The Kings Arms, Girtford, Sandy

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Steve of N21 left this review about The Kings Arms

Situated just off the A1 on a slip road towards Sandy, the Kings Arms is a decent traditional style pub dating from the 16th century.
Internally it retains the original two area set up with a public bar on the right and then the saloon and dining section to the left. As mentioned traditional pub décor and it retains a lot of period features including some of the original 16th Century beams.
Public bar as expected with a few gaming machines and a tele, and then the saloon side is more plush with comfortable seating. The dining area is in two separate sections, a larger one that you step down to from the saloon bar and then a smaller elevated gallery room which is reached through a separate door and up some steps. This was a very pleasant area, as it has a cut out which overlooks the saloon bar below , but is like being in your own private section. I guess these different areas were all separate rooms of the original 16th Century Inn.
It is a Green King House, so only the usual suspects of IPA, Abbott and OSH with the handpumps spread between the two serving areas in the Lounge and public bars. But we tried both the IPA and OSH and both were in good condition.
Looking at other review sites it looks like this pub has had its fair few problems with transient landlords and managers in the past. And, although I can only comment from our visit to utilise it for an evening food and beer stop on the way home after seeing the mighty Saracens trounce Leicester on their patch, the current staff team are making a decent crack at running a good pub. The welcome and service we received were top notch , being treated more like life long locals rather than transient passers by. And the efforts of both the bar staff and the chef who paid close attention to those ordering from the reasonable traditional pub menu could not be faulted.
I will certainly be utilising it again when travelling south down the A1 through Bedfordshire.
The Kings Arms also benefits from having a decent sized car park to the side and a large beer garden out back, which is separated from the external covered lean to space by the car park set up for smokers Out back is also the pub accommodation in the form of 4 detached, self-contained chalets.

On 6^th October 2011 - rating: 7
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