Royal Oak Inn

We'd booked a room so we could meet friends, but left without staying. The bedroom was cold, and when I asked about the heating, I was told to switch the radiator on before the woman came in and did it herself. The room had been booked ahead, not at the last minute. I sat on the bed in my coat while it warmed up and spotted black dog hairs on the bedding and a cobweb hanging down. The bathroom was worse: black mould by the window, urine and marks in and around the toilet, a dirty water line in the bowl, hair in the bath, and marks on the mirror by the door rather than above the sink. I took photos. The place smelled strongly of dogs when we arrived, and the woman wasn't friendly. After seeing all that, we told them we were leaving. We hadn't used anything, but they refused a full refund and said, “well what do you expect, it is a dog friendly place.” Avoid it. They weren't welcoming at all and shouldn't be in hospitality.

It's a nice place to eat, and I've been coming for years because the food is a delight. Lately, though, there seem to be very few customers, which is a shame, and the service is minimal. The atmosphere feels lacking.

After a tiring 10k run, I stopped at this pub for tea, but the wait put me behind schedule as it was getting dark and I still had to continue my run. When I asked about the order, the staff seemed tipsy and spoke to me very rudely. I asked for my money back and was literally told to get lost. Easily my worst experience in the UK. Avoid this pub.

We only popped in for a drink to get a sense of the place, since we'd booked dinner for later in the week. People we'd spoken to had mixed, sometimes negative things to say, and unfortunately I see what they meant. The bar didn't give me a good feeling, and it smelled of wet dogs even though there weren't any dogs inside. The beer and wine were fine.