Anchor Inn — Restaurant in East Devon

3 day stay cut to 16 hrs . No Staff , no food , no hope .

Booked for a 3 day stay via booking .com paid £100 for cattery used up favors from freinds to feed rabbit's and water the garden , fuel up the car , packed all the holiday stuff etc etc , and looked forward to our first break away in over 2 years . All this only to be utterly disappointed with our choice of the Anchor Inn , first impressions were not good as at reception a 6ft tall poster advertising a recruitment day for Chefs, serving and front of house staff greated us and when booking us in we were asked if we were eating in that evening and if so what time ? which struck us as a bit odd . Alighting the stairs to our room which were steep and not for the infirm with worn out paint on the hand rails that were sticky to the touch our bad choice was becoming obvious only to be confirmed when the room itself was under furnished and what was there had been so for some time with a chipped painted table threads hanging out of the 2 chairs and some alarming wiring to the towel rail . After unpacking we decided to see what Beer has to offer and on our return only then did we notice a photo coped sign in the pub window which informed us that as of May 3rd the Anchor Inn will not be serving food Tuesdays or Wednesday's it was only at this point did we realise we had basically been somewhat stiffed. This was Tuesday 10th one full week after the poster date and we were only staying untill Friday, we had received 2 emails confirming our reservation and none of them mentioned the lack of food at the inn If this had been the case we would have definitely cancelled as the whole point of staying in catered accommodation is being able to eat in after a day out . Anyhow we decided to eat in as it was offerd to guests and that im afraid is what put the tin hat on it , only ourselves and one other couple were present who were ordering at the time we were siting and it was clear that the choices were limited , my sausage and mash was ok but my wife ordered mac n cheese which was off also missing in action were Lasagne, scotch egg , hunters chicken etc etc in the end some limp nachos with microwaved cheese had to suffice. After touring Beer once more which doesn't take long back to the Anchor for a drink only to be told we are closing soon , and so it was 9.20 pm pub closed So that was it next morning after breakfast full English which was nice we checked out 16 hrs after arriving.

The staff were friendly as helpful as possible and are obviously doing thier best under difficult circumstances , this could be a flagship pub in a prime seaside location with great views and food and obviously once was but under Green King ownership it has been strangled by cooperate bean counters i fear there is no hope or much future for the Anchor inn.

GREEN KING ESTABLISHMENT'S WILL GET NO MORE...

Booked a 2 night stay with my partner and two dogs. We have a poorly dog (we didn't know before we went away) who unfortunately had two small bed - wetting accidents. We were absolutely mortified, especially with this out of character behaviour. We apologised over and over as we asked for new bed sheets, only to receive a knock on the door telling us we needed to leave at once as the dog's behaviour was unacceptable. or the police would be called. I understand that accidents happen but to then go on a wild goose chase looking for the manager for half an hour, who then after a long aggressive debate with me declared that I was a bad person for the behaviour of the dogs and that I shouldn't have brought them away if they were untrained. Furthermore she made it clear that if she was in my situation she would have been responsible and put them in doggy day care if my plan was to neglect them. Her tone was plain rude, aggressive and hostile - the total opposite of what you would expect from a hospitable land lady. I've worked in the industry for fifteen years and I have never been spoken to like that before, or been made to feel like a criminal. After being made to feel harassed and unwelcome my partner and I packed our bags and left early, feeing like we had no choice but to drive back in the heat, for five hours with the dogs. I understand that accidents happen, and there was never an issue with paying for the accident - but the way in which the situation was approached and dealt with was abysmal. If you're not prepared for accident then don't be a dog friendly hotel.

Furthermore we did eat breakfast here, I wouldn't bother. My partner's veggie breakfast was undercooked and my eggs royale had so much sauce on it, it may as well...

We had a comfortable stay at the Anchor room was clean ... adjoining bathroom also. We had dinner and breakfast the following morning. Nothing terrible to say but with an almost perfect situation on the seafront at Beer ... it could be more. So four stars for being 'OK'.... for having friendly staff and being a nice refuge from a wet and windy night!

Here's a few thoughts on what would have made it a 5 star review!!

Food .... I've eaten here a few times over the years... you could describe the fare as "Wetherspoons Plus" the usual breaded fish, chicken and burgers, probably what most people prefer but with fresh locally caught fish on sale within 100 meters it would be so nice to see one or two offerings that reflect that.

Wine ... perfectly nice pinot Grigio but at around £25.00 per bottle it's a bit on the steep side.

Breakfast additional to room price at £12.00 with a choice of continental or cooked ok.

Accommodation.

Very nice large bath. The shower gel dispenser awkwardly sited away from the shower unit and too high to reach in the bath!! Bathroom door hinges had a "Halloween " grade creak... not what you want if you use the bathroom in the small hours! Resorted to smearing some shower gel on the hinges which fixed the problem but really ...you don't get rusty hinges like that in one day...

Bedroom: Comfortable with a good view of the beach and sea. TV only has freeview. No welcome pack to be seen. Tea and coffee OK.

So overall a nice place to stay. The menu could be more interesting and some aspects of the accommodation need a bit of...