The White Lion

We were staying in Niton over the Easter weekend and this pub was recommended to us so we booked. We arrived to a weak welcome and were shown to a table in the bar area rather than the restaurant. I would have thought having booked in advance they would have given us a table in the restaurant area rather than a noisy bar area. The food was ok but a little disappointing as we were told it was nice. The fish and chips were made from what seemed to be a small pre frozen portion, hmmm. The crab bruschetta was nice and my wife’s steak pie was well filled, portions were rather small and the food wasn’t very hot. I advised that it was my wife’s birthday on the booking and no peep of recognition of the special day for us. To be honest it was ok but not the best, much better restaurants in Sandown and Shanklin not too much of a drive.

It was great here, then not so good but now it’s back to being very enjoyable. The food is good pub grub in a lovely atmosphere. The service is exceptional and families and friends are very welcome. The pub has open spaces and cosy spaces to suit all. The wines/beers are plentiful. An easy place to eat and relax

we ate Sunday lunch..................no lamb it seems anymore! Reason we went there! I only eat small portions as cant eat lots but even the small was over priced and not good food at all! Expensive but the pork is a cheap cut Belly! The beef was tough and fatty! the veg have also gone downhill! I will not be returning for a while and are warning others too,

Very welcoming place to stay with friendly, efficient and helpful people. Food very good and beds comfortable ensuring a good nights sleep. THANKS. For those of a motoring penchant it's very well placed as it's at the end/start of the military road. ;-)

The good bits - friendly staff, good food when it was being served. Albeit they ran out of 2 of the 4 starter options when we ate there. Recommend you book as it was heaving on a Monday night. The not so good bits - the “family” room. We booked it for 2 adults and 2 children. The sofa bed for two 11 year old kids was too small and uncomfortable. The room itself with a double bed and a sofa bed in it wasn’t really big enough to “swing a cat” in and as it was situated on the road side of the pub, as of 7.30am it sounded like the M4 was running past. The kitchen is closed Tuesday & Wednesday evenings which therefore means the building is closed and locked up at some point during the evening, which we found out to our detriment. We arrived back (10.30pm) to find we didn’t have the right key card to let us in and upon calling the pub got no answer. No one was about to help but luckily a lady who lives in the village came to assist. She suggested we called the sister pub - The Chequers who would be able to help. Again no answer. As it showed it was open until 11pm on the website we drove there arriving at 10.50pm to find the whole place closed / locked up, similarly to the one we were staying at. We then called the Birdham - another hotel in the group when luckily the phone was answered and the manager contacted the owner. The owner was less than apologetic when I spoke to him too. The point being when you stay at the pub there is no one on site or anyone there to assist personally or to answer the phone if there was an emergency. We found the whole thing quite bizarre and due to this couldn’t recommend it to anyone and sadly won’t be returning.

I chose this hotel randomly as the area suited our travel itinerary. The room is bright and spotlessly clean as it was recently renovated. Nice hot showers, ironing facilities and even a coffee machine. We had dinner and breakfast and the food were beautifully presented. The staff went friendly and service was excellent. Our room was situated on top of the kitchen and we can hear exhaust fan noises etc but quieten down later in the evening. The place exceeded our expectations.