The Ilchester Arms — Restaurant in England

If you're considering staying overnight at the Ilchester Arms, bear in mind that most of the five-star reviews you see here are for the food not the rooms. The food is excellent, but the rooms are a bit less inspiring. There's a definite 1980s feel, although patchily updated (for instance, old and tatty wooden single glazed windows with a new efficient secondary glazing, which I was very grateful for on one of the coldest nights of the year, or a mostly modern bathroom attached to the unrenovated room, but with an old-school rubber mat provided instead of a non-slip shower floor... it's an odd mix of old and relatively new.) ||The bed was OK, the other furnishings had seen better days, the random placement of electric sockets was offset by an extension lead kindly being provided. (There's a mini ironing board and iron, very helpfully, but finding how and where to plug it in is a challenge.) ||There's also tea and coffee in the room. I had assumed that any place like this would also provide basic toiletries like shampoo and shower soap, but that wasn't the case (although please note I don't know if this was normal or just an oversight - I spotted it too late to go down and ask). ||The biggest challenge to a comfortable night though is the noise. Other reviewers have noted the noise from the street and neighbouring establishments if you're at the front of the building. If you're at the back, it's the lack of soundproofing in the walls and floor that means you can hear conversations not only from the rooms either side, but also from the bar area underneath you. That goes on until the staff leave late at night, long after locking up. ||Set against all of this was the charming and friendly welcome and the very good breakfast. Overall, when next in the area, I would consider staying again if I could find a good room rate, and I would just remember to bring my earplugs and my own...

Well what can I say, I held my wedding reception here this week and after been let down not once but twice before by other venues the staff at the Ilchester Arms were just fantastic, they were extremely accommodating, reassuring me everything was being dealt with when I got any sort of worries. very flexible when I changed things around a little.

I can't recommend The Ilchester Arms enough on the night the staff were friendly and helpful and took things at our pace there wasn't any rush to do things like speeches or the first dance it was really chilled and just a completely wonderful evening. All staff members were very tolerable of my son who has special needs without any prior warning to them at all helping tie his shoelace and dancing with him and completely accepting of his screaming without so much as a complaint.

My new husband and I stayed the night along with some of our family and friends and not a bad word was said in the morning about anything everyone was very pleased with their rooms. The beds were so comfortable and the rooms were clean and bright.

The food was honestly to die for and also some specially prepared for a child with a dairy allergy everyone told us how tasty the food was and breakfast in the morning was also incredible.

Also flexible after a friend of ours broke his knee the night before and they asked to move rooms which was no bother to the staff at all.

The Ilchester Arms is definitely and highly recommended by us and our family and friends.

thank you so much to all of the staff for making our night one to remember will...

I stayed here for two weeks while on a conference. Check in was quick and easy. They asked when I would like breakfast and noted it. They handed me the keys to the room and information about WiFi and the hotel. The room was nice with a desk and a smart TV which allowed me to connect to my Netflix, which was definitely appreciated. The room had radiators which could be turned down/up which gave me control of the temperature of the room. The bed was very comfortable and allowed for brilliant nights sleep. The shower was not the most powerful but got the job done, the en suit was a little small but not terrible and so I do not look at is as a negative. The breakfasts were delicious and flexible, they ask you what you would like and how you would like them cooked and never took long to come out, the portions were decent too. The restaurant dinners in the evenings were excellent! The food was some of the best I've ever had and not too expensive. Overall I had an absolutely fantastic time staying here and would highly recommend it! If you like friendly staff and a comfortable nights sleep then look no further, the Ilchester Arms is the...