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Reviews of The Bear Inn

3 out of 5
The Bear Inn
The Bear Inn & Hotel, Alderwasley, Belper, England

Reviews

7.4

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 10 out of 20 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 4 out of 20 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 0 out of 20 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 20 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 4 out of 20 reviews" "

7.8/10

Cleanliness

7.2/10

Staff & service

2.0/10

Amenities

7.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

S

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely place to stay
What a wonderful place to stay! The accommodation was just as described and delightful. The hosts were so helpful and friendly. Food was superb. We'll definitely hope to come back here again!
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Ian

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

David

Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Karen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Sue

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Lorna

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fabulous - new management
Just stayed one night for my birthday and to explore the area. Really easy to find but out in the lovely quiet countryside. shops only 5 minute drive away. Really lovely friendly and informative welcome from Chris the general manager. Lovely clean accommodation and a fab beer garden to enjoy a drink. Breakfast in the morning was really good and all the staff were lovely. We were limited to a burger menu on Thursday evening but we were more than happy with the food we tried. Outside needed a little Tlc but the new manager has plans for this and are already doing great - I absolutely would stay again as its great for exploring that area.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from The Bear Inn on 22 Jul 2023
Thanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed your stay and hope to see you again.

10/10 Excellent

David

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great pub and hotel
Nice pub and hotel, good food and service. I would definitely stay again.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from The Bear Inn on 13 Jul 2023
Thanks for the feedback. Hope to see you again at the Bear.

4/10 Poor

Stuart

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Turned up, the place was shut!
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023
Response from AW on 8 Jun 2023
Thanks for the review. Unfortunately the previous owners closed the business without notice. Under new ownership now, and welcoming guests back to the Bear.

8/10 Good

mrs n

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
The property was good but we were asked to pay for the stay at check in when we had fully paid for our stay when it was booked through Expedia. Hotel told us Expedia will refund us the payment they had collected but we have had to go back and forth between Expedia and the hotel and have been denied the refund. Awful customer service from both the Expedia and the Hotel.

2/10 Terrible

Simon

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Could have so easily been 10/10
The alarm bells should have been ringing when the day before the booking I was contacted by the hotel to tell me that there was an issue with the rooms and that they couldn't do any food. But the offer of being upgraded to a cottage seemed a good alternative which I accepted. It turns out that the cottage is currently the only accommodation available and after speaking to locals I found out why. The land owner purchased the lease off the hotel management team and in the 6 weeks since this has managed to run the business into the ground thanks mainly to sacking experienced staff, staff walkouts and having no business acumen. There is only 1 member of staff who does everything and has to break the news to people who have booked that there is no accommodation or food available. This poor lad made our weekend with his efforts to keep a sinking ship afloat and should a new management team get the lease he'll be a great asset. The locals are a great bunch if you get chance to talk to them in the bar but they don't appreciate how the place is being run into the ground.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

2/10 Terrible

Tom

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Shuts unannounced
Turned up to be told the hotel was closed. A man came and unlocked the door to tell me they had closed and I’d get a refund. I’m still waiting for the refund 3 weeks later. It wasn’t explained why the hotel was shut but I did hear a member of staff on the phone outside talking about ‘thick mould all over’, so maybe it was closed for hygiene issues. Looking on the comments on their Facebook page it sounds like closing unannounced/last minute and staffing issues has become a regular occurrence. I’d just like my refund. I had to may double my initial payment to stay somewhere else local.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

4/10 Poor

Matthew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Chilly, cold and freezing
Winter/early Spring clearly isn't the time of year to visit. The room was freezing and the heating didn't improve that situation much. I booked a room with a king-size bed (as I'm 6'4" and need the length), but my wife and I were provided a room with a double bed. The bar downstairs wasn't much warmer and there must have been some supply issues or something as there was a very limited menu. This place may be a lot better for an average visit, but I can't say much for mine and my wife's experience!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Joke of a place
Went to check in to be told that the hotel should have cancelled my room! They offered my one of their holiday cottages which was a nice cottage but the heating hadn’t been on. By the time I went to bed the room temperature had only reached 13 degrees. The hotel wasn’t even doing food so I had to go out for food. I didn’t dare try ask about breakfast so had to go out and buy this too.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

2/10 Terrible

Jamie

Disliked: Staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

8/10 Good

Philip

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice, slighly quirky country inn.
Nice contry pub, good food, friendly service, the room layout was a bit odd with a huge bathroom housing a bath and a small shower cubicle. The bed seemed to be oddly placed due to it's size and there was no side table due to lack of space, it was however good value.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

8/10 Good

Annick

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

WILLIAM THOMAS

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent stay at this countryside located hotel.
Excellent stay at this historic hotel. Quiet, comfortable, well equipped bedroom. Brilliant breakfast - which was included in the price. Very friendly and hospitable owners and staff. We will be returning!!
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Highly recommended
Lovely country pub, great facilities, clean and smart room. Good food choices and very helpful stuff. Value for money is 5*z
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2022

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Room comfort
Good pub with rooms
We booked a last minute Saturday night stay in a superior room. I paid full price with Hotel.com which in retrospect was about £30 too much, as the room wasn't really very superior, quite small and a missing slat on the bed meant it was a bit lumpy! The bathroom was large but fitted with a tiny shower and small bath which we couldn't really understand (also only got one almost finished loo roll!). However, the hotel's saving grace was the pub and food. We had camembert and fish and chips and both were excellent with good beer and reasonably priced wine. The cooked breakfast was also really well cooked with good quality ingrediants. Dont bother with the continental, it was amusingly bad. The staff were friendly but a bit inefficient. All in all worth a visit for the food and cosy pub atmosphere. I think it probably just needs better management and a bit of TLC
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022