The Bear Hotel, Bear Flat, Bath

Official site of The Bear Hotel - www.bearinnbath.com

Official site of The Bear Hotel - www.bearinnbath.com

Refurbished again since Blackthorn’s latest review, below, and it now looks and feels like a Marston’s chain pub, which it isn’t. The L-shaped open plan bar has a dining area at one end, then a drinking area in the middle and a more comfortable saloon area at the other end. There are also a couple of TV screens showing sports, and access to the B&B accommodation is also from the bar. Five pumps on the bar but only one ale on, Bath Gem, in below average condition but still drinkable. There was soft jazz playing in the background, the furniture was clean and new-looking, and the staff were friendly. I didn’t really warm to it, maybe because of its location rather than the pub itself, but either way the beer quality would put me off coming back.

A prominent and good sized pub on the main Wells Road out of Bath, it doesn’t look particularly inviting from the outside and I was expecting to find some type of run down sports bar. Consequently it was quite a surprise when I got inside and found a pub that looks as though it has perhaps been recently refurbished and is split about 50/50 between pub and restaurant. In fact I’d go as far as to say that even the non-restaurant part didn’t feel particularly pubby, and I felt that in some ways it has a bit of an identity crisis – is it a pub, a restaurant, or a café? It’s an L-shape pub with similar décor throughout, consisting of a light, tiled floor and pale green paintwork, with darker green wood panelling on the lower half of the walls. The restaurant area is to the right, and here all of the tables were laid up for food with many of them being reserved. The other half to the left and around the corner had somewhat limited seating unless you were part of a large group – there were a couple of tables that would sit eight or ten, and only a few smaller ones. There were also a couple of chocolate brown leather armchairs and some low tables. A large bay window to one side let in plenty of light, and there was a plasma on the wall at the rear, although this was not in use on our visit. There were various small items of artwork on the walls, and these consisted mostly of single colour drawings of well-known landmarks, many of them local but some further afield. There were also some colourful photographs of the local area which were for sale, and I daresay that these are popular with the visitors staying in the adjacent hotel. A selection of cakes in a display case at the end of the bar hinted further at the pub’s café credentials. In spite of all this, there were nonetheless a good range of beers on tap, consisting of Robinson’s Hoptimum Prime, Doom Bar, Adam Henson’s Rare Breed from Butcombe, Bellringer and Dartmoor IPA. Ciders were Thatcher’s Gold and Stowford Press.