The Joiners Arms

The room was beautifully and individually decorated with nice touches like a Nespresso machine, local artisan chocolates and a great en-suite wet room. However, there were sadly way too many issues as well as a lack of real care and attention to the customer’s needs for it to come anywhere close to feeling like the 5 star luxury stay we were sold. No warm welcome on arrival nor were we shown to our room. The room itself was cold, the shower water was cold too so we couldn’t use that great shower on the night of our arrival and the bar area was also cold (and from other reviews these are not new comments so it feels like a lack of care not to just fix them). The food was fine but small portions and we were initially charged for the food despite being on an inclusive deal. The ceiling in the restaurant was leaking with a bucket underneath. There was also a slightly uncomfortable exchange re a £50 hold on our credit card. We will be double checking that it is refunded. Staff lacked warmth and seemed unhappy, chatting amongst themselves during service so that service was slow and inattentive. We sat for ages with dirty plates in front of us. Breakfast not freshly cooked to order so dried out black pudding and sausage. And then there were noise issues with music coming up from the bar despite the fact that there were no customers left there, an extractor fan outside our window starting up at 7 am and then the bin lorry arriving at 7.30 am. Such a shame as it could be a wonderful place but we left feeling disappointed and a bit ripped off. We won’t be back.

Was really looking forward to staying,but all was not as expected.The welcome was ok.The room was most definitely shabby chic,very shabby not in a good way.The bed was ok ,pillows had seen better days.The bathroom was nice good shower.Clean ,good towels and robe.Stayed for dinner,quite pricey ,£18.95 for chicken burger,The staff were a bit reserved not friendly.Breakfast was ok ,coffee machine not working properly,.Parking was an issue for us as my partner can not walk very far was told 3 mins walk away,it was further than that.Would I return ,it’s a definite no.

£400 spent on a dinner, bed and breakfast stay in The Rede Shepherds Hut last Friday evening (27th December) as a Christmas gift for my husband and it was incredibly disappointing. We were checked in almost two hours late, despite arriving on time - even then we shouldn’t have been as house keeping were still cleaning around us at almost 5pm. The shepherds hut came without any wood for the wood burner inside it. The hut stank of petroleum which made us feel very sick - we learned the following morning from the duty manager that it was the smell of the wood treatment used and we weren’t the first to mention. Upon opening it, one of the wooden window hatches in the hut broke into three pieces, smashing into my husbands hand, causing him reasonable pain and leaving exposed nails and wood all over the floor for my dog to get in amongst! Check-in experience as a whole wasn’t professional - we were just handed the key and left to work everything out for ourselves - walking around laundry bags at the bottom of the hut steps and no idea how the hot tub worked or could/should be accessed. The hut is essentially in a car park and the noise throughout the night made for a very restless night. Food, as always, were great but the stay was beyond unacceptable for what I paid. Worse still is that, almost week after emailing (as requested by the duty manager) with details of our experience, and chasing twice, I’ve still had no response from anyone.

I was worried about staying at Castle View cottage after bad reviews here. I can see a trace of why the reviews might have been bad but our stay was fantastic. I decided to give 5 stars in spite of, rather than 4 stars because of some minor issues. Overall, I would highly recommend a stay at Castle view cottage, especially if travelling, as were, with friends, or for a family. The decor was lovely and the team had gone the extra mile to make it welcoming, with plenty of provisions and lights and heating on. The bed was very comfy, as was the sitting room and it was great to have plenty of your own space, as you would not have in a hotel room. It was lovely to have a grassy garden out the back which would be nice to sit in in summer. Everything was spotlessly clean. The breakfast was delicious at the Joiner's Arms, which had nice decor / atmosphere and very friendly and helpful staff. We particularly appreciated the chance to book a cottage for one night only, which was on our cycle through up the coast. It was nice to have privacy and the cottage (yes, it is a bungalow but its name is 'cottage' and it is very sweet inside) was in a quiet spot I did not spot the castle but perhaps you can see one form the garden. All well-equipped. I will add the niggles so the hotel staff know and hopefully will respond. The main one is, outside at the back, there is a dripping water leak out of a pipe below the kitchen window. This is wasteful. Others were that the chest of drawers on our room was lacking a handle. The kitchen bin had a faulty foot pedal. It just be borne in mind that with a large property like this it means more room for niggles than you would get in a hotel room. It might help if the Joiners Arms could put more photos on the website so people can make a more informed choice. It was not pretty from the outside but it was lovely inside an very convenient.

First, the Joiners Arms rates itself as 5 stars gastro pub & luxury inn…….it is not. 5 stars of anything in hospitality infers an exemplar in quality product, quality service and quality hospitality. It is not luxury and the bedrooms are not “boutique suites” as they claim. The Joiners Arms does not come close to 5 stars, luxury or boutique. Bedrooms lack TLC and would benefit from the owner/manager actually staying in some to see the issues guests experience; stained carpets, peeling paintwork, dusty, lack of surface space in the bedroom (only surface was fully taken up by a coffee maker, kettle and a wooden box of tea bags, coffee sachets, sugar etc), lack of surface/vanity space in the bathroom, no chair, tiny hanging space (which is too short to even hang a jacket in), only two hangers in a double room (!!), and hopeless bedside lighting. Service was friendly and enthusiastic from well meaning team members but why would you tell guests at breakfast that they cannot have a boiled egg because it’s not on the menu and if poached eggs are on the menu and smoked salmon is on the menu, why do you need to go and ask the chef if the poached egg and salmon combination can be served because that combination is not on the menu? Positives: good pub food at dinner and a good buffet breakfast offering, comfortable bed, good quality towels, friendly and helpful staff. In conclusion, the Joiners Arms has many faults that should be corrected by an attentive owner/manager, it is not a 5 star inn (it is more accurately 3.5 stars), has silly rules about what can be served at breakfast, bedrooms need a good clean and maintenance checks. All that is part mitigated by good food (the gastro pub food claim is accurate), and friendly, smiling and helpful staff. Unfortunately the Joiners Arms probably does not need to try too hard, as there is very, very limited choice of places to stay locally (AirBnB type places aside) so there is no competition. Finally, an establishment can do nothing if it has no car park and no parking is permitted within about 250m of the pub, but why would you not state this parking restriction on your website ??

I booked the Joiners Arms under the promise of 5* food and accomodation and felt missold. It was a very disappointing stay. We stayed as a family of 3 adults and two children in Castle View Cottage. The cottage is poorly decorated and presented. It feels like an old home that has been repurposed on a shoestring with income generation and not the customer in mind. The decor is rundown, it smelt stale and whilst (mainly) surface clean , its shabbiness in no way made me feel comfortable. The wheelie bins are outside the bedroom window and the place feels a bit eerie. The pub itself was warm and welcoming in appearance and the staff for the most part were polite and helpful. The service however was slow as there weren't enough experienced staff working and as the pressure rose naturally the service reduced even further . Our evening meal was ok for most of us but not great. Breakfast was also disappointing: coffee machine serving poor coffee, dirty coffee cups stacked by the machine, dry pastries and cooked breakfast that was also just ok. The cottage should be offered for what it is, a basic level accomodation at a matching price. Neither cottage or pub are high level but when it is sold as such you hope for more. The management need to accept the level of service they are providing is not 5* and either stop selling it as such or make significant changes. I have fed this back to the company before posting.