The Saracens Head Hotel and Restaurant Reviews

Miserable staff, no cancellation policy even for emergencies when you give notice and when you try to be nice they are just rude and obnoxious.

Friends who stayed couldn t check in for hours after the stated time. Avoid this place

Beautiful Sunday lunch.. excellent service and quality food.

Had a great family meal here. We were in the function room, over from the main part of the restaurant. The room, service and food were excellent.

Small typical hotel, quiet and clean.
Comfortable and spacious rooms.
Privatized restaurant that night but there is plenty to do on foot.

Over 45 minutes waiting for food (standard dish from menu - no special request). Place wasn't busy at all. Very disappointed

Good staff , but the room was cold , the bed sheet got a black ink on it , and the breakfast wasn't great

Stayed here 1st March 2013... We enjoyed every moment. Staff were helpful, location was ideal and everything was very above average.

The Food, whilst being slightly expensive, was really good quality. The Chef is very talented.

My one gripe was the lack of pressure in the plumbing. Having a shower was near impossible.

Otherwise, 5 out of 5.

Regards, The Welshman that wouldn't stop complimenting the food.

Excellent old pub / hotel with masses of old world charm.

We used the Saracens head for our wedding reception and evening doo.
We had 60 day guests and 110 to the evening, which was a comfortable amount and the staff managed to deal with us all very well.
Food for the reception was fantastic, the lamb shanks were gigantic and tasted beautiful. We liked how flexible they were about the amount of welcome drinks and table wine we were allowed, they was no minimum amounts we needed to have. We chose for the evening to have a slightly cheaper option of sausage/bacon cobs instead of the buffet, but again you could tailor it to suit you.
We dealt with Andrew for the later part of the build up to the wedding, he was fantastic, nothing was too much hard work for him. But at the start we was dealing with several different people which was frustrating.
Overall I carnt understand why everybody wouldn't get married here it has a fantastic charm and is great value for money.
There wasn't many bad points on our behalf,but some guests mentioned that the lack of outside space would be off putting and the rooms were a little basic.
So just a big thank you from me & Alicia for making our big day absolutely perfect.
Ps. We found our tripod so you can stop lpoking now.
Pps. Our son, Elliot was born last week and he's doing brilliantly.

Wouldn't stay here again. The whole of the reception area smelt like a pungent mixture of urine and old people. The bed was uncomfortable to say the least, and the room was pretty much an oven all night due to no air conditioning or fan.

The TV didn't work in my room (203) and when I went to reception to advise, reception was closed. (11:30pm)

The shower had great pressure, however couldn't adjust the angle of the spray so the bathroom was flooded.

Breakfast was interesting, one sausage, 2 bits of bacon and 1 egg which was lovely, but there just wasnt enough of it. Juice was provided, but the old guy came and took the jug from the table without so much as a word, incredibly rude.

2/10.

Staff are friendly, facilities what you expect from a historic lodge house but I couldn t sleep because of a constant low humming that sounded like a boiler on the blink. I use a lot of hotels and can sleep through a lot but I didn't get a wink that night.

Pleasant place to sit & read a news paper. Food, a little expensive, but nice. Staff, helpful.

Room lovely food lovely, 3 visits so far, will return

What a fabulous outdoor area. Just had coffee...was served with a yummy shortbread biscuit.

Lovely meal in historic surroundings. Couldn't fault food choice available, service and portions.

Hotel lovely. We had a room at the front which was noisy from the traffic. Breakfast excellent. Nice friendly staff

Nice old hotel staff very friendly bit expensive for rooms.

Dire food, overpriced and uninteresting. A series of mistakes made the whole experience disappointing. Some members of staff were very professional and demonstrated excellent customer service, but it didn't compensate for others startling oversights. If you eat here, ask for an itemised bill and check it. We were not the only customers complaining today. Don't be fooled by the waiting staffs penguin outfits and gilded mirrors - all pomp and no substance.

Very cosy ambiance and good food and drink for a lunchtime meet with friends.

Friendly professional service, I'll be visiting again!

Had lunch here a few weeks ago and they were having some trouble with power cuts. It wasn t an issue as the staff kept us well informed and were very professional. The food was great and there was little to no delay despite the electoral issues they were having.

Just popped in for quick glass of wine. Wasn't sure what I wanted so the barman gave me a selection to try.
Was very impressed with the service. Very polite and well mannered

Terrible hotel in Southwell.
I want to say first that some of the staff are amazing and doing a great job considering they are having to work with a hotel that desperately needs renovation.
Not enough staff so bar and service is slow.
Room was old and tired. Heating was on full with no thermostat so the room was too hot to sleep in. We complained straight after checking in and was told it would be sorted. But it wasn t which meant not sleeping well. Opened the window but that meant road noise from boy racers all night.
Toilet took ages to fill and didn t flush properly.
Breakfast was nice although one of the staff was rude at breakfast.
All together not recommended. Avoid if you can.

Exelent, fantastic history. Huge Point in English history.

Lovely old building with great atmosphere and a fascinating story, but let down a little by rather indifferent staff.

Stayed overnight after a meeting with Debby to discuss our wedding we are holding here. Staff so friendly and helpful. Had a meal in the restaurant as well. Food was amazing, fresh tasty well thought out dishes. Our room was lovely clean, warm, good size bed with very comfortable mattress and pillows. Highly recommend Saracens Head.

Traditional small town hotel. Attended a lovely birthday party here. Extremely helpful staff - who helped me with a late taxi even at 1 am in the morning.

Excellent location & decor. superb meal. fixed price menu good value 2 course or 3 course options. great service with English eccentricity. well worth a visit.

Clean and tidy hotel I dont remember if we eat in there but if we did it was ok breakfast was good just make sure you dont stay there on bin day you will be awake around 0500 great if you want to get up at that time not if it's your day to start late and have a lie in

Lovely hotel, rooms quirky, lovely and clean and ours were large, hotel is located on a main road so expect traffic noise, the food is lovely, staff were friendly and helpful. Will stay again.

Celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary at the Saracens as we had our wedding reception there. First class service a year ago and still no change. We were welcomed, had the honeymoon suite again, remembered by staff and even found an anniversary card on our dinner table from all the staff. Could not ask for anything more. Plan to go back before another year has passed.

The steak and ale pie is delicious, as are the meatballs and gnocchi. The ambience and history also add to the enjoyment of the meal.

Beautiful spot to eat outside, food was average for price but enjoyed the garden

Lovely traditional hotel! Oak panelled walls beautiful antique clocks relaxing lounge & nice bar area. Breakfast very good & would definitely return to the Saracens Head!

Nice for a quiet drink. Not a very lively pub but if you just want a relaxed drink can't fault it.

Nice historic
public house, good pint of Speckled hen & good pub grub

Lovely hotel with lots of character. Helpful staff. Lots of comfy sofas. Bedroom clean and comfortable. Hearty breakfast available. Our room was on 2nd floor, so lack of a lift was problematic for me with mobility issues. It was the only down side to a very old building.

Got married on 7th Sept 2019 at the Saracens Head Hotel, a beautiful setting in this hotel steeped in history.

Can t thank Debby and her team enough for making our day so memorable. Decorated the room beautifully and made the day go so seamlessly, the food was delicious and nothing too much trouble for her or her staff who worked tirelessly to deliver a perfect day.

Stayed in the Bridal suite that night, such a large and comfortable room full of historical charm.

Can t recommend Saracens Head Hotel enough if your looking for a venue which caters for everything under one roof.

Once again thank you so much to Debbie and all the staff for making our day so perfect

Sue & Cliff

Really great pub and restaurant, dog friendly and very accommodating to our large group that also included a baby. Food was great and served quickly.

An old and tired hotel, in need of a refresh. However, it was lovely and clean, and the staff were professional and polite. The disappointment was the mattress, a lovely 4 poster bed needs a good mattress, this one was tired like the rest of the hotel, another negative was mould around the shower screen, on the whole this hotel was over priced for the accommodation that we had.

Great building, great staff. Couldn't be more helpful.

Lovely hotel very relaxing place to have a drink old character not sadly a lot of hotel's around like this one anymore
Great food helpful staff always pop in when in Southwell good place to take / meet friends

Great period building, great staff and wonderful food.

Staff slow to serve and food a disappointment 2stars are for the building itself

Very atmospheric pub. Comfortable rooms with lovely period ensuit.

Fantastic afternoon and evening. Staff were brilliant.

Staff excellent - food very good - enjoyed three day stay X

My only issue is my room was full with the smell of Chinese food which got very sickly after a while.

Plenty of charm with a central location, but as a hotel it's got numerous flaws (some small some large). My single room is comfortable, of a reasonable size, but the walls are thin enough to hear every word said in the rooms on either side. Road noise is very noticeable too. There is only one normal plug and it's miles from the bed (but three silly miniature plugs no longer used in the UK). The shower head was put in by a midget (it's only 5'10" from the bottom of the bath so many people would struggle to fit under, and this is despite there being plenty of space above to fit it at a normal height). The WiFi is very unreliable - good when it works but completely cut off for large amounts of time, and with the lack of any phone in the room it's difficult to report (plus Southwell has poor mobile coverage on most networks). Two redeeming features: staff are friendly and the cooked breakfast was delicious.If you need to be central, go here but otherwise stay somewhere where things work.

Having stayed at the hotel for two nights 18th and 19th of october 2016, we found the accommodation to be excellent -
warm and comfortable where we slept like logs! The reception we got was extremely friendly and all the staff made us feel very welcome. We would recommend The Saracens to anybody.

We were in Southwell for a celebration meal elsewhere. We had considered staying at the Saracens but it was too expensive - my sister stayed for 2 nights. We went up to her room, spent an evening in the lounge and paid for an overpriced More

i have never eaten in the restaurantt but the bar is lovely if a tad pricey

Had food before a show... Food was lovely and reasonable price.. Had to wait far to long for pudding which then we had to rush

Beautifully well presented historic hotel.

The bedding, towels and table linen are exceptionally clean and unless you're King Charles the second, it's a lovely place to stay.

Disappointed only reason we would stay there again was if visiting grandson at the uni there and there is very little accommodation in Southwell.
Breakfast standard nothing special unfortunately we decided we would have a meal there in the evening first for a drink no pink gin they said it was very popular so sold out . Then dinner vey dismal dining room after ordering after a while the waiter come back and said sorry we don t have any steak and ale pie we had ordered you would think they would have taken in off the menu our grandson and friend had the pork belly they could only eat half of it 2 huge pieces with very so much fat and it certainly wasn t crispy never seen it done like that .
Room ok no information about hotel or what s surrounding,found the aircon fan in cupboard, also no teabags not every one drinks coffee. Certainly wouldn t eat there again.

Nice facilities. The style is very classical and aging slightly, however the place is well kept and a lovely place to visit.

This place is well with a visit , the hotel has plenty of history, great staff and always willing to help and make you feel welcome , family owned so you would not expect anything else

Christmas Dinner with in laws. Food really good. Service abysmal. Felt as if an inconvenience.,had to get our own food menu, followed by Wine Menu. Presented bill before being offered coffees. Management not interested. Owner should re acquaint himself with Hotel Inspector as he obviously took no notice from a previous matter.
Recommendation. DON'T BOTHER

Quirky ,staff excellent good parking . Southwell is historic and well worth a visit

Had a great stay at the Saracens the food as always was great.room was beautifully made up and the bath was huge . Loved it

Good dinner. Custard creams provided with the room as standard!

Me and my Partner stay here with friends and food are nice.

Excellent food, service and quality. Lamb shank was amazing!

Me, my fiance and his mum popped in to have something to eat in the bar. Had burgers and chips which were nice, staff were lovely

I think this will be a one of experience considering the price and 'issues'. Our room was a standard and much of it to a good quality but let down by things such as: chipped soap holders, the loo brush on the wall at seat height right next to you, cheap loo roll holder crooked on wall, scruffy entrance door, no air con, and most of all the really old sash windows havnt been maintained and don't stay in place, are very dirty and the multiple pigeons nesting in the ivy outside constantly land outside the window or even on it keeping you awake with loud fluttering. Would be easy to fix by cutting down all the ivy outside and applying pigeon deterrents. Also the shower hose over the bath had been fitted upside down so would not stay in the holder - luckily my husband worked this out and re-fitted it. At checkout the receptionist was apparently unaware of all of this - shrugged and said 'oh there is nothing we can do about the pigeons'. Add to this I think the chef must have changed - my Italian meatballs was made with the cheapest mince containing pieces of gristle and bone and the sauce almost non existent. On the plus side the dining room is really gorgeous and straight out of a Miss Marple story. We stayed one night and will not be staying again however would go back for drinks etc.

Excellent period hotel. Excellent staff and service.

Visited for a large social event. Staff were friendly and hard working, food was tasty and the setting and decor lovely.

Racist, lots of damp all over the walls, furniture doesn't match in bedrooms and the list goes on. Not worth your time.

Comfortable warm and friendly, beware some meals are for bigger appetite's the fish and chips and steak pudding are massive

Absolutely lovely, romantic place. Very friendly staff and superb food!

We had our wedding at Saracen s on 30th September and we honestly cannot thank everyone at the venue enough. The day was exactly what we wanted from start to finish, the organisation, the food, the staff were all absolutely spot on. Debby, the wedding planner, was a rock, no matter how ridiculous my questions she dealt with them with grace. I don t have the words to express how pleased we are with the day, there is nothing that we have looked back on and thought oh we wish this didn t happen or we should have done this So thank you to everyone at Saracen s for making our day so magical, we look forward to visiting again soon.