The Joiners Arms

My wife and I, plus a small group of guests, stayed, ate, and celebrated our wedding at The Joiners in March 2024. For reasons needing no explanation here we made a complaint that was rewarded with two comp nights to take within a year. We duly accepted this and decided to return to The Joiners in March 2025 to celebrate our first anniversary. We also added a third night to our stay, confident that our stay would be worthwhile. We stayed the three nights in Coquet, a room separate from The Joiners, and made dinner reservations for Friday and Saturday. We arrived on Friday evening. Baring in mind that these rooms start at £290 and go up to £330 for bed and breakfast, the request to take a £50 ‘breakages’ deposit, is something we’ve never been asked for at any other B&B or hotel. Dinner on Friday was good, priced a little high for what we chose, but all seemed ok. Having stayed last year, we already knew what to expect at breakfast, but considering The Joiners is 5 star, a buffet breakfast set out along the pub’s bar is hardly worthy of such a high rating. There’s one coffee machine that broke down every morning we were there, and delivered less than satisfactory coffee, a conveyor belt toaster to toast the already dried out bread from a basket on the bar. Again, this is not 5 star. The only thing served to the table was whatever we ordered from the breakfast menu, which amounts to one plate of food. 5 star should be fully catered, in my opinion, with coffee and tea being served at the table, along with any extras, like toast, or anything else that may be available to request. More shocking still was the section of the menu that incurrs a £5 surcharge. This included any sort of Benedict, smoked salmon, avocado, or stotty! We were told that this was a recent implementation. This, when you’re spending £290-£330 per night for bed AND breakfast. Running about the place, making toast, and making your own tea and coffee, poring juice, plating up a pastry, filling a bowl with yoghurt or cereal, all whilst waiting for hot food to come out, is not 5 star. I ordered poached eggs on buttered toast from a grumpy waitress, who offered me no bread option, even though it provides for one on the menu. I asked for granary. My wife ordered pancakes. The pancakes were stone cold and were duly sent back for a warm version as described on the menu, meaning that my wife and I ate separately. My poached eggs tasted of an over use of vinegar and arrived on a single piece of unbuttered white toast. I ate it without complaint to the staff as I was hungry. The next morning, my wife tried to get yoghurt at the buffet, only to be told by a miserable waitress, that three, (small), servings had been put out already that morning and no more was available. For our anniversary dinner on the Saturday, we were seated to wait an unacceptable amount of time before being asked for our drink order. I ordered a whisky, my wife asked for a Newcastle Brown. Again, an unacceptable time l

We had a wonderful stay. From the moment we arrived the staff made us feel welcome and at home. The room was so nice, we stayed in silver beach. The bath with the view was amazing, I could have stayed in it all night but was tempted down by the delicious dinner! Our food was amazing, drinks were delicious and so well made (cocktails) we slept so well and when we checked out in the morning the girl was so friendly. We can't wait to come back!

Two night stay - with no hot water for the first night. Not ideal, but these things happen, of course. We ate there on the first night and had a few drinks, but no apology let alone a drink on the house. Merely, ‘someone’s been called… should be sorted’. The kettle didn’t work properly (needed to hold the on switch down) and the coffee machine leaked water. But these things happen. First world problems and all that. The staff were generally ok - but two on the bar were so demotivated that they constantly talked loudly to each other that they were working ridiculing shifts - and counting the hours down between them. “Thank god - only 4 hours to go…” etc. The place really wasn’t packed out and I could see what their issue was - but I thought best not to mention the kettle! The food was very nice and decent value - so thanks to the chef. Front of house though needs some serious work.. as we were left knowing that we were just in the way and they couldn’t wait for 10pm to come. Local chap at the bar was icing on the cake - he noticed our accents and asked if we could tell everyone back home that his pub was ‘sh**’. Obviously trying to be humorous but making the point that tourists weren’t welcome in his eyes. Well my friend… you have no problem there - happy to oblige! £680 for two nights.

Food was amazing and room was beautiful. There was a problem with the boiler during our one night stay and we had no hot water for a shower or a wash. Staff were apologetic but the issue was not resolved when we left. Offered a free night stay as compensation.

Great accommodation, everywhere nice and clean. Food is good, staff are fabulous, nothing is too much trouble. Parking could be better. There is free parking 100 metres away but that’s a faff. Perhaps room parking could be reserved? That said, overall it was a good place to stay.

We really did enjoy our stay. A very pleasant bedroom, the food was excellent and the staff were very helpful, in particular Chloe. Thanks for making our stay an enjoyable experience. We are already thinking about returning next year.