticeably he spent many years working for Gordon Ramsey. For functions Derek says they are very flexible - if you want to spend £25 per head then they will work with you to put something together - or if you want a full 6 course the sky the limit. They will cater for what you want. He was aware of some of the comments he had been receiving but he spoke very honestly and admitted he had had problems but they are all getting together now and getting ironed out slowly.
Coming back down the side stairs - you come down to the "nightclub" - the bar is very impressively laid out. It was fairly busy for a Friday night considering the rest of the town was fairly quiet - the Swan was very quiet. There wasn't any music on as such - no DJ but some background music which was just enough. Anyway we shook hands and wished him all the best - it was nice of him to take 10-15 minutes of his time to show us round. Hopefully they can sort their daytime service that people are mentioning and end up getting a good name for themselves - it deserve to do well the amount of time and money that has been put into it. I'll definitely be going back to sample the food - and definitely use it again as a stop off for a few beverages on a night in the town.
I loved the post house as you can tell and i will certainly be returning. I will feedback on this again to see if i find it to be the same high standard! Happy dining fellow Staffordians!! 
