The Blue Anchor

Looks lovely from the outside and clearly a successful pub/restaurant (judging by the number of people in the bar area) but is very poor as a hotel. The room I stayed in was nice enough but the road noise is awful and I kept checking the windows as was convinced one of them must be open. There is also clearly a door downstairs that I assume is used by the staff as it is in constant use, slams shut when it is and the whole room shook every time it did. Can’t believe it would be difficult to put a closer mechanism on it. The en-suite is tiny and the shower was laughable (almost no flow of water). Finally, there are no curtains just some barely suitable blinds and the light from the lamp directly outside meant I could almost read in my room with no light on. Simple blackout curtains would have fixed this. Feels like they have not really put much thought into the hotel element and could be so much better with a little bit of investment. Staff were lovely however and very welcoming.

This is very much a pub and not a hotel. They should in no way even attempt to say that this is a good place to stay. It’s a pub on a busy junction. The rooms are rather outdated and quite frankly, like an American motel. There are cigarette burns for every lost soul that ever had the misfortune to stay here. Yours, Morris Baker.

Attended a relative’s birthday celebration here in the function room, staying overnight in one of the rooms above. From the moment we arrived in the afternoon and checked in we could not fault a thing. We had a few drinks in the restaurant area and nothing was too much trouble for the staff. The party was a real success with plenty of exquisite buffet food . The room had its own bar and the staff were brilliant. Our bedroom and en-suite were a good size, clean and in good condition. The bed was very comfortable and considering the restaurant is situated on a busy road, had a brilliant night’s sleep. The full English breakfast the next morning was again excellent and the service was great. Highly recommend

Have visited the blue anchor a couple of times now and have not stopped raving about it to friends and family etc. who have also visited from my amazing reviews. Lovely food, great staff, so we thought. I called on 22 November 2023, and can see from my call log that I have a 5 minute phone call with them. I double checked I could use my Tastecard whilst booking my next visit on 5 December 2023, I triple checked as there was 6 of us coming and money is tight at the moment. The young man on the phone reassured me that I will be able to use my tastecard, he even took my tastecard number down as I read it out. Fast forward to 5 December 2023, we have a lovely meal, all have a starter main and dessert as we had been promised the 2 for 1 deal with the tastecard. Go to pay, and they tell me that the tastecard is not applicable. I cannot tell you how upset I was. It was embarrassing. I could not afford to pay for this whole meal when I had been promised the deal. The manager was rude, did not apologise for any miscommunication etc. when it was his staff telling me that we would get the deal. He explained that it said on the tastecard app “Not applicable in December” but when ringing up and TRIPLE checking with YOUR staff member, they reassured me it would. They then were assuming that I was lying about giving my tastecard number? The most awful customer service I think I have come across. To think I was recommending the pub to so many people, I am truly gutted and so upset that what was meant to be a lovely family meal turned into nothing but stress due to the cost of it. Will now be telling those friends and family not to return. Appalled by the customer service at this place.

The rooms are tired and need to have a refurb. Headboard damaged, carpet dirty, dust in radiator, holes in the ceiling, grouting bad around the sink. Main complain however - which of course is not the owners fault - was the noise from the road. We were room 5 - which sadly the girl who checked us in said was a quiet room. I believe the "superior" rooms overlooking the garden are quieter. Breakfast was not available but the evening meal was surprisingly very good.

We were a family group of 7 including a 2yr old. We were meeting for breakfast. We were welcomed and shown to our table lots of room and a highchair for the toddler. Drinks order was taken and arrived promptly as did the breakfasts. We all had the full English except for one who had a bacon sandwich although this was not on the menu. The breakfast for the 2yr old arrived first which was great as it had cooled before all ours arrived so we could all eat together. Breakfasts were all freshly cooked and well presented. Lots of toast. We had a brilliant time thanks to the attention of the waitress she was outstanding. We ill defo be going back again.