The Horseshoe & Castle — Restaurant in England

The Horseshoe and Castle is the last place you’d expect to find after driving the unforgiving gravelled roads in between Cooling RSPB areas. It was our destination for the night of a family wedding at Cooling Castle Barn which is just 10 minutes walk away. (though ensure you have the correct footwear to deal with the conditions as the roads are narrow with trenches on either side.) ||We arrived an hour and a half early but we’re still given a strong welcome and the key to our room. Going through the back door to the steep staircase and up to our room with en-suite. ||The room was delightful. Beautifully decorated bay window room with real wood furniture and a huge comfy bed. Tea and coffee making facilities, a welcome basket with slippers, shower hoods, fresh milk, biscuits and home bottled water included. The en-suite has everything you need but is tiny! The toilet has been squeezed in to the tightest space so if you’re bigger than the National average size, you’re going to struggle. ||Being so early, we decided to head into the bar for a light bite before the wedding. Extensive menu on offer, all of which read well. We opted for loaded fries and explained to the lady behind the bar we were on a time restraint. Handmade fully loaded pulled pork fries arrived fifteen minutes later, wonderfully fresh and steaming hot. My husband had a pint, I had a decaffinated latte. Total bill @£ 17. The landlord was buzzing around prepping for the day but stopped to chat about the pub and it’s decor. Great bloke with a dry sense of humour and very welcoming! ||Not too late a night as we were up early to drive home so when we got back to the pub, there were a good amount of customers in the bar. We took a pint and a coffee up to our room and settled in for the night. ||I’m pleased to say that even though the rooms are above the bar, there was minimal noise or disruption to our nights’ sleep, which overall was comfy, though personally, we’d both have preferred firmer pillows. ||The breakfast is served later than most other places we’ve stayed and seemingly only over an hour. ||We told the landlord we’d be leaving prior to their breakfast times as Christmas traffic (with train strikes) was going to impact on our already 5 1/2 hr journey home. Our choice to leave early and so no expectations, but we weren’t offered an earlier time to eat or even a packed breakfast bun for the journey. Couldn’t help feeling a tad disappointed at this lack of service. ||On the whole, The Horseshoe and Castle is a quaint Inn with a reasonable price point for the south. In need of some decorating and attention to detail in places but the staff, food and atmosphere are warm, welcoming and comfortable....

The Horseshoe and Castle is the last place you’d expect to find after driving the unforgiving gravelled roads in between Cooling RSPB areas. It was our destination for the night of a family wedding at Cooling Castle Barn which is just 10 minutes walk away. (though ensure you have the correct footwear to deal with the conditions as the roads are narrow with trenches on either side.) ||We arrived an hour and a half early but we’re still given a strong welcome and the key to our room. Going through the back door to the steep staircase and up to our room with en-suite. ||The room was delightful. Beautifully decorated bay window room with real wood furniture and a huge comfy bed. Tea and coffee making facilities, a welcome basket with slippers, shower hoods, fresh milk, biscuits and home bottled water included. The en-suite has everything you need but is tiny! The toilet has been squeezed in to the tightest space so if you’re bigger than the National average size, you’re going to struggle. ||Being so early, we decided to head into the bar for a light bite before the wedding. Extensive menu on offer, all of which read well. We opted for loaded fries and explained to the lady behind the bar we were on a time restraint. Handmade fully loaded pulled pork fries arrived fifteen minutes later, wonderfully fresh and steaming hot. My husband had a pint, I had a decaffinated latte. Total bill @£ 17. The landlord was buzzing around prepping for the day but stopped to chat about the pub and it’s decor. Great bloke with a dry sense of humour and very welcoming! ||Not too late a night as we were up early to drive home so when we got back to the pub, there were a good amount of customers in the bar. We took a pint and a coffee up to our room and settled in for the night. ||I’m pleased to say that even though the rooms are above the bar, there was minimal noise or disruption to our nights’ sleep, which overall was comfy, though personally, we’d both have preferred firmer pillows. ||The breakfast is served later than most other places we’ve stayed and seemingly only over an hour. ||We told the landlord we’d be leaving prior to their breakfast times as Christmas traffic (with train strikes) was going to impact on our already 5 1/2 hr journey home. Our choice to leave early and so no expectations, but we weren’t offered an earlier time to eat or even a packed breakfast bun for the journey. Couldn’t help feeling a tad disappointed at this lack of service. ||On the whole, The Horseshoe and Castle is a quaint Inn with a reasonable price point for the south. In need of some decorating and attention to detail in places but the staff, food and atmosphere are warm, welcoming and comfortable....

This rustic lovely pub, restaurant and hotel is perfectly located a walking distance from the Cooling Barn wedding venue. The hotel has check in/check out times to accommodate popular wedding times. As soon as we arrived, we were met by the friendly staff, it felt like we had arrived at a home away from home. Stuart checked us in, top bloke, and the bar/restaurant had great friendly staff, Sarah, Honey, and Hannah that really impressed. We stayed in the cottage for 3 nights, (minimum stay 2 nights for the cottage) located at the rear of the main building with its own entrance. Literally 20 steps from the restaurant and car park. The cottage is self contained with a bathroom/shower over bath and toilet, a second walk in shower room with toilet, kitchen (with fridge and microwave), lounge, private outdoor court yard, and the main bedroom with cupboard. Ample of room and very private facility. Just a few improvements needed here, needs hand wash in the main bathroom, the temperature control for the downstairs shower was very hot and couldn’t be cool. An electrical socket in the main bedroom was very loose when pulling a plug out. No air conditioning here but a large tower fan is provided. No WI-FI found in the cottage but excellent Wi-Fi in the main building. I tethered from my phone when in the cottage. Could definitely benefit from extending the Wi-Fi to the cottage. The food and drinks are reasonably priced and the restaurant and bar service is 5 star. Massive selection of beers and drinks, I enjoyed a Leffe and their very reasonably priced port. The food came large and quality, very tasty and always fresh. Breakfast is nice with ample choice between the full English to the egg muffin choices with smoked salmon/bacon etc. The dinners were tasty, I recommend the chicken teriyaki skewers and the linguine or steak. Well worth staying for dinner 1 night or more. The village is small and surrounded by the countryside. No shops or anything which adds to the charm. This pub is truly the hub of the village. If you have a wedding over in Cooling Barn, this will be your best bed and breakfast, and dinner for a extended stay, for charm, service and no taxis required! A special place, the...