The Bell Inn — Hotel in Cheltenham

I booked a "Deluxe Double Room" to use as a stop-over on our journey to Cornwall from the Midlands. Google maps failed miserably and we ended up on a mystery tour of the one way system of Cheltenham. After eventually stumbling across the pub which is quite small (again no thanks to Google maps) we discovered that there were no spaces available in the on-street parking bays adjacent so I ended up parking on double yellows and later moved the car once a space became available, in fairness the description on booking.com did describe the parking as non- reservable but it does make things a bit of a pain. On arrival a very friendly young lady greeted us and led us up several flights of stairs to our room which rather strangely had no door handle on the outside? This made closing and locking the door when we later went out for a stroll in search of a meal a bit of a conundrum to say the least. The room itself was clean but not exactly what I'd describe as being "deluxe," the floor was very uneven (but then it is an old building) and the decor was basic and a little tired. The door between the small bathroom and the bedroom was a plastic concertina affair - a bit less than ideal really. In the bathroom as you'd expect there was toilet, a basin and a small shower cubicle and some toiletries and towels were provided. The double bed was clean and fairly comfortable, the rest of the furnishings were basic and there was no wardrobe, instead there was hanging space on a simple rail across an alcove. A kettle, mugs, coffee and tea were provided. After we'd looked around we went down into the pub for a pint and there was an extensive choice of good beers. The pub itself is a traditional old fashioned local, a "drinkers pub" you might say, like pubs used to be back in the day (a good thing) and it seemed popular with the locals. The location itself is within an easy five minute walk to lots of other traditional pubs and many fast food outlets. It's also perfect if you want to visit possibly the noisiest branch of Spoons in the UK which I would recommend you avoid at all costs unless you are under twenty and/or happen to like what the kids of today laughingly describe as "music."

All in all our one night stay at the Bell was peaceful and the £90 price tag for the room does reflect the fact that the pub is in affluent and touristy Cheltenham.

Would I visit again? For a few pints yes, but...

Lovely welcome from barmaid who took me to the room.||||Room 1 was rather large for one person. You enter into a small lobby, which has the bathroom off it and through another door in to the bedroom. There is no net curtain or curtain on the large window in this lobby, so passing through the lobby from the bedroom for the toilet in the night means getting fully dressed!||||The bathroom has an enormous bath in it plus a double-sized shower. Bathroom is tastefully decorated but I didn’t appreciate other people’s hair on the floor.||||The bedroom had a double bed and a single bed in it, plus there was a folded put-you-up single bed in there. The carpet wasn’t thread-bare but was coming to the end of life. The curtains were very pale and with street lights shining brightly, it made for quite a bright room. The TV stand had a broken shelf and the TV remote was falling to pieces. Due to the windows, all street noise could be heard but I did not hear any noise from the pub downstairs. Bedding and towels were spotlessly clean.||||I stayed in the pub for evening meal which was well cooked, tasty and an absolute bargain for £15 for two courses and a drink. Again, served by nice staff.||||Breakfast was in the back room of the pub which smelled of cat urine and a cat sat watching me for the whole time I was in there! The breakfast was simple but well cooked and good quality ingredients. Again, served by pleasant staff.||||This isn’t the Ritz but is a fair stay at a fair price run by staff who are kind and who seem to do their best to make you...

Being just off the upper high street it is ideal for popping into town without the bustle of being right in the center. I doesn't try to be a posh hotel and why should it? It has friendly helpful staff and large clean rooms. The room we stayed in (room 1) is directly over the bar so we were expecting some noise but it was surprisingly quiet, though this was a Tuesday night. The on-suite bathroom is huge and has a bath and shower. The full English breakfast was excellent with good quality bacon, sausages, eggs and black pudding. There was even Marmite in the jams selection. This is looking to become our regular stopover when...