The Golden Bee (JD Wetherspoon), Stratford Central, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Stratford's JDW looks quite attractive from the street outside but inside it's fairly typical. It's a long low ceilinged room with the main bar area up a few steps after you enter. It wasn't that busy on a warm sunny Spring afternoon when the surrounding streets were packed with tourists. The ten hand pumps had five festival ales, a cider and the rest devoted to Doom Bore and the GK beers. I went for the Hawkshead Vienna Lager (£2.85 standard guest / festival price) which was rather tired. This was the most expensive Midlands JDW I've encountered. It didn't surprise me to find them charging over the odds in a tourist infested dump like Stratford.

Run of the mill spoons nothing to write home about

Housed in an old building,the interior is identikit 'spoons and you could be just about anywhere in the UK.There is a front street level section ,then stairs to the long bar where the drone of the aircon and spot lighting gave it the feel of a Holiday Inn check in.High tables surround the bar,there is a snug area to the front while the rear section had more standard dining tables and access to a small beer garden. The two ranks of five handpumps had London Pride ,GK Abbott and Ruddles Best (latter two doubled up),two real ciders ,an available soon clip leaving just two guest ales in the form of North Cotswold Moreton Mild and Feral Hop Hog brewed at Banks's which was very decent and saved the day on the ale front. It's clean and antiseptic but unmemorable and not one of the 'spoons which makes a big deal about it's real ale range .A bit dull.

A two-building terraced Wetherspoons pub and eatery, in white render and timber frame, part with a nice front facing double gable. There is a rear patio area. The interior has one long room, with a slightly lower entrance area and the serving bar to the left and half way up the room on entry. Typical ‘Spoons foody layout, with the family dining area at the rear of the main room. The decor is white and cream, with some strangely tacky wood panel squares. There are a few historical information panels on the walls; the history of Stratford, the Gunpowder Plot et al for some interest, as well as several mirrors. There was no music, but there was a silent TV. The service was fine, the clientele a mix of those f’ing and blinding people that have amazingly loud voices, to the lap-top brigade googling Shakespeare on Wikipedia. I had a snack prior to a meeting, it was fine. Beer; tap stuff, with the usual Abbotts and Ruddles on handpull, along with four other guests, which i didn’t note, as i just had coffee before a meeting. Granted, I didn’t try the beer, but I can’t really say this place inspired me to do anything, other than leave it.

I agree with what Rob Camra says about the pub but JDW pubs are usually better than this and this is by far the worst run I have been to.

Stratford seems to have sold its soul for the tourist dollar as far as its pubs are concerned, with only The Old Thatch, The Windmill and possibly Lamplighter retaining much pubby feel at all. They’ve all been turned into wine bar style eateries with little character left. This is one of the best examples of the type of poor pub that Stratford has been left with. It’s got a fine black and white timbered exterior but inside it’s been ripped out and extended and is now just a large soulless drinking/eating barn. Usual JDW beers on the eight handpumps with the only guest ale that wasn’t “Coming Soon” being O’Hanlons Yellowhammer. I had a pint of this and it was pretty good. As the back of the pub is just bare brick it echoes a lot when empty (we had breakfast here one day) and gets really noisy when it’s busy. The service was good on both occasions we visited but that’s it’s only saving grace. Despite there being a large smoking patio at the back the pavement at the front of the pub was still full of the low life nicotine bouncers that JDWs attract. Even Stratford has some better pubs than this!

For a town as beautiful as Stratford upon Avon, Wetherspoons have chosen a rather dull and nondescript building to house their addition to the local hostelries. With so many pubs in the town housed in lovely historic buildings, it really is only the usual decent beer selection (5 Ales) and price range that would attract anyone through the front door. The décor is rather plain and the few historical snippets do not provide much of interest that a visitor to Stratford would not already know. The bottom line is that this is an aesthetically disappointing ‘Spoons that is OK for a lunchtime meal and a quick pint before heading off to the more interesting taverns dotted about the town. At least they can claim that Shakespeare never drank here.