The Boat Inn — Restaurant in England

Hostile landlady with a narcissistic attitude.

Despite the name and location, you will not be welcome to enjoy the river Wye here at The Boat Inn Pub & Restaurant - Whitney-on-Wye

We had arranged a day out with the Canoe to enjoy the picturesque route from Whitney-on-Wye to Preston-on-Wye on the River Wye as recommended by Environment Agency Wales and Herefordshire Council in the book "Wye Canoe?: Canoeist Guide to the River Wye" - Great Book

We arrived early with the plan to launch here and later return for a nice hearty pub lunch and to collect our van. However after preparing our gear and unloading the Canoe off the van roof the landlady approached us and confidently stated that along with the pub she owned this particular stretch of the river and the public highway we had drove on (A438). We were then asked to pay for (and I quote) "the privilege of Canoeing on the river as the Boat Inn is not a launching site". Despite no signage anywhere stating this.

After paying £10 she then began to question us why we wanted to Canoe on the river on such 'dangerous weather' (19c Overcast , some light showers and 12 MPH winds). The route is a grade 1 difficulty (easiest).

When we replied that we don't mind getting rained on as it is forecast to be sunny by midday she retorted with a vile "Well when you drown, i'll be selling your van on eBay!"

This was the end of our interactions with her as she walked off laughing. We carried on to have a lovely and safe day on the water, as did many others we encountered on the water. Later we returned to collect our van and decided to drive 10 minutes further up the road and have a lunch in Hay-on-Wye.

It's no surprise that this is a recurring theme of complaints on TripAdvisor. You may also find it revealing to see the negative reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed of how the staff are also treated...

Very unsure where to even begin

Came in midday after searching various different pubs we seen pictures of there food online and thought we would give them a go!

We sat down the place was full of flies the miserable staff came over to take our order didn’t even say anything when we placed the order just walked off.. most bizzare

Food came out …. £10 for a beef baguette that was so dry it was like Ghandis flip flops. In fact I would of rather being eating the flip flops . All the other food was about on par with the baguettes. Then throughout the meal there were staff members walking round with out tops on and various customers standing at the bar dripping wet from there canoe sessions. To even state this place is a (pub) is a disgrace it’s a cafe if that!

We finished the boring and bland food . Raised the issue with who seemed like the manager .. who then rudely runs out to the back to get the chef to come out to explain to us how chips have gone up in price from he’s supplier and same for the topside of beef . Absolutely rubbish just a poor run (pub)…(cafe) embarrassing to be honest spent £90 all in all night aswel of went to the local spar down the road and had a sandwich from there with a short date life it would of been just as good. Really sorry for bad review but just shocking place.

The best part of it was the staff member who seemed like the (manager) said the roast dinners were there main concern to get out quick and didn’t seem bothered about what ever else was on the menu 😑

Just avoid at all cost…… grab your lunch from the spar down the road. You will probably get more for your money 💯 if you like butter on baguettes ..then your in for a treat the butter they are so generous…. It’s mounted on there .. the size of Egyptian pyramids

I have to...

I went to The Boat Inn as a nice day out with my Grandma which we were both looking forward to. We arrived and found a table outside then were almost immediately asked if we wanted a lunch menu to which we said yes. No menu was given to us for about 5 minutes despite us asking 2 other people. When we were given our menu’s, we decided what we wanted and waited for at least 10 minutes to be served but ended up having to go inside to order after not being asked for our order even though 2 waitresses walked past us. We didn’t wait long for our food but when it came the chips weren’t properly cooked and the lasagna was only a pile of mince with a cheesy top- i was able to see 1 pasta sheet throughout the whole lasagna- not only this but it was also burnt on the sides. When it came to paying, i received the receipt and immediately noticed that it wasn’t correct. The food was correct but i noticed it said ‘1 latte, 1 americano’ when we ordered a 1-shot latte and water. I raised the issue to the staff after going back outside to double check and when speaking to the waitress who took our order she’s said we ordered ‘a latte with and extra shot’. This would’ve been seen as an easy misunderstanding but when it was emphasised that we only wanted a 1-shot latte (and no question was asked when taking the order) I couldn’t really excuse it. I was then refunded for the £2.90 that they decided to charge us for the [incorrect] extra shot of coffee. We were both severely disappointed with the outcome of our meal, the only redemption being the view of the river. Fair to say that neither of us will be returning. New waitresses need to be employed as well...