I believe this establishment needs to make its mind up whether it is a hotel, pub or restaurant. Our visit was on the 1st of October 2024. Four of us (two couples) went for a Sunday afternoon drink (4 o'clock). We took our drinks into the beer garden and sat in the lovely sunshine although, as the late afternoon became cooler, we decided to move inside. We bought our drinks at the bar and found a small table for four with no 'Reserved' notice on it and sat down. We had just got seated when a waitress told us we would have to find another table as the one we were sat at was reserved. I asked if she could find another table for us to move to and she went off to look. However, another older lady, who we took to be the manager, came back and said there were no other available tables and that we should take our drinks and sit outside. I pointed out that we had just come in from the garden and that the table was not designated as being reserved. She simply said it was reserved and that I was being rude arguing with her. This type of incident has happened to us previously at the Royal, once when we arranged to meet family members for a drink and again, on another occasion, when we arranged to meet friends. This establishment should (in my opinion), stop advertising itself as a pub (see Punch Pubs website) . It may be a decent hotel and restaurant but it is certainly not what I would call a 'welcoming, community Pub'. The fact that there are no seats at the bar and that nearly every table seems to be marked as 'Reserved' should be a warning to groups wishing to meet here for a drink. You can (and in our experience, will) be moved in preference to diners even after spending nearly £80.00 on four rounds of drinks. Needless to say, we will not be arranging to meet for drinks at the Royal again. In our country experience, the advertised 'welcoming Pub' was no apparent, due, in part, to the attitude of the, apparently, more senior members of staff.
Very Good
61 Reviews