The Angel Hotel (JD Wetherspoon), Whitby

A very different experience to the tale of woe from PSM below. Midweek evening in Winter, the pub was immaculate, with tables cleared as soon as they were vacated. Well staffed at the bar with hardly a wait to get served. It was pretty busy as well with MS CAMRA snapping up one of the only two tables available downstairs. A decent selection of guests alongside the usuals, plus every pint I had in here was very well kept. We visited again the following evening for more of the same. We didn't eat here, but the food was coming out very quickly. A very good JDW in our experience.

This two-storey Wetherspoons pub has a prime location on the harbour front and was accordingly rammed when we visited on a Wednesday evening this summer, with long queues forming outside as people had to wait for tables to come free. You enter via a pleasant front patio area which offers some nice bench seating that looks across to the harbour, albeit with the road in between. The front door leads you into the main bar area, with the servery directly opposite and seating areas to either side – a small space to the right and a much large space to the left which runs some way towards the rear of the building. The room looked quite smart in general, with plusher seating than you’d normally expect and quite nicely put together décor that made it feel like a space you wouldn’t mind settling down in, if only a free table could be found. We had no such luck and had to traipse up the stairs to the rear left, which leads up to a first floor bar with the servery down the left-hand wall and plenty of seating through what felt like a much larger space that downstairs. The front is chopped up by a great many bits of old partitioning wall, which helps create a few quiet corners with a degree of privacy and prevents the room from feeling like a drinking barn. Sadly, the design principles from the ground floor don’t extend upstairs, so the walls are painted in a drab colour scheme, dotted with a few old naval charts and paintings of historic scenes. We were fortunate enough to get a table at the front, where there were fine views out to the harbour and the replica of the Bark Endeavour. The usual mix of tables and chairs and high tables and stools prevailed throughout, although the space to the rear right seemed to have been taken over for some sort of private function. The big crowds coupled with what seemed to be a Whitby-wide shortage of hospitality staff, meant that it was chaos from the moment we arrived. People were wandering around, fruitlessly searching for tables whilst others queued outside hoping to be allowed to join this quest. We ordered via the app and received our food long before there was any sign of our drinks- the staff were run off their feet and did their best not to lose their cool with impatient customers. Beer-wise, they had the three Spoons regulars available alongside four guest ales, from which I chose a pint of the Whitby Whaler, which was in moderate condition, although I was frankly grateful for any sort of drink after such a long wait. This place has some potential, especially given the smart, well presented ground floor area, but is perhaps a victim of its own success, struggling to keep up with a high level of demand that results in slow service and sub-par beer. Maybe a visit outside of the peak tourist season would’ve resulted in a more favourable impression, but with a good bunch of other worthy pubs around town, I’d suggest that this one can be comfortably skipped.

Well known ‘spoons on the quay side near the railway station. We all know what to expect, a set of the unholy trinity plus another set of five comprising beers from Whitby, Nottingham Brewery, Doombar and something reversed. Mostly low seating, stripey if unique carpet and low ceilings. Upstairs is just weird, there is counter with a 5+5 set up plus T-Bars but finding your way back down stairs can be difficult as the obvious doors lead into the hotel area.

Extremely busy spoons right on the harbour. Gets packed outside and downstairs but there is usually a bit more room upstairs. There were 2 guests on each time I visited over a week, usually from the local Whitby brewery. I had the blonde which was fine.