Butcombe BreweryReviews of butcombe.com

Six of us went for breakfast at the RoyalOak, Lavant, on 23rd october 2025, which was booked two months in advance. There were only 4 other people in the 'restaurant' and they were residents already eating their breakfasts when we arrived. We ordered 6 classic breakfasts. We were informed that there were no sausages . The waitress returned after the order had been placed and told us there were only 3 rashers of bacon left in the kitchen. We then chose 5 eggs benedict and one scrambled egg on toast. We were offered 'extras' to compensate for the lack of ingredients so we chose mushrooms and the waitress said she would put a plate of hash browns in the centre of the table. 30 minutes later the breakfasts arrived. The scrambled egg was cold and one plate did not have a mushroom, so we can only presume that they ran out of those as well. When the bill arrived we had to get it changed as we had been charged the 'free extras.' We had second cups of coffee ...one was served in a tea cup and there insufficient tea spoons so some dessert spoons were put on the table ! The coffees were barely warm. We settled the bills individually at the table and left. Later, I was contacted by the deputy manager by telephone so I was expecting an apology when he introduced himself. Not so. He was contacting me to say that one of the credit cards had not gone through and I owed £18.88p. I was very blunt with him and detailed our visit. He apologised stating that he had not been informed about what had happened, would look into it and would not be pursuing the £18.88p ! Whether he looked into or not I cannot say as he hasn't contacted me again with any result. To summarise, our visit can only be described as a fiasco from beginning to end. An appalling experience.

As it was raining pity hard yesterday Monday 20/10/2025 and as walking passed The Bear Inn in Cirencester I noticed they were open at 11am, food could be ordered at 12 midday with two choices table service or sit in the bar and get food to your table but you need to order drinks and get your own cutlery from the bar. The food range was great from children’s, to small bites and full on meals with prices ranging from £5 to £30 for the streak. The staff were very happy to serve you and very polite and even came half way through your meal to check everything was fine with your meals. The bar staff were friendly and very polite in serving you drinks and nothing was too much,ranging from coffee to wine with a great range of beers to choice from. Even had spaces left for the Christmas meal which at £99 was good to know. Myself and my family will be visiting again in the not to distant future maybe even Christmas meal.

I love a good ol' drink of butcombe

Staying at the Methuen Arms Corsham was one of the most horrendous experiences of my life. I had booked for 3 nights and for dinner the first evening. However, I found the food pretty bad (especially for the price) and voiced this to the server. The venison was way overcooked and small in amount - not that I was particularly tempted to eat it. I was offered a replacement to which I agreed and thanked the server. I thought macaroni cheese a safe bet. But the mac cheese was almost worse. It was so overcooked that I demonstrated, picking the portion up in one solid mass like a piece of cake. The server then called the manageress and after reiterating my dissatisfaction, she said she was CALLING THE POLICE BECAUSE OF MY AGGRESSIVE DEMEANOUR and I was to pack my room and leave. I decided just to wait for the police to arrive because the whole thing was so ridiculous - a genuine complaint about very poor food and the police are called. I asked "did I swear?" "no". Did I personally abuse anyone or use racist language?" "no", "Did I shout?' No - but you slapped your hand on the table which was perceived as an angry gesture and there were two witnesses. The restaurant was almost empty at 6:30 and there was a couple in both further corners, who in no way could have heard the conversation. I could not hear theirs, it was too far away and I very much doubt either of them would have come to the manageress and say "I saw that diner slap her hand on the table". So I am doubtful one of the witnesses was a fellow diner. Also the police confirmed that I was not shouting. I strongly deny that I slapped my hand on the table but this was only the reason the manageress could give for calling the police. I want to add here that I am a 76 year old woman with impaired mobility. The police came into my room because the manageress said I had 10 minutes to pack and vacate. To be fair one of them did say as an aside that they had never been called out in response to circumstances like these before (intimating that they thought it over the top), but did HAVE to respond (strange they don't do this for burglaries and shoplifting unless over £200!). They packed up my things (very humiliating), called me a taxi, which I had to pay for, and sent me off to a hotel in an adjacent town and I was lucky to get the very last room - an expensive family room. On contacting the only other two hotels in Chippenham, they were fully booked so I was obliged to take this room and lucky it hadn't been snapped up in the previous 30 minutes or I would have been stranded in a strange town with two suitcases. I see the hotel cancelled the second and third nights but I am billed for the first night at £183.60. I did not use the room or even anything in the room (like bathroom minis), was out of it before 8 pm, and had to pay for the other hotel at £145 (expensive because it was a walk-in booking and it was a family room) plus Travelodge Internet charges and about £35 taxi fare. I also had to try to secure last minute bookings for nights two and three (that I had already booked at the Methuen Arms) and being last minute, these were more expensive than if booked further in advance. So apart from this humiliating experience, I am out of pocket. Now editing this, because of the kind intervention of Booking.com Customer Service guys, I EVENTUALLY had the first night refunded (after a few days). I am pretty sure this was only done because of their intervention - they told me it sounded like a situation they had not come across before and surely it is the job of a manager to resolve such disputes - without calling the police! If a hotel has a legally sound and genuine reason to eject a guest, booking platforms will almost never force a refund. I think the offer of a lunch voucher at one of their pubs (as a kind of token admission of their mistake) is somewhat risible. I would like to add that if one reads the reviews rated one or two, many of them mention poor service and even rude staff as a reason for giving a low score..... ! I have now submitted a Subject Access Request (SAR) and requested the official police report to obtain the exact details which includes the wording of the call out, bearing in mind the police arrived, confirmed there was no case, and issued no caution (but said they were still obliged to remove me from the premises if that's what the hotel requested). Will update when I get the SAR report.

So we stopped at The Rising Sun, Backwell for a breakfast. Taken back at the £17.90 each price, but we were hungry so thought it must be good. Waited 40 mins and it was 40mins not 22mins as your reply for it to arrive, even though the dinning area was almost empty. Bacon was over cooked and hard. Toast was solid, half a mushroom each and dry burnt black pudding. Would recommend avoiding this place. Very poor quality at an extortionate price.

I placed my order and it was delivered in less than week. Carefully and securely packaged, it arrived in perfect condition. I'm very pleased.

Had dinner in Metheun Arms pub in Corsham, great food but service was very slow - way to many tables and staff sadly coudnt keep up. Starters took an hour to come. Great shame as it’s a good pub with nice and friendly staff

We stayed in a Butcombe Pub back in April, the stay was pleasant and I shall review that separately. This review is based on the company overall and is regarding use of personal data. When I order or book anywhere I specifically ask that I do not receive marketing information. It appears That Butcombe Inns breach the data protection act by sending unsolicited marketing information even though you have not asked to. It started with emails then recently texts to my mobile. It is not on, yes I can unsubscribe but why should I have to when I asked not to be included, if every company you deal with on a daily basis was to send marketing information you would spend a whole day just opting out. THE RULES - You need explicit consent for sending marketing emails, meaning you must make it clear to individuals that you will be sending them such emails when you collect their details. They have breached the GDPR