Bear Hotel

What can I say that has not already been said? Maybe something good. Well I think that the liver and mashed potato are great in the dining room. I agree that the rooms are not properly heated and in particular the lounge bar is freezing. England had their fateful match against Croatia so we were cold and had a laugh. We asked if the log fire could be put on but they said due to health and safety not after 6.00!!!!!!! What about another heater - 'Too expensive' was the reply. Shouting by staff accross the customers is not a good idea particularly when pompei types are involved ie 'Why is everyone here stuffin their face' said whilst we were eating breakfast- talk about feeling guilty. 'Problem is the cups are filthy' - nice insight by the manager and overheard by us in the dining room. Very dirty carpets abound - needs a makeover really. Not ideal - could complain a lot more but cant be bothered - just best avoided in future.

Stayed here after being booked through my company for a 2 day business trip. Luckily I was on my own and it was work. If I had been with my wife we would have moved out. Overall decor and presentation is very poor. Worn carpets, and a damp musty smell throughout. Room large enough but very tired and dirty throughout with a persistent smell of greasy food. Bathroom smelled of mould, toilet required a major effort to get it to flush, and shower stopped working for random 5min periods. Staff at breakfast seemed uninterested and quality of food poor (burnt pain au chocolate and small portions of cooked food.) Luckily we avoided the restaurant at night. On top of all this not cheap! Would tell anybody I liked to stay elsewhere at all costs!

This place should not be allowed to trade. The room was dreadful, tired, old and most things were broken. The restaurant is uncomfortable. Menu limited. Lounge was not cleared overnight so all ashtrays were still full when we arrived down for Breakfast. I would recommend it closes down for a complete refurb. I felt insulted that I actually had to pay to stay there - Never again.

stayed for one night , one night too many. rooms very cramped and cold, the bed was like lying on concrete. the locals are not very friendly and the food and service was very poor..i wished i had slept in the car . never again

I have to agree with the other reviewers. I stayed there for three nights in March 2007 and was not particularly impressed. It's not that it's a BAD hotel, it's just that it's not very good. My room was clean enough but pretty worn. The floor was uneven and sloped to one side. The meals in the restaurant were certainly nothing to rave about. I found the staff quite friendly, with one exception. Next time I'd probably pay a little more and stay closer to Portsmouth.

This hotel is by far the worst place I have stayed in. If you do have the misfortune to stay at this hotel I suggest buying some cleaning materials before checking in. Avoid any room from 1 to 24. It is certainly not worth either the room rate they charge or any official star rating. Only stay at this hotel as a very last resort.

I was to stay at the Bear for two consecutive weeks. The first week I was put in room 44 which, while not bad, was difficult to find in the mace of tatty corridors and flights of stairs and was far from worth the asking rate! On my return the following week I was checked into room 24 which turned out to be on the other side of the hotel. The whole room was sloping with the beds filthy headboard on the downslope. The wall paper was peeling, the television remote was crudely taped together. Absolutely everything was nothing short of disgusting. I attempted to check out the following day but was told I would be charged for that night too. The unfriendly and unprofessional staff were rude and inconsiderate. I have stayed at backpackers with cleaner and more pleasant facilities. I would advise anyone to completely avoid the hotel and rather stay at a local guesthouse at a fraction of the price

When I booked this hotel it was advertised as Superior. We had returned from a hioliday abroad and were expecting a romantic room to stay in. When we arrived there was no receptionist we had to summon her via the intercom. Then we found out there is NO LIFT. Our room was at the end of many flights of stairs and corridors, all poorly carpeted. So we had to stand at the car in below freezing temps searching for what we needed for the night and carry it to our room. We asked if there was any food ... no food after 9pm. Luckily we had crisps and biscuits to eat!! The room was adequate with trouser press, plenty of tea and coffee but not worth the £90+ we had paid.Breakfast we ordered scrambled egg and bacon and in 4 gulps it was gone..very small amount but we did get brown toast. The hoover cleaning the area after the night before, kept us entertained all through breakfast. Car park not near the entrance.

Having only spent one night in Room 42 at the above hotel I'm glad that was all. The double room looked quite presentable at first, but on closer examination there was 2 large stains on the bedspread which was a bit concerting to say the least! The cold tap on the washhand basin in the bathroom had the 'cold' insert missing, and the sealant around the bath was very black indeed. There were no 'sanitary'bags in the receptacle in the bathroom should any guest have been in need of such things. And finally, the light over the mirror attached to the 'dressing table' had missing / no working bulbs so this area was quite dark should you have needed this mirror. I had booked one night's accommodation about 4 weeks ago but in spite of the hotel being relatively empty, we were given a room overlooking the public car park and recycle bins- drunken youths congretated at midnight after closing time and the Council decided to empty the 'bottle bank' at 5.20am the next morning! When we went to the dining room for breakfast, there were croissants and Danish pastries listed on the menu - I asked for some but 'they did not have any' accoring to the very young waitress. The full ' English Breakfast' should have had black pudding and fried bread, but these were both missing from the plate- by then I was too tired to ask where they were! I completed the 'comments'card supplied in the room and returned to the relevant address overleaf- put the card in one of the envelopes supplied in the drawer, but the 'self seal' facility had dried up so I had to send the envelope unsealed. I rest my case!

I'm not sure if we were unlucky, but we found this a bit of a grim hotel to be honest. The room was generally dirty - the headboard on the bed was very dirty, the carpet was filthy and there were black marks all over the walls and ceiling. The bathroom wasn't much better as there were brown(!) stains on the tiles and there were big gaps between the tiles and the floor. Also the hotel seems to be suffering from subsidence as there were several large cracks in the walls and ceilings - some of which had what appeared to be devices to measure the growth of the cracks attached. This last point wouldn't have been too bad, but together with the rest it made for a unsettling experience. The final straw was that the shower didn't work and when we asked, we were told to use the bath (not terribly easy to wash your hair in the bath!). The total price for a two night stay was going to be £170. The room was classed as Deluxe on the booking confirmation, but when we questioned that we were told that because it was Goodwood weekend everyone pays the maximum rate no matter what room they were in. Our experience of the hotel was so bad that we actually decided to travel home to Norwich that day and return again (we had weekend tickets to Goodwood) the next morning rather than spend the second night in the Bear Hotel. To their credit the staff were generally good (apart from telling us to use the bath as the shower didn't work) and it seems as though the chain who own the hotel may need to consider a bit of investment. I have stayed in much better hotels for a much lower price.