Our room (Room 2) was spacious and clean. The en suite bathroom was also very spacious and clean. The pub has character and over all our room was as expected. However, there were a few hospitality issues which marred our stay and could easily be...fixed.
When we checked in we asked what time the bar would be closing, as we were going to an evening performance at Snape Maltings and would be returning later and looking forward to drinks to round the evening off. We were told the bar would be open until late, so thought this would be fine. However, when we returned to the pub at approx. 9.35pm the bar had obviously just shut with a group of staff sitting around a table getting ready to leave. We asked what time the bar was supposed to shut, as it seemed quite early, and was told they shut the bar when the last customer has left. We were not offered a drink to take to our room. As we were staying in a pub with rooms we expected this service to be available for usual licensing hours.
The entrance to our room was around the back of the pub and up a small flight of stairs, next the the kitchen entrance. Unfortunately the entrance lobby was cluttered with a large bag of dirty laundry for two days and a pile of clean laundry taking space on an arm chair. The single table in the lobby seemed to be being used as a staff work table and the window sill as a shelf for cleaning products. The whole lobby area gave the impression of being a trade entrance, not a welcoming space for guests to feel at ease passing through. It would be simple to tidy up this area and make it more welcoming for guests. While using the back entrance we unfortunately heard loud foul mouthed conversions from some the staff and were almost locked out when the lunch shift left for a 2 hour unmanned period at the pub.
The selection of tired tea bags, packet coffee and UHT milk made for a forlorn beverage offering. However, we did ask for a jug of fresh milk and were provided with it. It would be good to offer this option for guests, as well as making the tea and coffee options more premium.
For breakfast we both ordered the smashed avocado and poached egg on toast. The bread was dry/stale, toasted like a crouton with no butter or oil, the avocado was plain and the poached egg was not runny. The dish was edible so we didn’t mention it as we don’t like to see food waste in the event of being offered a replacement. There was jam and honey but no toast was offered to any table. As there are only 3 rooms to cater for it should be manageable to provide a good quality breakfast, not one that lacked finesse and was disappointing.
The staff vacate the premises over night and for two hours in the afternoon, so there is no one present. There is an emergency number to call should an incident occur. We did have a comfortable, quiet sleep, so that was good.
We put all these points to the member of staff when we checked out and she politely listened. She confirmed that the bar does actually close when the last customer has left, but we were customers staying in a pub with rooms and it is reasonable to expect the bar to be open until ay least 10.30 or 11 as an interpretation of ‘late’ on the signage. She said she would be feeding back all our issues to the staff team. We hope these are taken on board, as the issues are simple to remedy.More
