Middleton's, York

A modern hotel inserted in a surround of older buildings, which house many of the guest rooms. The bar itself is a fairly smart hotel lounge with expensive modern furnishings as you might expect. Outside there are some smartly-tabled terraces. As opposed to the average chain hotel it does at least keep a couple of cask ales on, both from Thwaites. Sadly the Original was off and the Gold seemed ok to start with, but became increasingly off-tasting as it went down. A bit of a shame as it was quite civilised in general, although certainly not a drinkers' pub.

We walked around to the reception as the door that said bar on the road was locked. It's a totally generic lounge bar apart from the brick bar. We looked at each other and decided not to waste time having a beer here. We won't be returning either.

This appears to be an hotel housed in a selection of buildings some of which were almshouses. The bar, which is open to non-residents, is an odd combination of old brick walls, imaginative roof timbers and modern conservatory. it shares the space with hotel reception. Three hand pumps on the counter with two beers from York brewery and one from local brewery Hop Studio, the Guzzler was fairly poor stuff. There are some stunning portraits of musicians above the bar and on one wall are some Yorkshire landscapes which are for sale. I won't bother with a return visit.