Bel and the Dragon-Kingsclere

Bel and the dragon Kingsclere had very friendly and helpful staff. The room was great, and the dinner and breakfast were delicious, all in all it was a tremendously reasonably priced stay and very comfortable. Highly recommended. hank you.

Booked for a celebration lunch several weeks back and also emailed later that it was for a special occasion and was advised that it would be added to the ‘booking notes’. If travelling here by car do be advised parking is a nightmare! The hotel car park was full as was the car park in Anchor Yard, street parking is 1 hour only, might be helpful to flag this up somewhere on the website and suggest alternatives for those not familiar with the area. We arrived before our allocated two hour slot and shown to our table, a good sign was the linen napkins, not so good the tired wiped out table top. Service was ok, disappointed with some of the food served. Fish and chips were ok albeit not the most generous of portions but I do appreciate it was a lunchtime serving. The ‘today special’ dish of pan fried salmon was ok but the ‘crushed potatoes’ served with it were dry on the inside, either old or low quality potato, some undercooked and not that hot. The dish would also have benefited from some green vegetables, this was neither suggested or offered when ordering which would have been a good idea as it would have completed the dish. The roasted pork belly again wasn’t very hot, the accompanying apple purée didn’t do it justice, home made would have been better. The triple chocolate dessert however was delicious, if you’re a chocolate lover this one’s for you! The interior photos on the Bel & Dragon website look really inviting, unfortunately the reality not quite so. The soft furnishings today bore little resemblance to those in the photos, the only cushions visible were grubby tired chair pads with mismatched light ribbon that was half tied and half detached and hanging off the chairs. Not the plump cushions depicted in the photos or “styled in classic and cosy way”. The sight of an open fire does help to “exude charm and warmth”, but it needs to be kept going and today it wasn’t and it soon became quite chilly. The pavement area outside looks tired and unkempt, the sandwich advertising board looks grubby and loosing its varnish. Attention to the smallest detail often makes the biggest difference.

We stayed here as local to Bombay Sapphire, the location was ideal (7 miles away) and the hotel was perfect, comfortable, friendly staff, food amazing and room spacious and extremely comfortable. 10 out of 10 from me.

Gem of a place. Great short stay. Our room oozed character and history, enhanced by top quality fittings. Bed was enormous and super comfy. Breakfast was absolutely spot on. Complimentary bottles(!) of gin and whisky and the posh shower toiletries topped it all off.

Very enjoyable stay food great and staff great

My partner, 3 yr old daughter and M-I-L went for lunch. Reasonably busy but only one server for whole room. Nice enough food and having spent over £100 mentioned that I thought £3.95 for half a small flatbread for my daughter was a bit steep - simply told bluntly ‘Fuller’s set the prices, not us’. Hadn’t actually realised it was a Fullers pub. Poor call on pricing by Fullers and poor customer service (except for solo server). Would I go back -NO.