The Sun Inn at Hook Norton

Lovely little pub in Hook Norton with the bus stop conveniently over the road, so great if you are coming from elsewhere. Staff and food were lovely and they had a good range of drinks available too. Would definitely come back if in hook Norton again.

This is a busy, vibrant pub which obviously enjoys additional business from customers visiting the local Hook Norton Brewery. We came as two couples and stayed two nights, Saturday into Monday morning. We ate all our meals there and the pub food is, on the whole great. At the weekends breakfast is served in the restaurant - it was ok. On other days (for us, the Monday) there is a pretty poor effort at a continental breakfast. The pub itself is good but sadly the accommodation is poor. I emailed the company to give them feedback and am sad to have not had a reply. The mattress in our bedroom was terrible. The springs are noisy, damaged and worn out. The rooms are tiny. There was no room to unpack our bags and the shower room was tired and tiny. In the other room the shower room only had one light working and again the shower room is tiny. It’s tatty, tired and disappointing. The carpeting in the main corridor isn’t the accommodation is truly filthy which then made me question the general cleanliness of the whole place. It’s such a shame, this could be a great country pub with amazing accommodation but sadly not. If we went back I would be tempted to try the other pub in the village (which I understand doesn’t have a kitchen) and go to the Sun for breakfast at the week end.

We visited the Sun Inn for dinner and had amazing and delicious steaks. The atmosphere at the inn was very friendly and welcoming. It is a very successful village pub with loads of activities organised each week. We also enjoyed an informative gin pairing evening at the Sun with tastings of tonics from a company called Double Dutch, formed by a pair of twins from Holland. It was a good paring education for us.

It wouldn’t take much to make this place good. The pub itself is nice and the food good. The accommodation could be better however. When we went to check-in, we arrived 20 minutes early. Instead of politely being told our room wasn’t quite ready and we would be welcome to sit outside in the afternoon sun, we were abruptly told “rooms aren’t ready until 4, come back then”. In fact, in general we didn’t find the staff particularly friendly during our stay. The room itself was fine, nothing fancy, but enough for what we needed. The bathroom was slightly odd, money had obviously been spent on it, which made it strange that some things seemed like they hadn’t been replaced, the bath panel was extremely tatty and the choice of flooring despite being grippy looked, perhaps was dirty. The main area for improvement however is the entrance/exit when the pub is closed. It wouldn’t cost much to improve this. Currently having to navigate the old mops, drying rubber mats and buckets with strange contents in, isn’t the most welcoming, neither is the makeshift cardboard doormat. We were also unable to get a WiFi signal in our room, which although wasn't an issue for us, I can see it being a major issue for other families. The breakfast was a welcome bonus and the continental selection left in the room and the downstairs fridge was generous. Eating it the room was slightly challenging especially with young children. We enjoyed our stay despite the feedback provided, which is meant to be constructive. 3.5 stars would be a fair reflection in my opinion.

The food at the Sun Inn was generally very good and the staff were friendly and efficient. The bathroom in my room was smelly and the extractor noisy. The bed was too soft and I could feel the individual coils in the mattress. The breakfast part of the B&B was a cereal packet in the room which was very disappointing. I had to pay the night before departing because no person able to take payment was in attendance before 10am. It is hte food that has earnt this place a 3 star rather than 1 or 2.

Delicious breakfast/brunch in this pub in the beautiful village of Hook Norton. Staying nearby we decided to treat ourselves to a weekend breakfast out. We were not disappointed. Good sized portions, the full vegetarian was great as was the full English, friendly staff, nice atmosphere Would definitely recommend