The Hostelrie, Ross-On-Wye

Official site of The Hostelrie - www.hostelrie.com

Official site of The Hostelrie - www.hostelrie.com

Nowadays this place is more of a hotel/restaurant than a pub/bar. Amongst the different large rooms, we did eventually find a bar at the rear. Luckily there was one other customer, as I believe they would have already have closed on our Sunday evening visit. Real ales are no longer served, leaving a selection of Weston's Mortimer's Orchard English Berry & Caple Road, Wye Valley Wholesome Stout & 1985 Lager, Grolsch, Meantime Anytime IPA & Peroni. There was a nice real fire, but otherwise a distinct lack of atmosphere. Perhaps this place becomes much more popular in the similar when tourists flock to the nearby Symond's Yat. But I doubt I'll ever be back to find out.

An unlikely looking building but it turns out to be a very good pub, with a seasonal award from the local Camra branch to prove it. The impression of a hotel or restaurant on initially entering is soon dispelled, because there's a proper pub-type bar counter with four hand pumps. The bar faces a double room, split between a dining area to the front of the building and a drinkers area near the bar; there's a separate restaurant. The internal walls have had the plaster hacked off, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't; probably a slight thumbs up on this occasion. Similar doubts about the staff uniform, as I noticed that both the female servers were wearing knee boots and tight black jeans; I can't comment on the men - they may well have been equally sexily clad. Of the four hand pumps, two had Wye Valley beers on and one had a perry, while the fourth had a pump clip turned around that may have been a cider. My Wye Valley Bitter was very good; actually my contemporaneous note says "excellent". There were lots of pictures on the walls; my notes say that not one of them was straight. I also noted that the pub would lose a mark for the background music, but I think a 7 is fair for overall pub experience. I'd certainly go again if in the area during opening hours (which should be checked before setting off, as they don't by any means always open all day). Date of visit: 31st July 2017