Bowl Inn

Stayed here with my partner Jane prior to flying off on holiday. Paid £195.00 for B&B in a premium room, which in my opinion was overpriced. Room was very small and dark, the bathroom was very narrow, with a shower cubicle that had a significant amount of black mould on the tile grout. I also joined the loyalty club prior to my stay but found that discounts didn't apply on this visit. ! Staff very friendly food & drink ok, but with a total bill of £337.35 we thought it wasn't really value for money

Already posted a review for this hotel, but feel I need to respond to the manager, who I feel by her response to my original review, accused me of being a liar. I stayed here on Saturday 7th September with my partner John Bowes. I’m not going to reiterate the problems we had. Needless to say, I just didn’t feel at £337 for one night, okay including evening meals and drinks that this was value for money!!!

Pretty country pub in a little village. We opted for a signature plus room and stayed for 2 nights. Not the warmest welcome on arrival from the young gentleman who I felt gave no eye contact and was a little aloof but he did improve throughout our stay and was quite pleasant by the end. The room was as expected from a country pub, with a stone wall and low beamed ceiling. King size bed very comfy. Felt the big dusty artificial plant could’ve been replaced with another chair so we didn’t have to always sit on the bed. Slight lack of attention to detail with curtain rings missing and it was a bit dusty. Our room was at the front and we stayed mid week so it was relatively quiet but I can imagine on a weekend it could be quite noisy from the outside tables just under the window. Parking was free as long as you registered your car details on a small tablet inside the bar. The bathroom was adequate. The shower cubicle was a standard square size but felt restricted as folding door kept popping open limiting space even more. Toiletries were provided but had not been refilled so were half empty. Lovely big fluffy bath towels. Breakfast was very good with a varied choice and quick service.

Lovely country pub with warm and cosy atmosphere. Bedroom was comfortable and had all the usual amenities. However, the ensuite shower room was a bit small and cramped. The bar menu had lots of options and the food was tasty. Staff were friendly and welcoming.

Twenty years ago I used to stay in the Bowl Inn once a month with business colleagues so was intrigued how it would be now. Visiting Bristol to meet up with friends and then watch the football at Rovers, my partner and I decided to stay. We had room 15 (aka Bishop) and were very happy with the accommodation - much the same quality as it always was. We had dinner in the restaurant and the steak and ale pie was very tasty and the pasta was reported as “the best pasta dish I’ve ever had”. The breakfast was also very good. Well done for retaining the excellence that I used to enjoy and we will obviously stay again when next in the area.

This pub with rooms is falling well short of what it could achieve if it was better run. It seems to me like Butcombe Brewery originally made a substantial investment in this property because the fabrics, colours, and room furnishings are nice and of good quality, but since then everything has been poorly maintained. Here’s a brief list of issues: paint in corridors badly scuffed and chipped; no teaspoons in our room so had to ask for some; missing curtain hooks; flickering lights; incredibly noisy radiator in the bathroom due to a badly adjusted lockshield valve - thankfully I was able to improvise a spanner with my back door key so I could switch it off; faulty thermostatic radiator valves so you couldn’t set anything except max temperature. The single, accessible room is only really acceptable for wheelchair users and shouldn’t be generally offered because it really is not suitable for several reasons. The food in the evening was OK but at breakfast I had a hair under my scrambled egg on toast, and my daughter had a hair in her tea. Service was pretty average and I felt we overpaid for our one night stay. Butcombe should change the management because it could be a lovely place, but sadly it isn’t. Shame really.

See below for feedback. I tried to give the hotel a chance to comment but it is symptomatic of their unprofessional approach that they haven't even bothered to reply. In short, nice enough place and rooms but food was expensive and pretty poor, running out of breakfast items 2 days on the bounce is amateurish and just under £13.00 for a Campari and lemonade is taking the piss. Not replying to emails pretty much expected. We stayed with you from Sunday through to Tuesday morning and wanted to feedback before posting a review. Firstly, the rooms were excellent and the venue as a whole was lovely and we enjoyed our stay. There were few things that clouded our experience however. Sunday lunch. Whilst the service was a bit random, and the tapas and cheese board a bit disappointing for the price, the fish and chips were excellent. The roast beef was a disaster: the roasts were soggy, the suede was more like soup but the beef itself was a small ***** of overcooked, fatty scrag end. I got the feeling that this was an end of service, microwaved effort. I pointed this out to the waitress and asked her to speak to the chef about it. No response was coming over the next 10 minutes nor even when I asked her what they had said. We were surprised since on a review I could see a similar complaint had been dealt with promptly and professionally. This was most certainly not acceptable. As a result of this experience and also many things not available from the menu, we didn’t eat with you again.This is disappointing as we chose to stay there with a view to eating there and not driving. Breakfasts Firstly, can I say that the young lady was excellent on all occasions. However, she had to embarrassingly list a line of things that were not available - most embarrassingly no beans and then the next day, no beans or sausages for the full English. Surely, this could have ben easily remedied. I know you are a chain etc but this just seemed daft. Bar prices I can see this is a common complaint. I have some sympathy for higher prices on well kept craft ales that you serve, but I am at a loss as to how you can justify almost £13.00 for a Campari and lemonade. Even I can buy a bottle 70cl of Campari for less than £18.00. Therefore 50ml would cost circa £1.30. Average prices I know range between £4 to. £8 for a Campari and lemonade but I am afraid I cannot see how you get to your prices. Of course, you can change what you like but obviously not without attracting comment, I just wondered if you could explain how you think this is reasonable. Internet As I am sure you are aware, the internet in certainly our room is very poor so the Smart TV functions do not work. We did try and raise all these issues at the point of checkout when we saw the bill and the young breakfast lady was very polite but there was clearly no manager with whom to address these matters. We would like to give you the opportunity to do so now. Many thanks and look forward to hearing f

This was my fourth stay in the last four months and by far the worst. Checked in on Monday 23rd July. I was booked in for a two night stay. I was shown to my room which was on the booking described as Snug and Accessible. Snug was an understatement. As I am 6 foot 2 tall the single bed was that short that my feet hung over the end. As for the bathroom this was designed for wheelchair access and half of it had a drop ceiling which I had to duck down to enter. To be able to use the sink for a shave I had to knell down on one knee. I noticed the carpet by the entrance to the bathroom was wet this was due to the shower drain away was not up to the job so the floor area flooded and went up to the door and soaked in to the main room carpet. I went to the bar which doubles up as the reception and asked if it was possible to change to a more suitable room and I said I was prepared to pay extra if need be. The guy behind the bar who I assume was a manager said to me “there’s nothing he can do as I have already paid for that room” I was totally shocked by his response. That evening I had a table booked in the bar restaurant. I ordered the flat Steak which the waitress told me I had to have it medium rare, which was fine as that is how I like my steak done. I also had peppercorn sauce at an extra charge. When the steak turned up it was burnt around the edges and definitely not medium rare. I would say well done. As for the peppercorn sauce that was as runny as tap water. The next night I went out elsewhere for my evening meal. It’s a real shame as previous stays have been good, hence why I returned. But after this stay I will definitely not return here. Shame on you and shame on your customer service.