The Kicking Dickey — Restaurant in Uttlesford

I stayed here on Saturday June 27th as a single occupant in their twin room. I paid £45 for bed and breakfast. Upon my arrival the landlord asked if I would be so kind as to write a review of my experience, so here it is. I hope my review is helpful to him and other people considering staying here

1. When he asked for the review he went on to talk about other local establishments stating they had poor reviews but his standards were high. I dont think he should have said anything at all, it is not good to talk about the competition and belittle them.

2. While at the bar the subject of the issues at Calais came about, with respect to the North African migrants trying to get into the UK. The landlord was particularly expressive in his view, and all be it a very popular view, I dont want to be aware of his political beliefs. I was there to relax and not to hear "we shouldnt let them in, we need to send the lot back" type of rhetoric.

3. I was taken to my room by the landlady, it was round the back. The beer garden seemed fine and then we walked into their back yard, past the weeds growing in the yard, passed the ventilator spewing out the smells of chip fat, but we didnt go as far as the fallen stack of beer crates.

4. The room itself was self contained, it was a little cramped but it was perfectly fine for a night. One of the beds was not very comfortable at all, the mattress was on its last legs. The window did have nets so I didnt have to look onto the yard. The bathroom was spacious and fairly clean except from grime in the shower door. There wasn't any bathroom supplies like shower gel, but they had plenty of towels.

5. The landlady was very polite and said they were available 24 hours if I needed them, which was helpful to know.

6. I paid for bed and breakfast and this place is a pub restaurant so I was expecting something like the option of cereals or perhaps a sausage/bacon sandwich. However breakfast was already in my bedroom, a carton of orange juice, tea/coffee facilities and a Penguin chocolate cake. I can't say I was impressed.

7. When I left in the morning around 10am, there was no access to the pub/restaurant. I couldnt say good bye and I had no one to hand my key to. I did though see a cook had arrived for work in their kitchen and explained to him where the key was.

Overall considering the area £45 was probably top end of what I would expect to pay. My night was comfortable, I slept well and there was little noise. Partly because the pub was empty all night. I think if I had paid £35 it would have better reflected my stay.

Hopefully the landlord reads the review and learns from it. There was nothing massively wrong, and only small changes need to be made so a nice stayed...

My review is purely for the hotel/rooms, as I didn't eat there. I booked to stay overnight before an early flight from Stansted. I slept so little, that it was a complete waste of money. I'd have been better off staying at home and waking up at 2am.

The negatives: Extremely uncomfortable mattress, like another recent reviewer, I slept on top of the duvet. My room with a single glazed window faced onto a yard, where the staff and kitchen (but not customers) were making noise until late. You won't be able to sleep until at least the pub closing time, as they have no respect for people sleeping just a short distance away. Around midnight, a member of staff was throwing glass bottles into a bin, which woke me up after I managed to finally get to sleep. Noise from some sort of extractor/air con unit in the yard outside the room woke me up multiple times after midnight, which came on at random times during night and was extremely noisy. Even with ear plugs, this noise continued to wake me up. The bathroom extractor fan was noisy and you could hear next door's. Sewerage smell in bathroom that made me feel sick each time I went in there. All the silicone in the shower needs redoing; it was visibly mouldy. You have to walk past kitchen extractor (chip oil smell) to reach room and for this reason, you can't leave the bedroom window open for any significant period of time, so the room was very hot. No proper welcome from the staff, just told there's no breakfast. The WiFi password on a sign in the room didn't work. No hooks to hang a coat or chair to place them on the back of, just an old bar stool to sit on.

The positives: Location good for Stansted Airport. Free car parking. Generous tea and coffee tray, with a carton of...

I visited this place in the late summer of 2017 in the company of about half a dozen cyclists on my monthly 'Taking the Peaceful Route' ride. We were exploring the Flitch Way, a former railway line between Braintree and Bishop's Stortford and had been given a right old run around on our train assist into deepest Essex, so when we arrived at Great Dunmow we were more than unusually hungry. Our party included a vegan and a vegetarian, so our needs were more complex than usual, but this place took our demands in their stride. We were soon seated in their quiet and cozy garden, chatting to a few locals, and enjoying the pleasures of a sunny day. Our food arrived promptly, was well cooked and of good quality, so the only reason I dropped off a star was because there wasn't enough of it! Cycling is hungry work, and I was not the only one who who left the table feeling...