The Royal Oak Inn

We left without using anything in the room, but they still refused to give us a full refund. When I explained what we’d found, I was told, “well what do you expect, it is a dog friendly place.” Avoid this place. They didn’t seem friendly at all, and shouldn’t be in hospitality. We’d booked ahead to meet friends and arrived at 4.50pm. As soon as we went in, there was a musty dog smell, and the woman didn’t give us a friendly welcome. The en suite bedroom was cold, so I went downstairs to ask about the heating. She told us to turn the radiator on, then came in and did it herself. The room had been pre-booked, not arranged at the last minute. I sat on the bed in my coat while it warmed up and saw black dog hairs on the bed and a cobweb hanging down. The bathroom was just as bad: black mould on the wall by the window, urine and marks inside the toilet and around its base, a dirty water line in the bowl, and hair in the bath. The mirror by the door, rather than over the sink, was marked too. I took photos. We’d seen enough and didn’t want to try another room.

The food’s a delight, and it’s a nice place to eat. I’ve been coming here for years, though the atmosphere feels lacking. There don’t seem to be many customers, which is a shame, and the service is minimal.

After a tiring 10k run, I stopped at this pub for tea, but ended up waiting around. It was getting dark, I was on a schedule, and I still had to carry on running. When I asked about my order, the staff seemed tipsy and were very rude. I asked for my money back and was literally told to get lost. It was easily the worst experience I’ve had in the UK. Avoid this pub!

The beer and wine were fine, but the bar didn’t leave us with a good feeling. We’d only gone in for a drink to get a sense of the place before our dinner booking later that week. In conversations, we’d heard mixed and negative comments about eating there, and unfortunately they were right. There was a wet dog smell, even though no dogs were in.