marstonspubs.co.uk Avis 

Pearl And Trawl in Wadebridge.

£4.10 for a pint of Pepsi!

Robbing b@st@rds!

Travelled from Suffolk to meet a friend who moved to Thatcham.....saw web site of this place and looked nice.

Firstly, why charge to park here....if it was likely to be used by shoppers I might have given it a bit of leeway, but no shops nearby. Yes, it can be reimbursed if you spend Over £40 but if you have no change the app is an obscure one. Next, even though table booked, getting noticed to be shown table took 20 mins as only bar staff (busy serving crowds) were available to ask. Next you have a choice, order on the app. or at bar, so judging by the impending wait ordered, from experience trying to find table, on the stupid app., oh, then have to pay on line!!!! So no reimbursement of car park now then!

Food was average, staff were okay but not a pleasant experience all round. Definitely not my kind of place, and judging by similar experience of their pub in Bury St Edmunds, (pay for car park there as well!! ) this may be par for the course in all their pubs. Won't be using Marston's anywhere again.

Had planned to book a room on next visit but definitely will give this a miss.

I received an email this morning 8th April 2024 regarding a 30% discount on two main meals at The Guelder Rose in Southport (a place my partner and I visit regularly) which started today 8th April until 11th May from Monday's to Saturday's.

As we were in the area shopping we decided to call into The Guelder Rose for lunch and presented the email on my phone with the 30% discount code to a member of the staff behind the bar as we ordered our drinks and meals.

HOWEVER.... the staff member said that it does not relate to their site but to the other pub in their chain on Scarisbrick Road, Southport. I insisted that it did not as the email was addressed to me regarding the Guelder Rose discount.

She insisted it did not start at their site until the end of the month so rather than argue the fact further we decided just to order the meals and drinks and be done with it..

We were obviously not happy but rather than ruin our meals I decided to leave a comment on here.

I took my dear friend Rosemary to Copper Beech for a birthday meal. As always the service was efficient and the carvery delicious.The reason for writing this review is that I believe small things matter and there were two acts of kindness while I was there which I want to mention.
Owing to arthritis I do not walk so easily nowadays. Seeing me on my way back to the table with my meal, Chloe very kindly asked if she could help me.
While I was eating my meal I observed Harry racing round from behind the bar to assist a lady pushing someone in a wheelchair by holding the doors open for her.
These two acts would not have registered with some people but they showed a concern for customer welfare, made our visit that little bit more comfortable, and made us feel appreciated by the staff. So these little acts of kindness do make a difference. For a first time customer they might make the difference as to whether that customer returns another time or not.

The Caraway Carmarthen
I visited the Caraway pub in Carmarthen nearly a week ago. I made a complaint that very day online and to date this complaint has not been acknowledged.
Obviously the head office does not care for its customers.

I sat at the table and ordered drinks for the 3 of us. 20 mins later I had to go to the bar to ask where our drinks were in a polite manner. They eventually arrived after 25 minutes.
I ordered food around the same time being 3 baguettes. This took over 45 mins to come out.
I ordered the piri piri chicken baguette. I also ordered for my partner and the carer for our disabled daughter whom both had baguettes.
I had eaten just over half the baguette when I found a short black hair in my baguette. Not being a complainer I took it out and let it go.
However this did cause me to check the rest of the baguette. I picked out what I thought was another piece of hair. To my horror this was a shard of metal. Again I didn't want to make a fuss until I found yet another short black hair.
Reluctantly I went to the bar and showed the barmaid what I had found. She took it to the kitchen and came back out asking if I wanted a replacement meal. As you can imagine I declined the offer expecting to see the manageress with an apology.
However I did not.
I was told I could either have a replacement meal or a refund.
The manageress came out and served another customer whilst totally blanking myself.
10 minutes later the manageress came out with the card machine and asked me to place my card on it for a refund. She then walked away.
I am absolutely disgusted with this service and the fact I could have even eaten the shard of metal. Or even worse my disabled daughter.
I do not believe a refund on my food even begins to compensate what I went through.
I would like to request adequate compensation and an apology.
Needless to say I will not be revisiting the Caraway.

The Winter Green - Sheffield

Arrived to be told that only limited main meals and children's pasta was available due a gas issue.

I would have liked to have been told this in advance and then could have made an informed decision as to whether I would proceed with the booking.

It turned out only carvery option was available which was an issue as 3 out of 5 people would not have choose this ordinarily, this meant that one party declined to eat.

Of the four who then ate one didnt want the meat from the carvery so we asked at the till if we could have an Yorkshire pudding to replace the meat and we were told that we would have to pay extra for this. My issue here is the lack of willingness to accommodate customers who were forced to pick an option that they had not originally wanted. The staff member at the time was also rude and and offered no apology for the lack of options available.

The food itself was satisfactory but the level of service we received as a party and lack of willingness to accommodate a small request will make me reconsider whether we attend in future.

In recent months the level of service has declined as has the quality of food, again this will make me reconsider future visits.

disappointed to pay almost £14 for a main to find it served with a fly in which my daughter spotted straight away so why didn't the server or chef? My daughter returned it without creating a scene. No apology. New dish served, again, no apology. Barmen who cleared the table said he would inform the manager, ten minutes later, nothing. These things can happen but no recompense or apology isn't acceptable. So obviously a disappointing experience with staff who took no personal responsibility which soured the experience away from ample seating and a nice place but then makes me wonder about cleanliness.

First time visiting The Old Duke and was really impressed. The staff were welcoming and our server, Jacob, was helpful and friendly. We will definitely visit again.

This is a honest review from a random visit. I didn't want to buy an expensive meal as I was on my own at lunchtime, so I ordered a Hunters Chicken off the Lunchtime menu, cost £8 along with a pint of Wainwrights Ale which was £4.60. I wasn't expecting much but the 5 items of salad and the 12 chips did make the plate look quite sad. I took a photo but it doesn't appear that Trustpilot has a photo option. I also had the only pint of ale they had on tap, which was bubbly, cloudy and had a tang. I didn't bother complaining because I wanted to leave a honest review as to what you can expect out-of-the-box so to speak without staff having to rectify.
I called in here because my usual haunt was too busy, which says it all really, Marston's is a massive chain in the UK but they are not providing value for money IMO comparing what I paid for this food and the beer, its totally understandable why I couldn't get a table at The Taphouse but I had my pick of tables in the Mitre Oak. For reference, it's £7 for a significantly larger lunchtime deal in the Tap House and a fresh pint of Ale is £3.20. Another win for a privately owned pub over a big chain !!

I have visited Sarsens Stone twice and on both occasions experienced excellent customer service from Cameron and Amelia. I am looking forward to my next budut

Went to The Trumpet Major at Dorchester. The staff were friendly. Food was hot and well presented. Tables were clean and well stocked.
There was a new member of staff on the till. He was very polite and courteous! The Duty Manager was very polite and did 2 satisfaction checks!

We had been to The Wagtail at Wincanton recently! The 2 meals were both burnt and dry with items missing, The staff were dismissive and said they were busy!

Thus The Trumpet Major restored our faith in Marstons.
Well done Trumpet Major!

Booked for the festive menu with my family and parents. Was warmly welcomed upon arrival and table loked very festive which was great. Staff were very friendly and ensured we were all ok and looked after. Food was lovely, tasty and well presented. Had a lovely visit.

Walking past the Railway Inn in Swadlincote this evening and got assaulted by customers of the pub. We had previously just left another Martons pub the Foresters who have 2 security guards to ensure customer safety. Whilst walking past the Railway Inn we were assaulted by customers who found it funny to beat up passing pedestrians. When we tried to request help from the landlady we were told to get the F out. Charming public relations. This place has become a dive that has evidently become a private club for riff raff to frequent.

Meadow Farm Redditch, stayed for a 21st birthday and it was a nightmare , someone tried breaking into the van, even though its not sign written and is always empty and to clean for a builders van.
Meals were shocking and got a full refund, the room was basic with a view of dirty laundry trolleys right outside the window.
The car park has cctv and i watched it the next day and saw it all, i did ring the police that night as one of the staff knocked the door to ask if this was our van in the picture, but they didnt bother ringing the police themselves as they didnt give a monkeys .
The car park is not secure and anyone can come and go and this happened at 9.30 at night.

We visit the king brychan in Merthyr for a evening meal& drinks the venue was very clean&tidy we were served very efficiently by a young man who took our order of one mixed grill- one southern fried chicken with all the trimmings,the meals arrived within 20minutes and they were both cooked to perfection
So we think if you have a good experience you need to post a positive message so thank you very much king brychan we had a great experience.

Went to "the Little Owl" in Chester. I ordered my meal along with the rest of my family by the time my family had eaten all of their meal I was still waiting on mine. I had the meal refunded but no explanation was given as to what happened with my food and nothing was given to me or even offered. I will not be returning in the future.

Went to Pinhoe Hoard Exeter on Saturday 9th Sep, 3 adults 1 child. Ordered mains and they came quite qickly, we had been sent a voucher for 30% off meals, I hadn't realised that it meant 30% off the quantities of food as well.whilst food was okay it was noticeable by its absence. After waiting for half a hour for desserts to arrive had to ask member of waiting staff for an update whereupon they materislised. Unfortunately they must have been prepared a lot earlier and left to sit, because the ice cream sundaes were near drinkable due to the hot weather. This restaurant wasn by no means crowded.
Not impressed sadly

Marston sold the Crooked House Pub to buyers that they were in dispute with over road access. They sold it for alternative use. The demise of the building was predictable. On Marston's website you can see all the pubs they own. I will be checking carefully which ones are near me and will avoid all of them.

Went to Margam Deer Port Talbot for lunch with the family.
Waited to order there were 4 people in front of me. I got to the till and the lady taking orders decided to serve drinks to the people from the coach party that had come in. They were standing at the bar and she totally ignored me even though I was the next to order not them.
So as a family we decided to leave.
Awful customer service.

As we passed through Hull, only yesterday, we decided to have a lunch there. My daughter used Google and found a pub that we left quicker than we went in. The menu was very limited and there were no vegetarian or vegan options. So, I decided it's my turn to find a pub. A quick entry into the Yahoo search engine of, "Pub+Sunday Roast+Hull" brought the local Hull Daily Mail to the top where the newspaper has an article that declares the 10 best pubs in Hull. The Red Sails was the 3rd pub down so we went there as it was on the way towards the Humber Bridge. My daughter phoned ahead and let them know we were on the way.

When we arrived we were greeted and immediately noticed that they had put two tables together with five chairs, for our group. I have read some of the other Trust pilot reviews regarding Marston's pubs and can clearly see that those with negative reviews have a vendetta. One gives a 1* review because he had to sit outside with his dog, which is actually written in Law. No dogs are allowed inside establishments that prepare and / or provide food. The only exception is for those with guide dogs and that includes pups being trained. Another 1* review claims the kitchens are filthy and all the food is microwaved but also mentions his daughter was fired from her job in that pub. Another reviewer got possed off because he had to order the food at the bar? Seriously! How can somebody get a grudge because he had to order food at the bar, has that guy never been to a pub before or has nobody told him that all the Covid restrictions were lifted... two Prime Ministers ago?

After reading other reviews I can agree with those that have left positive reviews as we only had a good experience. One of us had a steak and it came as ordered... rare. One had a curry dish, two of us had the Sunday (carvery) Roast and one had a vegan meal. The service was good, staff regularly checked that we are happy, the carvery chef was polite.. in fact all the staff were polite. The only negative point was that the Yorkshire puddings were a little on the tough side but not so much as deserving a complaint as they truly are produced on site. We did like the Yorkshire Puddings and they were quite large.

The sauces that were available were all that were needed, from mint sauce through to apple sauce for the gammon, cranberry sauce for the turkey and horseradish for the beef. Apart from the Yorkies everything else was fresh and piping hot.

I had a nice cool Marston's ale to wash my food down with and it was quite refreshing and palatable for a beer that I hadn't had before. Even before purchasing I asked for a sample and the barmaid politely obliged so after having a taste and finding it to my liking that is what I drank during our visit.

The pub was clean and tidy... with no dog hairs floating around to get into our food (for the reviewer that thinks dogs should be allowed where people eat), the staff were welcoming, polite and friendly, the food was piping hot and fesh (hadn't been nuked in a microwave as the father of an ex-employye claims) so I can recommend the Red Sails especially given that the prices for the Sunday Roast (carvery) are good.