The rooms are a strange mix of the last days of the Raj and Victoriana - think dark, chunky, faux-Asian wooden furniture with ropes and heavy fabrics in reds, rusts and brown.
The grounds, especially the outer buildings at the back and the play warehouse, are a tad scruffy. I was told that a refurbishment is planned but no date has been set.
But that is missing the point because I believe parents will overlook all this if their children are having a wonderful time, the staff are helpful and the food is delicious - and on those scores Moonfleet ticks all the boxes.
My daughter Dory, two-and-a-half, was delighted with the facilities - swimming, trampolining, scooting around the lawn on toy cars, feeding horses and discovering the countryside.
Personally, I could have done with a bit more pampering.
There are treatment rooms in the indoor play area but the hotel desperately needs an integrated spa, pool and fitness area, a place where mums (and dads) can unwind.
I am sure, knowing Von Essen hotels, of which Moonfleet is part, it is on the cards.
In the play warehouse, an area the size of an indoor football pitch is littered with a pool table, piano, a giant chess set and toys of all shapes and sizes. Again, a huge hit with Dory.
The crèche, and its lovely nursery nurses, were expert at keeping the under-fives entertained with a sandpit, dolls' house, paints, bean bags and an enclosed garden with slides, swings and climbing frame.
Some of the most fascinating parts of the house are the reception rooms, crammed full of curios: a stuffed polar bear's head, tiger skins, colonial photographs.
I noticed from the Moonfleet website that a treasure hunt and ghost story-telling, drawing on the infamous smuggling past of this Georgian manor, are available for executives booking the conference facilities - encouraging adults to rediscover the child within.
We certainly did. We enjoyed three delicious dinners à deux and even squeezed in a game of squash. And I can't remember the last time I did that...
WAY TO GO
Moonfleet Manor (01305 786948, www.moonfleetmanorhotel.co.uk). Doubles from £180 B&B. In September, children sharing their parents' room can stay at any of Von Essen's Luxury Family Hotels for two nights midweek for free.
