Black Bull — Restaurant in England

We stayed here for 1 night as other nearby places were booked up. The hotel looks nice from the outside but is a bit dark & dated inside. We were welcomed straight away & shown to our room but this was the last time we saw a member of staff. The room was a decent size but again was quite dated, it was clean but not spotless and the milk sachets provided were out of date. A full English breakfast is advertised as being included in the price and menus and breakfast order forms were provided in our room however we were informed by other guests that no food was available at all, we should have really been told this by the staff on arrival. Had an ok night's sleep but not great, if you're after a quiet night then it's probably not the place for you. No staff were to be seen in the morning and the pub was all locked up so we just left room keys on the side and left via the back door. We went to the Pennine Inn just down the road for our breakfast - would highly recommend this and book earlier for a room there in future. The Black Bull was adequate for a night but I wouldn't stay again, definitely not worth £100 plus, horrendously overpriced for what we got. Hopefully the new owners can turn it around as the Kirkby Stephen area itself is lovely and...

I stayed here as I was working in the location. When I asked what time breakfast was, I was informed that it was 08:00 - 10:00. As I needed to set off earlier than that I asked if it was possible for some jogurt and some fruit. I was told that "we don't have that, we only do cooked breakfast".🤔 There was no offer of getting me either, even though there was a supermarket just a 5 minute walk away. I don't know about you, but when I am paying over £100 for a room for one night. I think an option for breakfast should be made available. I had to go out and buy my own breakfast from the nearby supermarket. Not good. The bedroom is basic and the bathroom was dated. Several of the tiles have been replaced with a plaster patch and then painted over. I also felt that the staircase up to the rooms was dirty. I found that the room was noisy from the bar below, so if you wanted a quiet early night, no chance. I feel that because the hotel is on the Coast to Coast route, that business must come easy as there are limited places to stay. Would I stay again or recommend, probably NO. That said choice is limited. I didn't eat, so can't comment on the food.

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• UPDATE: a year on a still no refund or contact from the owner. AVOID *

Looks like a lovely pub, but hugely let down by its slow (I mean s.l.o.w.) service. Two avocado toast and a kids pizza took 70mins to come out. When it came out the avocado toast and eggs were cold.

I mean, with the amount of people traveling through Kirkby Stephen I’d imagine a 70min wait during a quick stopover is not what you’re looking for.

Asked for a refund and was offered part refund because we’d already eaten the food (which was cold and out late, so didn’t really have a choice with hangry kids). When it came to issuing the refund the barmaid then told us it was not possible to give a refund via the till, so I would have to email the owner to get a refund. Never in my life have I seen a POS system that cannot give a refund in a pub. Utterly amazed.

Just emailed Michael Crane for a refund, we’ll see if that actually happens. Might reconsider my review depending on...