The Queen Catherine Hotel

Nice looking pub on arrival but then it went downhill. The poor girl seemed rushed off her feet trying to serve everyone, hence we sat there for ten minutes (we had booked a table) and were not even asked what we would like to drink. She came and took our food order first and I had to say could we have a drink first? In fairness, my sausages and mash were good but my husband's meal of scampi very poor. Limited menu, not good value, another tourist trap it seemed.

Stopped for lunch on way home from shopping - wish we hadn't. The pub is always less than warm and today was no exception. However food is usually good. I had to send my meal back because chips luke warm. Came back hot. However scampi was then not hot. It was also over done and dry. Worst scampi I've ever had. My husband had bangers and mash which were OK and at least hot. We were debating whether we would return when I visited the ladies. Disgusting state so that's nailed it. Definitely avoid.

We stayed over the road in the Three Tuns Hotel, but due to an arrangement with the hotel under the same management we had to eat our meals in the Queen Catherine opposite. The evening meal was good and the service efficient, but the ambience is off putting due to the obsessive festooning of union jack flags on the ceiling and red notices telling customers to be polite. The service at breakfast was rude and the amount of food offered inadequate to set one off for a long day's walk. All your breakfast requirements have to be filled in the night before and wo betide you if you fail to tick every box. You'll get a serious reprimand and be made to feel like Oliver Twist begging for cereal. If you can stay somewhere else, do, and just use this pub for the evening meal.

Quick and easy check in by Christina was very helpful and cheerful the room was spacious,smartly decorated and very comfortable. The food was also very good quality and reasonably priced. Quite some noise from the outside seating area and as one of our windows would not shut it was loader than normal. As we were walking the Cleveland Way the venue had agreed to take delivery and pass on our bags from the baggage transfer company. Well worth a visit for food or a place to stay if in this area.

We were staying in Osmotherly and to be honest we were told not to go into The Queen Catherine for food but we thought we would give it the benefit of the doubt. Three of our party of 4 ordered prawn cocktail starter, when they came, we started eating, immediately we all said the prawns were luke warm, especially the king prawns. None of us continued to eat them. When they were cleared, I asked the chef/waiter if the prawns were meant to be warm and he said yes they cook their king prawns in the oven, this can’t be right as they were luke warm and not piping hot/up to temperature if cooking for a hot starter. They were then mixed up with smaller prawns in a Marie Rose sauce. Has anyone ever heard of hot prawns being served with a cold Marie Rose sauce?? These prawns I can guess (as I am a chef) were defrosted in hot water and left too long. They were not good. The server did not come back to explain how they were dealt with and we were charged for them. Put a dampener on the rest of the meal which to be honest was mediocre. The only upside was the waitress/bar tender was super nice and helpful.

The staff did not seem well trained and one in particular was rather curt at times, and didn't seem to exemplify the claim on the website, which 'guaranteed of a warm, friendly and heartfelt welcome'. On arrival what I guess was the landlord/proprietor handed us over immediately to this young member of staff who was not remotely friendly or warm. I'm not sure why the landlord couldn't have checked us in, but he claimed she was better at it. We were immediately asked what we wanted for breakfast the following day. Appreciate that this is helpful for kitchen planning purposes, but it didn't need to be dealt with immediately on arrival with no other information about the hotel given or any other attempt to build a rapport with guests. The room was a good size, with good storage, but needs more places to hang or store items in the bathroom facilities. Because the wash basin is in a separate room to the shower having nowhere to hang towels or with nowhere to really stand toothbrushes it makes it a bit difficult to manage with three people. Some maintenance is needed with boxing in broken in the shower room and the door hinges could do with a touch of oil. The kettle is too big to be filled from the basin, which means filling a glass with water and then filling the kettle. Our evening meal was ok, but it was not 'outstanding' as claimed on the website. There are menus and adverts everywhere for the Three Tuns pub around the corner, which I assume is owned by the same people, but as that pub did not seem open it was odd that they made such a big deal out of it. Breakfast tasted pretty cheap and serviceable. It filled a hole before our long walk of the day I guess. We were told that there would be juice, together with additional tea and coffee available at the breakfast the following day (as you see in normal hotels) - it was not. In general I think we felt that we were just an irritant to some of the staff who perhaps would rather we were not there at all. Overall, the experience just made us sad so we simply packed up and walked out before a second night.