Sea Horse Hotel, York

Situated just outside the city walls, this is a two bar Sam Smith's pub and hotel with an excellent multiple room, traditional layout. You enter into a corridor which runs through to the rear of the pub and is lined with numerous interesting old black and white photos. A door at the front right of the corridor leads into the compact public bar - a small bare boarded room with a short section of servery to the rear and a nice lit fireplace with a carriage clock and mirror above. More black and white photos line the walls, most of which were showing historic images of York and Sam Smith's employees. There is a small parlour to the left of the corridor, offering padded bench seating and another lit fireplace, although the room feels a bit isolated and remained empty throughout this visit. The corridor opens out a little towards the rear, forming a lobby-type space with a staircase to the left and a lounge bar (signposted as the 'snug'). This is a carpeted space with yet another lit fireplace, comfortable seating options and the main servery. This bar opens out into a rear dining area with a large skylight creating a bright space with a quarry stone floor, banquette and standard seating, a large fireplace with an attractive range inside, some nice panelled walls and a dartboard. As usual with Sam Smith's pubs, the ale range was restricted to Old Brewery Bitter, drawn from a handpull in the rear bar. I paid 90p for my half pint and the beer was in excellent condition, so I don't really have anything to complain about on that front. The usual keg and bottled options were all present and correct. I enjoyed exploring this old pub and certainly can't knock the beer quality, but I found the atmosphere a bit flat, despite quite a few people being in prior to our arrival. I think the place is worth a look for the interior and worked well as part of a crawl, but I can't imagine making this a regular port of call.

Multi-roomed (bar, parlour, snug and dining room) Sam Smith's pub with quite a bit of character, though of the muted variety rather than in-your-face high Victoriana. The curved wooden bar is probably the most compelling piece of interior furnishing - very nice I thought. Coal fires in rear and front room. Usual Sams range, with the cask OBB available - at 90p a half I couldn’t really complain even if the brew isn’t to my taste and served freezing cold. No music or TVs and in the late afternoon is has to be said that the atmosphere was moon-like. In the context of York, I’d reckon it’s worth looking-in to say you’ve done it.

The Seahorse Hotel is a Sam Smiths pub with a front and back bar with seating at the rear. Both bars were heated with faux coal fireplaces, which was unnecessary during my recent Friday afternoon visit. The usual array of SS products were available from the bar including cask Old Brewery Bitter. I found the service to be polite and my pint of OBB was less than £2. Standard pub food is available at these varied times throughout the week: Monday, 12:00 until 14:00 and 17:00 until 20:00; Tuesday, 12:00 until 15:00 and 17:00 until 20:00; kitchen closed on Wednesdays; Thursday and Friday, 12:00 until 14:00 and 17:00 until 20:00; Saturday, 12:00 until 18:00; Sunday, 12:00 until 16:00. Accommodation is available. As per SS policy there are no televisions or other forms of electrical distraction. Although I’m all for having a quiet pint I did find it mildly depressing in here. I do not plan to revisit any time soon.

I sat in the front bar with the previous reviewer, where there were no handpumps on display, but I asked for OBB and the barmaid went to the other bar to fetch it. I didn't realise it was the handpump version, but as it was undoubtedly served through a sparkler the consistency wouldn't have been much different from the keg version. Anyway, the price was incredibly reasonable, with a half of OBB and a cola costing £1.88. It has a multi-room format, but I don't think this is a CAMRA Inventory pub (but of course the list on the Heritage website might not be up to date) which got me wondering whether Sam Smith's had reinstated the internal panelling at some stage? They've done this in several London pubs. Anyway, this was quite a comfortable pub to have a swift one in, but it came bottom by a long chalk regarding ale choice and quality of the all the pubs I've visited in York.

A smallish Sam Smith’s pub located just outside the city walls, it consists of a small front bar and slightly larger rear bar. The interior is apparently heritage listed, but although it may well be original, I found it rather plan and not especially remarkable. Decor wise, they both appeared broadly similar with wood strip flooring, mustard colour paintwork and a real fire blazing away which was a welcome touch on a cold March afternoon. There were a few old black and white photo’s dotted around the walls. A curved wooden bar counter was in one corner. As is usual in Sam Smith’s establishments, only their own keg options were available. The sole choice on this occasion appeared to be their Sovereign Bitter, although I only checked the front bar and I’m sure Old Brewery Bitter was lurking around somewhere. The solitary cider was also their own.