The Bell at Skenfrith

Had dinner here. Warm welcome and atmosphere, excellent service and good menu. The portions were generous and well presented. Fillet steak was splendid. Only small criticism is that the fish dishes were a little overcooked and the dauphinoise potatoes were undercooked. If you like chocolate, the delice was heavenly!!

Set across a quiet road from the Monnow River in pretty countryside this well furnished 11 bedroom, hotel restaurant is a delight. Our small group stayed for 3 nights and dined in each night. The rooms are well appointed, clean and comfortable. Extra touches like fresh milk, real coffee and home made biscuits in the rooms suggest a thoughtfulness that extends throughout the hotel. Food is of a high standard and the staff (special mention to Maria and Kat and the lady at breakfast) are efficient and pleasant. Breakfast is only served from 9am which is late for me but you can always walk down to the church, castle and river to help build up your appetite.

We spent a weekend there for a friend's wedding. The place is really nice in a fantastic location, and our room was incredible.

It's pricey though, so be prepared. We had dinner and were really surprised. From our personal point of view, the quality of the food does not justify those prices. In fact, we wouldn't eat there again. It's not worth it.

Finally, and although we understand they're short of staff, the service is quite frankly not very welcoming or at the level you expect from a place like that, and it's the main reason we give it 3 stars: The reception is normally empty. Difficult to find anyone there. You ask for a cab and they tell you to check it online. They come to ask if we're ready to order during breakfast, we say we need more time and the woman looks at the ceiling and turns around without saying anything (That was awkward).

Overall, a very good place to stay, but we'd say that if you want to charge that money you need to offer a bit more.

We went to the Bell for dinner as we were close and in Skenfrith for the day. Booked via mail with Maria which was great. Food was lovely and portions well sized, but a little on the expensive side. Overall lovely place. Would have given 4 stars, but we felt a little rushed as the courses came very close to each other. We had some nibbles to start and before we had got half way through our starters were called. Then again straight after this our mains. Again lovely food, but perhaps ask if we are ready for next course or give more of a gap.

This is the worst pub experience I've had in a long time. It exemplifies the worst of Conservative middle England.
We arrived having had a fabulous walk over the hills and swim in the river. We were looking forward to a lovely drink in a beautiful pub by the river.
The location is lovely. It was, however, catastrophically ruined by the service (we were treated with utter disdain) the upper middle class decor and the overwhelmingly aspirational ambiance. Think the worst nouveau-riche golf course and you'd be spot on.
And worst of all is that we were told by someone local that it used to be a beautifully relaxed hub of the local nature-loving community.
What a waste of a beautiful spot. The next change of management can't come too soon.

Called in for a drink here. Stood around for ages in the bar area waiting for staff to appear only to be told they were shut
dispite there being other customers who were just finishing up their lunch. Women was quite condescending in her attitude, looking me up and down as if I was something the cat had dragged in!
10 years ago I stayed here with for my wedding in the church at Skenfrith. The rooms were very nice then. I wont be going back.

Very odd people running the place, almost constantly disgruntled, keep popping back to see if anything has changed with attitudes, drinkers only are not welcome or accommodated. Nice location and surrounding area, castle , river for dipping the kids in a hot day, other local pubs up the road. Nice courtyard garden at the back of the pub.

We stayed here after walking the three castle walk. What a lovely place! Staff were so helpful, food was delicious and rooms really nice. It was an amazing place to come back to after a long day of walking. Its location by the river and castle are also stunning. One very small thing - the mattresses weren't the most comfortable - quite hard. Even just putting on a mattress topper on the beds would make it much more comfortable. Small thing though, other than that the stay was amazing. Thank you so much!