Bel and the Dragon-Kingsclere

There is parking but I think it would be a struggle if busy. The village is pleasant for a walk and has a funeral directors, hairdressers, small supermarket and estate agent. Won’t take long to discover. The room was clean with tea and coffee as well as sloe gin. We had the Christmas festive menu which was pleasant enough and the extra gravy was available. The Christmas pudding was not for me, I could not work out if it was cinnamon or mixed spice but it left an unpleasant taste for me personally. The meal comes with a 12.5% tip which means that you are charged an extra £6 a bottle for the staff to walk the bottle from the bar to the table. Getting a bit much now and we had to ask for a cooler as it as just dumped on the table.

Fantastic overnight stay, lovely bedroom with roll top bath. Complementary slo gin in the room and whiskey in the resident's lounge. Our evening meal in the restaurant was superb, topped with amazing service. We slept well in a very comfortable bed and a perfectly cooked breakfast to finish our stay. I highly recommend it. Thank you to all the staff for all your hard work. It was greatly appreciated ……

Booked for a celebration lunch several weeks back and also emailed later that it was for a special occasion and was advised that it would be added to the ‘booking notes’. If travelling here by car do be advised parking is a nightmare! The hotel car park was full as was the car park in Anchor Yard, street parking is 1 hour only, might be helpful to flag this up somewhere on the website and suggest alternatives for those not familiar with the area. We arrived before our allocated two hour slot and shown to our table, a good sign was the linen napkins, not so good the tired wiped out table top. Service was ok, disappointed with some of the food served. Fish and chips were ok albeit not the most generous of portions but I do appreciate it was a lunchtime serving. The ‘today special’ dish of pan fried salmon was ok but the ‘crushed potatoes’ served with it were dry on the inside, either old or low quality potato, some undercooked and not that hot. The dish would also have benefited from some green vegetables, this was neither suggested or offered when ordering which would have been a good idea as it would have completed the dish. The roasted pork belly again wasn’t very hot, the accompanying apple purée didn’t do it justice, home made would have been better. The triple chocolate dessert however was delicious, if you’re a chocolate lover this one’s for you! The interior photos on the Bel & Dragon website look really inviting, unfortunately the reality not quite so. The soft furnishings today bore little resemblance to those in the photos, the only cushions visible were grubby tired chair pads with mismatched light ribbon that was half tied and half detached and hanging off the chairs. Not the plump cushions depicted in the photos or “styled in classic and cosy way”. The sight of an open fire does help to “exude charm and warmth”, but it needs to be kept going and today it wasn’t and it soon became quite chilly. The pavement area outside looks tired and unkempt, the sandwich advertising board looks grubby and loosing its varnish. Attention to the smallest detail often makes the biggest difference.

We were staying to attend a birthday party in the village and this had been recommended to us. The room was lovely and bright with a comfortable bed and spacious bathroom. The staff were excellent and very friendly and helpful. There was complementary sloe gin in the room and the guests lounge was comfortable and full of books and games and complementary whisky. If we had been staying longer we would definitely have spent some time relaxing in there. The breakfast was excellent and the full English was probably one of the best I have ever had. The only drawback was stairs and steps, (and there were quite a few), as my husband has sight and mobility problems, but it's an old building, so we appreciated there was little that could be done.

We stayed for three nights, absolutely loved it. The staff were so helpful and lovely, nothing was too much trouble (despite our greyhound taking up a lot of floor space when she laid down in the bar area). The food great, lots of choice for breakfast and we had two evening meals that were delicious; and the room was very comfortable with a large bathroom, I need to know where they get those pillows are they were so comfortable!