The Bear Hotel — Restaurant in England

We’d booked 6 nights in what we thought was a nice room with a four poster bed, one of their supposedly better rooms It had good reviews on trip advisor and you can only go by what you read. Anyway, as soon as we walked through the door I got that sinking feeling. It looked tired, run down and it was really cold.||We checked in and the fella on reception was quite helpful. The room was spacious but just like downstairs it was tired and looked like it hadn’t been decorated in years. The bathroom felt like you were stepping back into the 1970’s and the bed was really quite small. Again the room was cold and we found that the heating hadn't even been turned on. There was a tiny fan heater that was far too small for the size of the room and as we found out later it would turn itself off within five minutes of being turned on.||The dining area was a rather poorly arranged set of tables set out near the bar. My wife went for the prawn tagliatelle and I went for Roast pork. My wife found that the prawns were over cooked so she couldn’t eat them but my Roast was passable but not great and the wine list was very mediocre.||On getting back to our room we found that it was still cold even though I had turned the fan heater on nearly an hour and a half ago. I took the heater down to reception but couldn’t find anyone there so I went back to the dining area and explained that the heater wasn’t working. The person I spoke to had been the person who had checked us into our room and he said that the hotel was having trouble with the heating and that an engineer was coming the next day. He also said that the reason the heater had turned itself off was that the room had reached the temperature I’d set the heater at. I said that in no way was the room at 22° and that my hands were freezing even though I had a fleece on. Anyway, lo and behold when the fella plugged the heater in it only went and worked! So I took the heater back to our room plugged it in and it came on but a few minutes later it went off again. At this point both my wife and I were regretting booking into this miserable hotel. Anyway, this time my wife went to reception and after about 15 mins she came back with the original heater plus another one without a thermostat. After plugging both of them in they sprang to life but after only a couple of minutes the original heater turned off again.||We had to keep the second heater on all night, which didn’t give us a very good night’s sleep, just to keep the room even slightly warm and getting up in the morning reminded me of being back in the 1960’s when central heating didn’t exist, it was freezing! Anyway I said to my wife that if this wasn’t sorted when we got back from our day out we’d be finding another hotel.||We went down for breakfast which again like dinner was disappointing. We treated ourselves to a fried breakfast but apart from the fried egg everything else tasted like it had been kept warm for far too long, everything was just so dry so another nail in the coffin for the “Thread Bear” hotel.||After we got back to the room from our day out the heating was actually on but the radiator was only lukewarm and the room was at best tepid but who cared we were gone tomorrow. Yes, we’d found a much better hotel during our day out which was only a five minute walk away called the Peppermill. So I went downstairs to give the reception team the bad news that we were checking out which they weren’t too happy about. I could have asked for a refund due to the heating problem but we just wanted to get out of this awful place so that was that.||The other thing was that every time you went out of the front door there was always a pile of pigeon droppings to greet you, how lovely. No one even attempted to clear them up.||There was also a huge hole in the wall in the bar area that had been covered up outside by some muslin and a piece of wood on the inside, so no wonder the bar area was freezing.||I wouldn't recommend this hotel to...

Checking In: What did surprise me was there was no mention of a lift to the first floor by the guy who checked us in, and I was told I would have to go up 20 steps.|When I asked, apparently you have to ask a member of staff to let you into the lift, which is through the ballroom, which they didn't like to do and all the staff would rather watch you struggle going up and down the stairs.|Having asked the girl on the bar if they had any disability rooms she said "They had one which you have to book direct, and also for a room with a shower and they will try and a accommodate you.|Don't go through a booking site, otherwise you will get a very poor room, if you are on a cut price deal, which the girl told me.|WI-FI works well, and the car parking is to the rear of the hotel which is free if you are staying at The Bear. Just give your registration at reception.||The building is very old but at what point does olde world charm become a negative.|For a hotel that has a good reputation like The Bear does, we really wasn't expecting such a shabby room.|The room was very uneven and wonky and the noise insulation was non existent.|The headboards on the bed were dirty which we took them off, otherwise the bedding was clean.|The room was a good size and had everything you wanted in it, tea, coffee, making facilities but small cups. We take are own coffee and tea because there never seems to be enough.|The room itself was tired and needed updating, paint coming off the wall in places and the furniture is old and the drawers are hard to open.|Bathroom: Was clean plenty of hot water, large bath towels only one hand towel, and nice complimentary toiletries.|Only trouble was after asking before hand for a room with a shower, we got a shower over a bath. We didn't book direct.||Breakfast: You help yourself to the usual cereals, fruit, yoghurt and Danish pastries etc. Full English breakfast was excellent, with good quality bacon and sausage.|There was also a good variety of cooked breakfasts you could choice from. Plenty of toast, coffee and tea.||We enjoyed walking around the town, exploring the shops and the surrounding areas.|We really wanted to like The Bear as it was our 30th anniversary while we was there, but unfortunately it didn't live up to either of our expectations.|Sadly we won't...

Very highly recommend! It was Mother's Day and normally Mum and I avoid eating out as generally find places overly busy with the food and the service being below their usual standard. So when we found ourselves in Devizes feeling hungry our hopes and expectations were low, however we couldn't be more wrong. We went into The Bear, they had a table available in their Bistro area even though we'd not booked, Mum had pea ravioli and I had the veggie roast dinner, both dishes were wonderful and as we both had food envy of the others dish we had a bit of each others and we're disappointed. The service was outstanding, probably the best I've had in a long time anywhere and the fact it was on Mother's Day amazes me. Mum was given a Mother's Day card with a 10% off voucher for a return trip. While this was a really pleasant surprise it was just another example of how well looked after we were. The atmosphere was just the right mix of relaxed but special. The decor was very nice, tables clean, toilets clean. After great meals, great service, I had one very happy Mum and that makes me very happy too. Thank you to the team at The Bear for a fantastic and...