The Bear of Rodborough Hotel - Not worth the money

Having paid extra for an upgraded room we were very disappointed with the first room we were given and the second was not much better, with holes in the duvet cover which is something you don't expect these days. Having stayed in many OPL recommended hotels, we expected better and would not recommend this one. There are much better places to stay for a similar or lower cost. The restaurant was quite poor with very limited choice and not very good quality. The wine was very expensive for what was on offer. Breakfast was not much better, in fact it was worse. Overall it was not worth the money and we would definitely not recommend this hotel.

Lazy Romantic Break

The bedroom was small, no upgrade available because there was a wedding. Restaurant menu very limited if you don't like fish. Same menu the following night.
Service in the restaurant very variable. Manager in the restaurant didn't really engage with her customers and would not apologise for forgetting to take order.
No bath tub in the en suite.
A pleasant weekend but would think twice about booking there again

Disappointing

It was our wedding anniversary and we booked a package that included dinner.
For the amount we paid it was very disappointing. Meal was awful, bed very uncomfortable and the en-suite door was broken.
Hotel is in a good location and the actual hotel was very nice and felt welcoming. We had a few drinks in the bar before dinner which was very enjoyable and the bar staff were wonderful. It just went downhill during our meal.

We have had very good meals at this chains hotel in Broadway so we were quite shocked with our stay here.

Poor value

The hotel was ok, restaurant was very good. But the room was shabby and up 3 flights of stairs. Booking through country hotel breaks (a gift ) vastly overinflated the price, making this to say the least poor value.

Just not quite right

First of all, let me say that the staff at The Bear are extremely friendly and welcoming and certainly try to be helpful. Unfortunately there are a lot of young and inexperienced staff who seem to lack training, which means that service is a bit haphazard at best.
When we got to our (four poster / premium) room, it was cold and there was no heat from the radiator. After a couple of calls, and suggestions that we turn up the thermostat (which we had done an hour before calling) it was sorted by someone actually turning on the boiler that serves this part of the building. Throughout the stay, the hot water in the bathroom took (literally) 8 minutes to come through - though I was forewarned of this possibility when I asked about the heating.
In the restaurant, I tried to order a glass of Sauvignon Blanc to go with my evening meal, but the young waiter seemed to get a bit flustered, so had to go to the bar about 10 minutes later to chase it up. Someone arrived at the table about 10 minutes later (just as I finished my meal) with a BOTTLE of wine so I had to send it back.
At breakfast, the waiter took my order (Granola bowl with fruit, followed by scrambled eggs on toast) and asked specifically if I would like them served at the same time or separately. I asked that teh granola be brought out ahead of the main dishes, but in fact it just never turned up. For the whole time we were eating breakfast, there were two staff members clearing away about 20 tables and chairs and taking them off to store somewhere - not the relaxing Sunday morning breakfast we'd hoped for!
All in all, The Bear of Rodborough is just about okay for the price paid via Cotswold hotel breaks, but despite the staff being friendly and welcoming, the quality of service lets the place down.

Stay February 2024

Comfortable stay
Only complaint is that there were no grab handles over the bath so my wife was unable to use it as a shower Great pity as the room and bed was otherwise very comfortable

No review title

We were extremely disappointed with the room, particularly as we were staying for five nights. For our room to be described as a good double was frankly dishonest - you could barely squeeze past one corner of the bed as it was so close to the wardrobe. When we questioned this with the hotel reception it was very apparent that they were aware of this, but we were told that the hotel was fully booked and they were unable to move us.
We also had a very bad experience on the first night in terms of service, waiting for 3/4 hour for a drink and over 2 hours for our meal, which when it came was awful. We understood that this was due to last minute staff shortages, and in fairness we couldn t fault the level of service and meals for the rest of our stay.

Lovely location but restaurant let s it down

Hotel location is beautiful. Our room was quite small and faced a road but that was fine as we were only there one night.
Couldn t fault the breakfast which was delicious however the evening meal was a let down. Had read that the restaurant was a 2 rosette which was the main reason for booking this hotel as we are foodies. The starters were ok but the main menu choices and food were pretty terrible and afterwards, after reviewing trip advisor we realised we weren t the only people to think this. The menu really needs working on. Was a shame.
Staff all very friendly and nice