So the first one was to the Olde Bell in Hurley, Berkshire. I liked this because they spelt OLDE the way I approve of. The husband had done loads of googling and found it on the basis that it had a brilliant restaurant. And it wasn't too far, so we could borrow Dad's car and I could practice driving without getting too scared (recently passed the old test, hadn't I?).
THE OLDE BELL, HURLEY - BERKSHIRE, March 2010
http://www.theoldebell.co.uk/
Pub: nice. board games, good chairs, an open fire. all the good stuff. it wasn't the cosiest place in the world - but you'd be amazed how cosy a few red wines can make you.
Walks: good - we didn't have to go too far to find a Llama. Yep - an actual Llama. We took some photos of the llama, saw a bit of the river and then quickly walked back to the snug bar to have a bloody mary.
Room: Here is where we had some issues. Our room was IN the car park - and HOTTER THAN THE SUN. And the windows didn't open. It was a new building - not the nice little room upstairs from the pub we'd been expecting. We tried to get moved - but they were full. The bed was amazing, but it didn't really improve the fact that we were in a new build box in a car park.
Staff: I can't really remember - but I don't remember them being particularly helpful about the HOT room in the car park.
Dinner: the food was, as far as I can remember, fabulous. As was the wine. Can't remember what I had - it was 18 months ago. Sorry.
Breakfast: We missed it by mistake.
Next day: I crashed the car on the way home.
It was a fun weekend. We decided we'd do it again. Minus the car crashing. That was really shit.
