Sir William Hotel

We stayed here for 2 nights whilst walking in the area. Very friendly staff, good food, adequate breakfast. The rooms could do with some updating and maintenance. Our top floor room was cold as the radiator did not appear to be working but they promptly gave us another plug in heater

We visited The Sir William for dinner. There are two menus, one ordinary pub fare and the other Indonesian. Never having tried Indonesian food before, we thought we'd give it a go. We had different dishes and both were absolutely superb. Chatting with the very friendly owner and staff, we were told the chef is Indonesian. Not only was the food excellent, the prices were much better than the average we'd seen for the area. We found this place on our second evening of a three night stay and returned for the third evening and had two more different Indonesian dishes - even better! The view from the dining room is superb, looking across woods to hills and apparently with a resident stag, although we didn't see it on our visits.

First the good things: The staff are super friendly. The breakfast was quick, well cooked and plentiful with great quality items. The beds were clean, comfortable and great quality linen. Parking was plentiful. Beautiful views. Spacious bathroom. Our dog was made welcome. Gluten free bread available Good selection of Tiptree jams at breakfast. Coffee was excellent-best I have ever had. Would I stay again? Yes without hesitation. But: Bathroom was clean but someone needs to go round the mouldy grubby bits with bleach and a toothbrush. Only one bedside lamp for the four beds( we had a family room) . Room was not refreshed for our second day/night so mugs were dirty and we had to wash them out in bathroom sink and we nearly ran out of tea and milk. No heating in room except for a plug in electric radiator which was fine but no where to hang damp towels to dry. We had to request more towels and toilet rolls-but these were provided quickly. No hooks to hang towels. Shower screen a bit inadequate. Pub is a bit tired/rundown but a work in progress. Need a choice of juices in morning not just orange juice. No fruit or yoghurts offered at breakfast Need to offer choice if poached and scrambled eggs.

Weekend stay for a wedding at The Maynard- the only good thing was its proximity to The Maynard. Old, drab, run down - absolutely no TLC. Room 5 has a leaky toilet so bathroom floor constantly wet. They do not service rooms during your stay, so no housekeeping to speak to. Lowest bed I have ever seen and lots of noise from road. Breakfast on 1st day we had to ask for a menu which comprised full English or cereal and pastries, a small jug of OJ which was constantly almost empty. Full English listed with toast but didn’t arrive , asked for it and arrived as we finished our breakfast. Day 2 ordered breakfast, plus toast and hot drinks, hot drinks didn’t arrive. Looking at past reviews the management blame it being a historic building for issues but the carpets, decor and furnishings do not have to be old and no excuse for poor breakfast experience

John and his staff are friendly and welcoming. We had a great stay here with family and friends and made use of the function room and beer garden in a beautiful setting. The laid back and flexible venue made it brilliant from start to finish. Would recommend!

It certainly did not meet my expectations, the hotel was generally shabby and tired. Our bedroom was minute, room for a small double bed (extremely low to the floor) a wardrobe and small table and stool. Hardly any room to move round and no where to sit comfortably. The bathroom was even more of a squeeze, and no where to put toiletries out for use. The only plus points were it was reasonably clean and no one had smoked in there. The room had condensation on the inside of the windows, they had to be closed at night because of the main road, and there was mould on the ceilings and on the book left on the table. We did look to find other accommodation but there was none available at such short notice. The breakfast the next morning was a farce. We managed to get some cereal, but there was only one member of staff on, who was struggling to take any orders, and cook the food. We just gave up and went out for a lovely breakfast elsewhere. A family we met there said it had taken an hour for them to get what they wanted that morning. It bares no resemblance to the information, or photographs on their website.