The Bear Hotel by Greene King Inns

Convenient, the rooms are quiet, located behind the main building. Easy parking, bar and food across the courtyard.

good communication with home office and with staff on arrival and also very well served during evening meal (relaxed and friendly approach by all staff helped make the family meeting successful. THANKS TO ALL

This property is historic and unique, and it is a privilege to be able to stay there. The staff were very helpful. The building is typical of an ancient inn and may not be to everyone's taste, but I loved it. I did not try the food, but the wine selection and the coffee were excellent

Great location in historic coaching inn. A little frayed around the edges but some would call that character. Biggest bugbear was that for the second time in as many stays I had a downstairs room and every time the person above me moved across their floor the floorboards creaked very loudly.

A pleasant hotel In a good location. Bed amazing comfortable and clean bathroom. What let it down was the horrible, musty damp smell In the room. Cure this and the stay would have been excellent.

Everything was great from check in To check out The only ****** we had was some of the radiators weren’t working So was a bit chilly Easily sorted as I used to be a plumber, so just had to bleed the radiators so All good.

Very helpful reception staff who changed a booking that was supposed to be non changeable after my booking error. Clean and friendly place.

The bed is comfortable, the room is warm. However bathroom cleaning is not great; we never got any spare toilet tissue after it ran out on day 3 (we stayed for 7 nights) and the toilet wasn't cleaned properly. The shower also needs the grouting replaced, and the bathroom door wouldn't close. There was rarely anyone at reception - only once in the whole week. The breakfast staff still need training - offering and topping up tea & coffee, clearing tables (never leave the room empty handed), spoons in the cereals, milk & juice topped up, appropriately dressed (no long sleeves dipping into food), hair tied back - not pleasant to have a long hair decorating the food! And on one occasion we were told to sit at a table that hadn't been cleaned so we had to wipe it ourselves! Ashtrays on the tables outside the bar area were full of cigarette ends floating in rainwater - really disgusting to walk past every morning. Beer cans, rubbish, dropped cloths/sponges were all observed during the week. A manager should be walking around, checking these things throughout the day. It just needs someone to actually care about the place - The Bear's reputation is not good amongst the locals and you are losing business. All of the above we reported over a year ago when we stayed. It's nearly all the same restaurant staff and they are still poorly trained, so not sure if there's really any point in leaving a review as it's obvious no-one pays any attention...

I didn't stay at the hotel as although I left a number of messages on the hotel ansaphone querying whether the room I had ordered online was suitable for my 98 year old Mum they couldn't be bothered to call me back. In the end I couldn't take the risk that the room might involve a climb up lots of stairs or only have a bath so I cancelled the booking losing my money. Very unsatisfactory. The hotel behaved in a very arrogant manner and they need to get a decent switchboard.