The Joiners Arms

My husband and I stayed here in "The Aln" for 2 nights in May. It was supposed to be 3 nights, but we were so disgusted with the state of the room that we checked out early and came home. The room is tiny, with sloping ceilings as it is in the eaves of the "Joiner's Den" next door to the main pub. My husband, who is 6' 1"tall, could only stand upright in the centre of the room, (which was of course occupied by the bed), or in the bathroom. The room was claustrophobically small, very dark with little natural light and extremely tired, dusty and grubby. There was dust on all the surfaces, the lights did not work properly and kept dimming themselves which was rather disconcerting. As there was only one small window and a tiny skylight , it would have been preferable if the room had been decorated in light colours, instead it was brown wood panelling or black emulsion in the area round the bath. In fact it was so dark in there that it was only on the second day that we noticed the badly chipped enamel bath had two inches of water in the bottom, obviously left by a previous occupant. This confirmed our overall impression of grubbiness, because if the room had been thoroughly cleaned whoever did it would have noticed the drainage problem with the bath. As a result, it had become unusable and a pointless waste of space. The single cupboard in the room was painted black inside, so again it was very difficult to see what was in there. In fact there was a general shortage of anywhere to hang clothes or put your things. There were some good points, the Wifi worked well, the bathroom,although tired and shabby had a lovely powerful, walk-in shower. Breakfasts were good, with none of the chaos other guests seem to have noted, but that may have been because we came down early, desperate to get out of the cramped room! We had dinner in the pub one night and the food was fine, but the service was chaotic and very poor. The young staff, who were friendly and cheerful, seemed to think you were invisible after they served the main course and kept wandering past avoiding eye contract which made getting coffee and the bill very tedious - good luck if you want to order pudding ! One other point to be aware of is that there is no on-site parking and hotel guests have to use the public car park about 200 yards up the road. In spite of making our concerns known to staff during our stay, we have had no contact so far from the hotel. All in all, I cannot recommend the Joiner's Arms as somewhere to stay.

Booked for Sunday lunch and very happy with staff, pub and area, found the staff to be very attentive and friendly, pub seemed nice and clean, ordered 3 meat roasts and when they arrived I thought the portions were slightly small, how wrong could I be, filled up with a very tasty meal, if anything temperature could of been slightly higher, big downside for us was price of drinks, 1 x moretti and double vodka with mixer was £17.50 !!! Only ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for us

Booked a last minute stay at the Castle View Cottage. Firstly, the cottage (actually a bungalow) is behind the pub in a cul de sac which isn’t an issue but first impressions of the property are not good. Narrow, worn out driveway, broken guttering, lawn that looks as though it has not been cut this year, mole hills in the garden, a run down garden shed. Inside, the property is clean but signs of general wear and tear, although the old bird poo on the kitchen window could have been cleaned off! Beds are clean but not the comfiest beds in the world, every creek is heard! Most of the internal doors don’t shut, the bathroom lock doesn’t work, all the furniture seems to be a mish-mash, uncomfortable main sofa. Only one coat hanger in main bedroom. Mould in second bedroom and a dusty lamp shade. A spacious property for a family stay but won’t be returning unless the property is given some TLC.

Called in for drinks sat at the bar asked if I could order a hot snack in which I did but was told couldn’t eat the bar only at a table which wasn’t a problem, but then I noticed a couple sat at the bar who had ordered food which was delivered to the bar were they ate it, no consistency One rule for one one rule for another. They obviously knew the Barman?

Lovely stay. Room was beautiful, very spacious and we were able to check in earlier than planned which was a bonus as we were attending a wedding at Newton Hall and therefore were able to get ready in the room.

We went here to do a wedding menu tasting for a Newton Hall wedding later in the year, and the food was excellent, great portion sizes, speedy servings and above & beyond service by the wonderful Kevin. Would certainly recommend to anyone in the area! :)

We have stayed here before and love the pub and location. Sadly this time we were placed in the ‘Coquet’ room in the joiner’s den. There was a terrible and putrid smell coming from the drain in the shower. I had to close the bathroom door but as soon as it was opened it came into the room. I appreciate this is an old building and had been beautifully restored…but you can’t leave this drainage like this. It really spoiled our stay. I wouldn’t stay in a ground floor room again.

We stayed in “the aln” room in the adjacent joiners den. Unfortunately this room is tired and not cleaned to a five star standard. There was great big chips coming off the bath, areas of wall missing plaster need patching and painting, the sink had toothpaste in it from a previous guest and it was dusty. For the price, I would have expected perfection in cleanliness and any wear and tear addressed. Pub itself the food was nice but it was understaffed and breakfast was chaotic. As this was our first night away after having our daughter I did expect slightly more. Must be said all staff were pleasant despite been rushed off their feet and the food was good, just a bit gutted the room didn’t match.

We stayed in Sandwood Bay room for one night. The plan was to enjoy the beach walks, have a celebration dinner and stay over in a cosy pub and this is exactly what we got. The service from Tom, Maz and the rest of the team was faultless and we were made to feel very welcome. The pub,has a lovely atmosphere so it was a really enjoyable evening with delicious food and cocktails. Sandwood Bay is a lovely room above the bar with views in the distance to the sea. It picks up some noise from the bar so it could trouble a light sleeper. Free wifi and a free off site car park just a short stroll away. We are looking forward to coming back