Old Bull Inn, Royston

The Old Bull Inn in Royston is a hotel I've come to know well over the years. I've attended slimming world here, my aunt's wedding, my work Christmas Dinner; I've stayed the night, worked as a temporary chambermaid (!) and had many a good night in the hotel bar over the years too. Who better to review this hotel than someone who knows it as well as I do?

LOCATION

Royston is a beautifully maintained rural town with an ...
...back to around 1520, the Old Bull Inn.

You'll find the Old Bull Inn in central location to the town accessed by a one way system that could prove difficult to those not familiar with the area, so make sure you get your directions in order before you arrive. On one side of the hotel is the High Street where you'll find a few small branches of big name shops like Woolworths, Boots, Peacocks and Martins Newsagents. At the bottom of the ... more

The Old Bull Inn in Royston is a hotel I've come to know well over the years. I've attended slimming world here, my aunt's wedding, my work Christmas Dinner; I've stayed the night, worked as a temporary chambermaid (!) and had many a good night in the hotel bar over the years too. Who better to review this hotel than someone who knows it as well as I do?

LOCATION

Royston is a beautifully maintained rural town with an ever-expanding population. Royston boasts a grand total of eleven pubs all in about a two mile radius thanks to the town's history. King James I used to have a palace situated where there is now a Fish N Chicken on Upper Kings Street and because he was mad about horses and loved to hunt on nearby Therfield Heath, the town revolved around Inns which in those days included stables. It's reported that at the turn of the 19th century there were an amazing 50 public houses in the town. The oldest surviving of which dates back to around 1520, the Old Bull Inn.

You'll find the Old Bull Inn in central location to the town accessed by a one way system that could prove difficult to those not familiar with the area, so make sure you get your directions in order before you arrive. On one side of the hotel is the High Street where you'll find a few small branches of big name shops like Woolworths, Boots, Peacocks and Martins Newsagents. At the bottom of the high street is Somerfields supermarket should you find yourself in need of any forgotten essentials. The other side of the hotel leads out into the Market Hill car park. Just down the road there is a Chinese takeaway and a chip shop called Master Fryer as well as a library equipped with internet access, a doctor's surgery and a coffee shop.

ENTRANCE

On entrance the hotel is impressive with it's gravelled, enclosed driveway and car park and glass back doors that are open most of the time. Yes I did say "back doors" but then flouting tradition, the back doors are actually the hotel's main entrance as the front door is small, up a few steps and situated in an inconvenient place to the one-way system. The front door is in use but locals rarely use it. The reception desk is tiny and there's usually no-one on it but just to the right of that is the entrance to the bar where you can easily gain a member of staff's attention quite quickly.

LOUNGE

There's a small lounge area to the left of the reception desk featuring a small number of comfortable seats. It isn't very large but it's perfectly adequate for the size of the hotel and well lit with attractive artwork on the walls. It's really intended for use by guests waiting to check in or out rather than an area to sit and relax in.

ACCOMMODATION

There are a total of eleven rooms all with en-suite facilities. For current prices you'll need to ring the hotel directly but these are usually in the region of 100 pounds per night which is a very fair price considering the quality of accommodation they offer. The bedrooms feature either a single, double or kingsized four poster bed. The room I stayed in had the kingsized four poster bed and was absolutely stunning. The bed was made of beautiful, solid wood and the top blanket was a beautifully embroidered red throw that complimented the wood and red theme of the room perfectly. There was a small red sofa and a television set as well as coffee making facilities, a telephone and an immaculate ensuite bathroom featuring bath, basin and toilet. All the rooms have ensuite facilities as well as televisions and telephones and having been in a quite a few rooms during my stint as a fill-in chambermaid I can assure you that you're unlikely to be dissappointed. The furniture is simple but tasteful and the beds are always made-up complete with hospital corners and fluffy pillows. The bathrooms are all lit as well as possible though some of course don't have windows. The hotel has a traditional feel to it throughout and this of course includes decor. You'll find the colour schemes unoffensive yet quaint and there are pieces of traditional artwork such as countryside scenes scattered throughout.

FOOD

The restaurant is very cosy and it's unusual L-shape layout makes the place feel more intimate than odd. The tables and chairs are again traditional in design and always laid out appropriately (cutlery, bread baskets, condiments). The waiting staff are usually quick and friendly and the food on offer is usually traditional dishes like steak or salmon. Breakfast includes a full English or cereal and toast, whichever you prefer. The chef is usually willing to accommodate special dietary requirements though he tends to do wholesome English food best. I have to admit I was very dissappointed with my Christmas Dinner there this year having been expected to "feast" upon three different steamed vegetables and a load of barely cooked new potatoes. Yes really, that was my vegetarian meal. I was absolutely gutted that I paid out twenty quid for that! On the plus side, the vegetable soup to start was gorgeous as were the mini profiteroles that followed. It's just a shame I left so hungry. All the meat-eaters round the table thoroughly enjoyed their turkey and roast potatoes or salmon steak though.

BAR

The bar is again a strange shape in it's design and a little bit on the small side too. There is currently a smoking and non-smoking section though later this year nowhere will have a smoking section unfortunately for smokers. The tables are the same traditional wooden designs as used throughout and there is a small area of padded seating at some of the tables. A lot of locals use the bar regularly but there's usually a good balance of there being a fair crowd without not being able to get a table or at least a seat. The bar offers a wide variety of drinks including a good range of largers, ales, alcopops, wines, spirits and liqueurs. Though the bar is small, it's well designed and the staff work hard to make sure the drinks keep coming.

SERVICE

The staff are always friendly and helpful and the Old Bull Inn has some of the friendliest waiting and bar staff you could hope to meet. The only drawback is on the hotel side of things where it can be difficult to locate the duty manager should you require assistance. Personally I feel it's to be expected in such a small hotel that they don't keep the reception desk constantly manned.

CONFERENCE / BALLROOM

There are two rooms that are leased out for parties, weddings, functions etc and they're adjoined by a very short corridor should you require the use of both. This works excellently for weddings as you can use the ballroom for your dinner or buffet and then guests can take the twenty second walk through to the function room for the disco or party. My aunt had her wedding here some years ago and this was the way they did things for her. It worked so well that they've been running weddings this way for many years before and since. The hotel has seen that many weddings over the years that for anything to go wrong you would simply have to be unlucky; they certainly know what they're doing by now. The ballroom itself is a high-ceilinged room that can provide a buffet for up to 100 people or sit down seating for around 50. The walls are a pale yellowy-cream colour and there are dramatic, sweeping windows to flood light into the room. The function room can be accessed by either the ballroom or a few steps in the carpark and features a bar as well as space for both seating and dancing. The hotel claims this room can hold up to 100 people but in my opinion around 50 to 70 would be the maximum capacity I'd be comfortable with.

Both rooms are available for very reasonable prices depending on the nature of your function and the number of people attending. For use of both function rooms for a wedding including dinner for 40 people and the bar being opened up I was quoted twelve hundred pounds two years ago and prices haven't risen much since then.

It should be noted that due to the age of the building, there is no disabled access. Corridors are fairly narrow and there are no bedrooms on the first floor. Even getting into the restaurant or the function rooms would prove difficult for a wheelchair user.

Overall if you're interested in having your wedding in Royston, having a family dinner, a business meeting or are looking for somewhere to stay then I would happily recommend to you the Old Bull Inn. 

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