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Great Western Hotel, Exeter
Exeter
EX4 4NU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Great Western Hotel
I had intended to visit this large hotel bar outside St David's Station upon my initial arrival in the city, only to find a handwritten sign on the front door exclaiming that they were temporarily shut, but returning a couple of days later, they were thankfully open and I was able to finally pop in and enjoy a drink in their comfortable front bar. You enter via the hotel reception, passing into the ‘Loco Bar’ - an L shaped, bare boarded space with the bar over on the rear right wall. The place has been kitted out with the kind of higher end furniture you might expect from a hotel bar, including smart comfy chairs serving small tables in the space opposite the bar, plush armchairs in a small carpeted space in front of a nice fireplace, and some well upholstered banquettes to the front left. On the fringes, a small drinking ledge to rear left offers high padded stools and from here, the room extends to the left where a couple more tables and chairs can be found. The walls are painted in neutral colours and decorated with mirrors, including one very grand one to front left, a few bits of breweriana and some old photos. A TV projector on the ceiling suggests sport may be shown on a furled screen above the front windows, although I didn’t see any promotional material to confirm this. The bar has a nice wood panel counter and attractive matching canopy with a clock mounted on top, all fronting an angular mirrored bar back. Steps down to the left of the bar lead into a compact rear lounge with nice button backed banquettes and similar decor.
This place has made it into recent editions of the Good Beer Guide and offered one of the wider ale selections I encountered in Exeter, consisting of Dartmoor Jail and Dragons Breath, Exeter Avocet and Darkness, Pitchfork Golden Ale and Quainton QPA. I got a friendly welcome from the barman, who poured me a good drop of the QPA, which I drank in the comfy chairs next to the bar whilst enjoying the antics of a rather amusing couple who were having a big, albeit mainly whispered, tiff, in an otherwise silent room!
This place treads the line between pub and hotel bar reasonably well, coming out just about on the right side, enabling customers to enjoy a session here working their way through the decent selection of beers on offer. This was a successful visit and the pub makes a good, if rather unlikely, double header with the outstanding Wertherspoons a short way up the hill from here.
On 16th April 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Great Western Hotel
They must have been reading my PuG review as this place has been tarted-up. Whist the lovely 1920s dark wood bar with gold trim remains, the interior has had a glooping of multi-shaded grey paints and a bit of gaudified William Morris style wallpaper but it actually works fairly well - it's a lot more lighter and welcoming though most of the rail ephemera has gone, which is a shame. Four ales on, all local; Quantock QPA, Exeter Avocet, and a pair of Dartmoor in Jail and Legend (NBSS 3.5). Friendly foreign barman and a convivial bunch of rugby types who had missed their train to Twickenham. Well-worth popping in again now if you’re changing trains here.
Feb 2014
Located just to the left of Exeter St Davids BR, this one is a tale of faded grandeur as far as the pub is concerned, the whole place feels in need to a facelift (perhaps it’ll be classed as heritage in 50 years?). GBG 2014 listed, plenty of local ales were on at the ‘loco’ bar and both of those I tried (which I scandalously failed to note the names of, one may have been Branscome Branoc) were both in good order. Aside from the main drinking area painted in a nasty mustard colour (though I was very taken with the large wooden-framed mirror), there was a darkened rear room showing the football results coming in to a gaggle of punters. As to be expected in such a location, there was plenty of rail ephemera dotted round. Food was offered, and the 1980’s style plastic menu wallets fitted right in. A selection of newspapers were available. It's a bit of a hike from Exeter City Centre - about 15/20 minutes – though worth it for an ale drinker. But the place could be so much better with a few tins of paint and a deep clean. Rated 7
On 14th April 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
I L left this review about Great Western Hotel
A long time favourite as not only is it handy for Exter St Davids railway station, it also does a very nice range of ales. It is starting to look worn but still as good as ever fro both food and the 8 plus ales on and dont recall ever having a bad pint in this two roomed split laevel bar area. It was once one of four pubs but now only two left in this area, probably affected by the large Wetherspoons just up the road. This pub still seams to have a good local following. Well worth making sure you have a bit of time when changing trains in Exeter!
On 3rd November 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 287 recommendations about 284 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about Great Western Hotel
Close to St David's main line station, but some way out of Exeter City Centre, is The Great Western, a pub / hotel that, externally at least, exudes the air of an establishment that has seen better days and does need a good lick of paint.
A cosy and largely carpeted bar - The Loco Bar - is split level and has a number of different drinking areas. Perhaps not surprisingly, a railway theme dominates and there's several splendid paintings / posters to admire. The "Great Western" engine nameplate hangs proudly in the back room. Note also the old Great Western poster advertising a "Special Fast Excursion to London" on Saturday 5 July 1879.
A bank of 9 pumps was, on my recent evening visit, serving mainly local brews of which both the O'Hanlons Port Stout and RCH Pitchfork were in superb form. The pub is listed in the CAMRA 2010 Good Beer Guide.
Staff here are clearly enthusiastic and knowledgeable about beer and I was served promptly and efficiently by a barman who was a dead ringer for David Seaman, complete with ponytail. Amongst various posters and flyers advertising forthcoming beer festivals was a rare sighting this far west of the latest issue of London Drinker.
This is clearly not your average hotel bar and it appears to have a good following of regulars. Notably, Seamus O'Donnells, a pub branding itself as Exeter's Number 1 Irish bar and situated virtually opposite, was closed and boarded up.
The hotel restaurant - The Brunel restaurant - seemed quite busy for a midweek evening. Food is also available in the bar till late.
It's a bit of a hike from Exeter City Centre - about 15/20 minutes, and even longer if you take the scenic route along the river towpath - but I think it's a hike worth making. This pub is at the top of my list for a revisit when I'm next in Exeter.
On 5th October 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Godric Elmhirst left this review about Great Western Hotel
Dirty and smelly with dogs in the pub. Beers may have been good as stated but the overwhelming smell make me turn on my heels. Carpets should be ripped up and replaced.
On 15th March 2010
- rating: 2
[User has posted 9 recommendations about 9 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about Great Western Hotel
A railway-type hotel, ok, good beer.
On 27th September 2009
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about Great Western Hotel
A hotel with 2 bars selling up to 8 real ales and those that i tried were in excellent condition including an RCH pitchfork that was the best i have ever tasted. The food comes in enormous portions so if you eat here make sure that you are very hungry
On 23rd September 2008
- rating: 10
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Colin Gooch left this review about Great Western Hotel
Bustling city hotel with comfortable bedrooms, good quality restaurant and a very busy bar with friendly staff
On 5th May 2008
- rating: 8
[User has posted 60 recommendations about 57 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Nigel Sheppard left this review about Great Western Hotel
What can you say when you have a choice of up to 18 real ales available in a hotel near the main railway station. Must visit!
On 28th May 2007
- rating: 10
[User has posted 192 recommendations about 192 pubs]