BAY HORSE INN

I was booked to do a church service in Hereford and my hubby suggested that we go for the weekend, so onto the internet I went, doing a Google search for hotels in the Hereford area. As we were aiming for the HR4 postcode area, we looked for a similar postcode. After looking at a couple of hotels, this one caught my eye, I liked the fact that it had its own website and I thought it looked very nice from the pictures, I also took a look at reviews and the menu on offer.

There were only a couple of short reviews on the one site, one was in favour of the Inn and other ran it down slightly. From experience we decided to take the one review with a pinch of salt and rang up the Inn. I do like it when you can talk to a person instead of emailing when it comes to things like this. You can tell a lot from the way they answer the phone and deal with your enquiry. The lady that answered our call was very friendly and talked to us openly and answered all our questions with ease. We even asked her about the negative feedback on the internet which we had read. She quite willingly opened up and explained her interpretation of the event which led up to the feedback. We were happy with what she said and she also sounded very efficient and friendly which we also liked.

So we booked over the phone for our two night stay in a double ensuite room for £130.00. We gave our credit card details to secure the room, but this was only taken in case we did not turn up. If everything goes to plan it won’t be used, which is good as we prefer to pay by cash.

~~ Arrival ~~

Saturday 31st 2009 we set off on the 1hr 30min journey to Hereford; our Sat Nav navigated us around the country lanes with ease and got us to our destination by 1250hrs. We were a couple of hours early as they request you book in after 1500hrs, but as we always do when we stay anywhere is let them know we are here, as on occasions we get into our room early. We were lucky, we were greeted by the owner Penny who was a lovely lady, she gave me a form to fill in just asking for our names and address, then she showed us to our room and explained about breakfast etc. We booked a table for the evening meal and went onto our room.

~~ The Room ~~

We were taken through the very busy restaurant and went through the side door and across the walkway along an annex adjacent to the Inn. The pathway is covered and leads to 8 rooms, 4 of which are downstairs in the annex and 4 upstairs. We were on the ground level in room 3. Penny kindly showed us how to use the card key and let us into our room which faced the outside courtyard filled with tables, chairs and parasols (which I should imagine is a very busy area during the warmer months).

Our first impression of the room was WOW; the bed looked a good decent size, so we would both have room to spread about. It was extremely comfortable and we both fit into it quite nicely, both my hubby and I are quite big people so having room to move about is a good thing. The quilt was lovely and thick without being too heavy; this is also great as a lot of hotels tend to go for 3-5 tog which are very thin. They had scatter cushions and a pleasant throw across the bottom of the bed which looked quite pretty. They also left the towels laid out for you on the bed on your arrival.

The decor was completely neutral, it looks like an off white (more white than cream). There was a flat screen TV on the wall opposite the bed with standard channels and an excellent picture. Under the television was a desk with draws for your clothing etc; Tea/Coffee making facilities on a tray and a mirror on the wall. All pretty standard, but laid out lovely and a there was the welcome binder telling you all about the Inn and all the useful information you could need. I am actually sitting at the desk writing this review, during my stay. You also have Wi-Fi (wireless internet) available in your rooms and this is free, I do wish now that I had bought my hubby’s laptop, I could have been typing this or even catching up a bit with reading a few reviews (I do sound sad now).

The heating was on in the room when we arrived, bearing in mind we are in the middle of winter, I did not find the heat overwhelming, which you get in some hotel rooms; I felt the temperature was just right, I only got a slight chill when my hubby left the door open when he went outside for a cigarette as all rooms are non smoking. The heating can easily be adjusted to suit your tastes by simply turning a dial on the radiator.

At the one end of the room is a large built in wardrobe, I was really pleased with this, as there was plenty of room at the bottom of it to put your suitcases in out of the way, the only disappointment with it was there were no shelves inside the wardrobe. There were only 3 draws in the desk and one either side of the bed, so if you were staying longer than a couple of days, storage for your clothing would become an issue. You will also find extra pillows and a spare blanket in a storage bag at the bottom of the wardrobe should you need them.

The bathroom was again all white and very clean, with off white/beige tiles on the wall and beige/brown stone tiles (which are very cold on your feet) on the floor. You really cannot fault the cleanliness of the room or bathroom.

As we are talking about the room it seems only right to mention that they are doing their bit for energy efficiency and have solar panels which they use to heat the water for the bathrooms; I have just run my hubby a bath, the water came out warm enough, but I am quite terrible I love my bath really hot, so personally I would have preferred it a little hotter, but that is a personal choice not a moan, hubby was very content with it; although even he said it was not that hot. Continuing with the energy saving and reducing their carbon footprint they collect t the rain water from the roof of the guest annex and store it in a large holding tank in the garden; it is then filtered through and used for flushing the toilet systems in the rooms.

Apart from the temperature of the water, I did have just one criticism as over the bath was a shower for your use, but there was no anti slip bath mat; I questioned this with the owner and she kindly informed me that they only put them in the room at guests requests as if left they get damp and go mouldy.

There is a shaving point and a fitted hair dryer in the bathroom, I used the hair dryer and it was very good it worked better than my own (which I bought with me, just in case). If I had wanted to use my own I would have had to unplug the kettle as that seemed the nearest plug socket to the mirror.

On our second day I tried the shower, the water temperature was perfect for a shower, it was then I realised the problem, as we have the same trouble at home. I have to turn our water temperature up to have a bath and down for the shower as it comes from the combi boiler; So I think they must have it set somewhere in the middle to satisfy both.

~~ Food ~~

We booked in for Bed and Breakfast, but as this is a pub with a restaurant as well we have decided to eat here in the evenings as well, and go out visiting local attractions during the day.

Breakfast: is served daily 7am to 9am Monday to Friday, which for us was great as we will need to eat early and be off on Monday morning. On the weekend it is slightly later and is served between 8am and 9.30am.

We were given a choice of fruit juices, cereals and fruit; followed by a choice of hot breakfasts. You can choose from bacon, sausage, black pudding, hash brown, mushrooms, baked beans, egg (scrambled, poached or fried); you can pick what you like from the list or have them all if you wish. We chose what we wanted from the list, but were a little disappointed in the fact that it was one sausage, one piece of bacon, etc it looked very little on the plate; but it did taste really nice. The next day we were a little cheeky and asked for 2 sausages and 2 pieces of bacon and we got exactly that, so I will have to remember this for future visits.

If you don’t fancy the great British fry up, you have the option of Smoked Haddock with poached egg or Ham with tomatoes on the vine. This is all served with a selection of teas and coffee. Also available is Toast which you can have separate or with your hot breakfast.

There is a selection of daily newspapers laid out on the table for you to read with your morning breakfast if you wish, or to read later sitting around the open fire in the lounge. They will also order you, your own copy of your favourite read if you wish.

Lunch: the restaurant is open for lunches and does provide a lunch menu, which can be seen in full on their web site www.thebayhorsehereford.co.uk . The menu is very similar to the evening menu but is a smaller choice of foods, the prices range from £1.95 – £4.95 for the starters, £5.45 - £14.95 for the main courses and if you still have room for a dessert they will damage your pocket by £3.80 to £4.95. As you can see the food here is not cheap, but it is very tasty.
If you are going out for the day they do offer to do a packed lunch service for £8.95 per person, details of this can be obtained from the reception area if you are interested during your stay.

Evening Meal: there is a large choice of evening meals available covering three courses and a couple of appetisers whilst you peruse the menu. They pride themselves in using local produce in the restaurant, so you know that you are supporting local Hereford farmers.

The menu dons a choice of seven starters ranging from soup of the day (which was apple and celery soup on our first visit) at £3.95 to a prawn cocktail (fresh fish is delivered daily) at £5.25. We didn’t go for a starter so I am unable to comment on the portion sizes or taste.

Main Meals – there is a choice of 27 different main meals, these range from their Specials menu – which includes things like Chicken Alfredo (chunked chicken breast tossed through a white wine sauce with bacon, broccoli, and penne pasta). A selection of other main courses and finally the traditional pub grub which included the mixed grill my hubby and I ate. Prices for main courses currently range from £9.95 to £18.95 depending what you have.

Our mixed grill set us back £15.95 each, for this we had a lamb cutlet, steak, pork loin, gammon, sausage and black pudding which were served with onion rings, pan fried button mushrooms, grilled tomato, chips and peas. The meal was very large, neither my husband nor I were able to finish it, but I am sure that there will be some hearty appetites out there that would manage it. We both had the meat cooked differently, my hubby went for medium to rare and I went for medium to well done; we both got the meat cooked as we requested it. We were both really pleased with our food, it was cooked well and was really tasty, and especially the sausages which were the best I have had in a long time.

The Sunday Evening menu had a small choice on the main meals with a selection of 13 main courses; they informed us that they normally serve evening meals between 5pm and 8pm, but as we would not get back until around 8.30pm they offered to keep the kitchen open that bit longer.

We both choose something different to eat this evening; my hubby went for the traditional Scampi, chips and peas, all were cooked to perfection, he actually raved about the chips; describing them as tasting like roast potatoes, crispy and brownish on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside; just how he likes them.

I went for Harold’s Chicken which was breast of chicken wrapped in bacon with a white wine and sherry sauce (I had read on the previous nights menu it being described slightly different) but either way it tasted delicious, the chicken tasted lovely and tender, the wine and sherry gave the sauce a lovely rich taste, it was creamy but not overly so. It came served with crushed new potatoes and seasonal vegetables; I had carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and Swede in a little side dish with mine. Cooked perfectly for me just past the al dente side and just before they go soft and over cooked. I would definitely eat this again it was very nice.
Desserts: There was a nice selection to choose from I was torn between a choice of three, but I must say I was a little concerned as my taste buds have changed so much since I have been following Paul McKenna ( to help me lose weight) that they may be a little too sweet. Desserts are all at £4.50 each but they are beautifully presented and rather generous portion sizes. You can get a good idea of the menu from this link eat@thebayhorsehereford.co.uk .

Between us we tried the caramel and apple pie with vanilla ice-cream; we were given the option of having the pie hot or cold; we choose to have the pie hot and the ice-cream cold. I was right about it being too sweet for me I only managed a couple of spoonfuls; my hubby loved it especially the ice-cream that had maple and caramel syrup drizzled over it.

They do offer an extensive wine menu to accompany your meal, which you can have by the glass or the bottle. My husband and I choose a large glass of a fruity Chardonnay each which cost us around £3.95 each. You also have a choice of various drinks from the bar, plus teas, coffees etc.
At the end of our meal we had the choice of putting the cost onto our room bill or paying on the evening. We went for the option of paying now as we like to keep an eye on our expenditure and know what is left before we need to re visit the cash machine. We also got a discount on our 2nd visit 5% of the price of our meal, if you present the receipt from your first meal, pretty good as we were eating here for two nights.

~~ Other Items ~~

They do offer the loan of an iron and ironing board should you need it, and if you are staying for a while they will do your washing and drying for a small charge; but obviously you will need to give them at least 24hrs to complete the task.

There are telephones in your rooms, but you can only ring reception or one of the other rooms.

This is an AA 4 star rating hotel; it also has awards for creative cooking with local food – flavours of Herefordshire; Cask Marque – 3 crowns and an AA Dinner Award.

There is a very good taxi service and bus service available to take you into the centre of Hereford.

~~ Where is this lovely hotel ~~

Bay Horse Inn
236 Kings Acre Rd
Hereford
HR4 0SD
Web site - www.thebayhorsehereford.co.uk
Phone no – 01432 273351
Owners: David and Penny Greenall and Helen Morgan
It is 1.5 miles out of the centre of Hereford on the A438 towards Brecon.

~~ Special Needs ~~

Disabled Access – both the rooms and the restaurant cater exceedingly well for all disabilities, not just wheelchair bound users. They used a large font in the welcome book which helps the visually impaired and people with dyslexia as well. I also noted that on their menu they ask if you should suffer from any food allergies then to mention this to the staff on booking so that they can cater for your needs.
I do find this is very thoughtful, so if you have a need that requires some extra attention, by all means mention it, I feel sure they will do what they can to cater for you.

~~ Conclusion ~~

We really enjoyed our stay and any little niggles were soon sorted; I asked about the hot water and was told it was set to reach 65 degrees so I cannot understand why it felt only warm to me; but I do admit I could not get warm myself all through the first day of my visit, so this could well be down to me. Even my request about the anti slip mat was sorted straight away, so I was very impressed with the service.

This is a small family run hotel and the staff they employ have always come across as friendly and helpful throughout our stay; after our days excursions we returned to our room, which was all clean and tidy again, bath towels neatly folded again; bat mat in the bath and our tea and coffee replenished, I appreciate that all good establishments should provide this service as standard, but it is nice to acknowledge it.

I only have the odd little niggle, I did not mention this to the management at the time and I can only assume if they read this, then it may be rectified before you visit; the bathroom could have really done with a small tumbler for when you clean your teeth or need a drop of water in the night. I am sure if I had asked through they would have provided one for me to use. Also a nice touch in hotel rooms is a box of tissues left in the room for the guests to use; this would be a nice gesture.

I would really truly recommend this hotel, it is fresh and modern looking, it is clean and tidy, most of all it is comfortable with very little street noise or pub noise for that matter; I would most definitely stay here again.

The service at this hotel is outstanding; even if you don’t stay here it is well worth a visit to the restaurant, we would recommend both, brilliant.