The Horseshoe & Castle

Our room was comfortable, homely and spotlessly clean - the lovely welcome basket on arrival was a particularly nice touch! Breakfast was included in our stay and was excellent (would recommend the full English!). Staff were very friendly and helpful. We felt very welcome and having access to the property to come and go as we needed was very useful when visiting family nearby.

The only (very) minor thing that impacted our stay was a slow drain on our bathroom sink. It didn't significantly impact our visit at all, and when we let the staff know on departure they were immediately apologetic and helpful in looking to get this resolved. Other than this - The Horseshoe and Castle was excellent.

The friendly helpful staff, really interesting decorations/ornaments, a really nice traditional pub/inn, the food was delicious, I haven’t had a steak like that in years, my wife had the fillet, and I had the rump. The rump was amazing, and of course the fillet was great. The room was great, breakfast was lovely, a really nice stay.

The pub was really interesting, not for everyone, but I thought it was great! The Governor of the pub spoke to us about one or two of the trophies in the lounge area, certainly held my attention, a really nice bunch!

The Horseshoe and Castle was great, the staff were very friendly, approachable and accomdating. The entire pub and room was extremely clean, such a little gem. We were attending a wedding in Cooling Castle Barn so this place was a fantastic and ideal place to stay. The host apologised for the noise (as building work was being finisbed off) when we went down to breakfast. However, we had not heard any noise. But it was lovely that they apologised incase we had.

We absolutely loved staying in stable cottage at The Horseshoe and Castle A perfect distance to the wedding venue .. Cooling Castle Barn . The property was perfectly presented, very comfortable,spotlessly clean and very pretty . 15 steps was all we had to take to be in the friendly bar and restaurant where Stuart his dad Kevin and an extremely friendly team of staff looked after our every need . Stuart is the Chef and with a very varied menu we enjoyed all our meals from breakfast , snacks and dinner .

Uber and taxi service was awkward but we managed with the help of staff to arrange all our little visits .

The location was perfect for our purpose , the bar and restaurant were very period and quirky . The staff were all very polite and efficient nothing was too much trouble giving us a relaxed and enjoyable stay . Finally , our breakfasts were cooked and served to perfection , we would definitely come again and bring friends to sample the evening menu and ales .

The weather could have been better , obviously out of their control ! and no complaints worth mentioning .

Firstly our room was nice and big, the bed was super comfy and the staff provided extra pillows which was nice. The breakfast was SO yummy genuinely the best scrambled eggs my partner and I have ever had. We loved the quirky ‘cabinet of curiosities’ vibe of the establishment.

The toilet was quite rickety. It came away from the wall a bit when you sit down and this made my partner and I a little uneasy.

Staff were friendly, helpful, knew the history of the area and pub and willing to help. Proprietor is guest-orientated and rewarding to talk to. Pub was fascinating, filled with interesting pictures, maps and ornaments (including many stuffed birds and animals); village and surrounding area was historically fascinating, with many connections to Charles Dickens. We stayed in The Cottage which was delightful – a separate building in the courtyard, with a very comfortable bed and usual facilities.

Food was good, but breakfast offered no yoghurt or milk alternatives so important to mention food preferences when booking. We were there for St Valentine's Day including dinner: it would have been more romantic if the tables had red tablecloths, a red candle and maybe a flower for example. The bar had no Martini or Dubonnet but a fine Merlot.

The pub was very pleasant with good choices of beers and good food. The single bedroom house a few steps behind the pub was great. The pub is popular so wise to book a table for evening meals.

No shaver socket in the bathroom so make sure your electric shaver is fully charged if you have one. If you sleep with the window open you may meet some mosquitoes. (There is a fan in the bedroom cupboard so best use that if you need it and close the bedroom window at night.)

Staff friendly. Breakfast good.Bed comfortable.

Shower, could not adjust temperature of water, water too hot, cold tap did not move enough to adjust. Shower sealant around cubicle needs replacing, grubby. Lighting too dark. Building undergoing some maintenance so was untidy outside.

The staff were amazing so friendly and welcoming , we were in room 3 room was charming tastefully furnished and very comfortable, the evening meal was amazing and the produce served was all locally sourced and outstanding quality - breakfast was superb so much choice. Loved our stay what a welcome but credit must go to the staff all of them all chatty and so friendly what an amazing team

The only thing I would say was in room 3, we were next to the bathroom for the room that doesn’t have en suite and if someone was using that it was very noisy unlocking the bathroom door and using the room we were woken up several times whilst people used that facility could this room be left unlocked ? or pin code installed so it wasn’t so noisy