The Shurland, Sheerness

This Georgian high street corner hotel has been here for about 200 years, and was licensed in 1851. It was originally The Crooked Billet, became a Rigden's pub and is now a freehouse. The original building was knocked through in 2002 to form a single large carpeted bar at ground level in the original building, and it has had an extension built onto the front which houses a modern restaurant, which in turn complements the availability of decent bar food in the pub itself. There is also a small gym and new B&B accommodation at the back. It suffers a bit from an identity crisis, attempting to be an upmarket hotel, complete with spa, yet retaining its public bar (still refered to as The Crooked Billet) with huge screen and projector, gaming machines and tv screens showing football. The clientele was the younger, more affluent local crowd, while the staff were very welcoming and pleasant. There were two ales on: I had Adnams Autumn Red which was in good condition. Although they're trying to squeeze too much into one small establishment, it remains overall a decent pub, one of the better ones in the area and one to which I would be happy to return.