Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Rotherham

  • Rotherham – Ibis Rotherham East

    Rotherham – Ibis Rotherham East

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    This is now routinely the cheapest Accor hotel venue in the country (although it’s the fifth cheapest tonight, Ibis Lincoln is down to £34), priced even lower than the Ibis Budget hotels. I’ve now stayed here twice and the room rate has averaged £26 a night, which is to be fair not very sustainable. However, they don’t need it to be sustainable as the hotel is coming to the end of its 25 year lease and it’s on the market for £4 million and will cease being an Accor hotel in a few months.

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    I had a seven minute wait for check-in as there were no staff visible. It’s never entirely optimal, but I don’t think they were expecting many guests to check-in. I had two bookings, one of four nights and another of one night, but they didn’t have the technology to merge the two bookings and I often think it’s just best to keep them separate to avoid confusion. All the staff members were helpful and personable, it was probably the main thing that was keeping everything together at the moment.

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    The room is dated, but serviceable. It’s the old style Ibis design which was phased out several years ago, but I imagine there was little point making a large-scale investment at this stage. The broken hairdryer holder in one room had its last electrical safety check in 2007 to show how little has changed here. The bathrooms need a refit and they need to have the traces of mould removing as well, that’s a slightly sub-optimal arrangement.

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    I was disappointed when I e-mailed the hotel to say I might not be there for the first night (it was the day of the storm) and they didn’t burden themselves with taking the time to reply. I will be disappointed if I have to chase up the 200 points I got from the above ‘skip the clean’ offer, but I suspect I’ll have to. As a comparison, I e-mailed Ibis Budget Warsaw Centrum a couple of weeks ago to tell them I might be arriving at 01:00 (I’m aware they didn’t need to know this, but they do say to let them know) and they responded within three minutes.

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    They didn’t mention the welcome drink at check-in, but it was willingly given when I asked for it.

    For my purposes, the hotel was generally clean and it represented excellent value for money when taking into account this is boosting my room stay nights at a very low price as I return to Platinum this year. It offers breakfast and meals, but they don’t try very hard to push these, and when I walked by the restaurant area was nearly always empty. It’s a challenge given that they’ve got a McDonald’s literally in front of the hotel, and a Greene King pub next to it. It’s a tired hotel and a country mile behind the standards of Ibis in Poland in particular, but at the price point they’re charging, I was entirely happy. There was some internal noise, but no external noise, with the temperature in the rooms being appropriate. There’s a good chance that I’ll stay here again before they cease being an Accor venue, especially as the regular First buses to Maltby to Sheffield go by the main road adjoining the hotel.

  • Rotherham – Rhinoceros (Closed JD Wetherspoon)

    Rotherham – Rhinoceros (Closed JD Wetherspoon)

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    It’s fair to say that there are a few minor defects that stop this former JD Wetherspoon pub from reopening. I’m not a builder, but I can see some things that I suspect need fixing.

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    The pub was the first Wetherspoon venue in Rotherham when it opened in 1998, although the Bluecoat was later added and that remains trading. The pub was closed by Wetherspoons in October 2019, when it opened under new owners and they remained trading until an arson attack in December 2021. It’s expected to be demolished later in 2025 and new flats and retail units put up in its place. I hadn’t realised that Rotherham once had a third Wetherspoons venue, which were all open at the same time, named the Corn Law Rhymer although that’s now looking permanently closed as well.

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    A few of us visited the pub back in 2017 and these were the glory years when they sold the pastrami bagels. This is the only photo that I took inside the pub, so that’ll just have to do as my memory of the Rhino.

    Luckily, the Google reviews for the venue are still visible, so some of the complaints live on even if the building doesn’t. A fair chunk of the reviews were about other customers, including a male who used the female toilets and a customer who kept licking the window.

  • Rotherham : Bailey Bridge (and the chaos of litter in Rotherham)

    Rotherham : Bailey Bridge (and the chaos of litter in Rotherham)

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    In my quest for ever more riveting content (and rivets sort of have a link here) I’ve been to a bridge in Rotherham. This isn’t the bridge I’m making reference to, but it’s good exercise as there’s another bridge behind this one (sort of visible in the photo) to get to it.

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    It’s this one. It’s a surviving Bailey Bridge and it’s particularly appropriate here, as Sir Donald Coleman Bailey was born in the town and was educated at Rotherham Grammar School. This one was used during the Second World War and was acquired from the army for £300, paid for by Rotherham Council and Rawmarsh UDC, opening in 1947.

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    As this board notes, the bridge is strong enough to hold a tank.

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    On a more unfortunate note, the litter problem in Rotherham is unlike anything else I’ve seen before as it seems to be nearly everywhere. These photos just happen to be either end of the bridge I went to visit, but it feels like this throughout the town.

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    A once beautiful riverbank.

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    There are tens of thousands of pieces of litter in a relatively small area, the council appears to have entirely lost control and this is repeated throughout the bits of the town that I’ve walked through (which is quite a lot for various reasons this weekend). This article refers to a different park nearby, but hopefully the next generation will be a little more caring towards the environment. Anyway, it’s a nice bridge and as part of the development of Forge Island in the town they’ve commissioned a new Bailey bridge which is now in position. That’s the end of my posting about bridges in Rotherham I think unless I happen across another interesting one.

  • Rotherham : Bluecoat

    Rotherham : Bluecoat

    I first visited here in November 2024 and since I’m in the area again, and knowing that it’s in the cheapest JD Wetherspoon price bracket I thought that I’d pop in again.  It’s listed in the Good Beer Guide and it was built as a Bluecoat charity school, but was turned into a pub in 1981 and JD Wetherspoon took it over in 2001. Following the closure of the now burnt out Rhinoceros pub in the town, this is the only pub that the chain have in Rotherham now.

    This breakfast, unlimited coffee and half a pint of real ale came to the grand total of £5.18, which is some impressive value. And it tasted delicious, I’m not really one for full English breakfasts (or breakfasses as they seem to be called when customers order more than one) but I rather like the arrangement here.

    The on-line reviews are generally very good, averaging 4.2 out of 5 on Google.

    “It went from bad to worse, we ordered food and drinks using the app straight to our table – one drink was a pepsi max and one was pepsi. The guy brought the drinks over and one of the drinks had a lemon in, assuming this was a marker for which drink was which I asked which one was the full fat drink. The server said ‘I don’t know, sniff them’. At first I thought he was joking so laughed it off, until he walked off with nothing else to say”

    This one I’ve seen variations of in numerous pubs in the chain.

    “Ordering via app is a nightmare. Can’t make any changes at all to food order (dietary requirements etc), no way to request food without an ingredient etc. Tried to speak to bar staff in person and all we got was “you can’t make changes. Also, the food was disgusting.”

    I’m guessing they tried to take out an ingredient of a meal that’s going to be cooked in the microwave….

    “I work within the funeral service, after a long hard day at work. In the 19,5,2021, i was lucky enough to be out on a first date with a gorgeous lady. We decided to go and use one of your establishments (bluecoats rotherham).

    Upon placing our order which was two large portions of scampi and chips, with a side plate of garlic bread. waiting for the service. After twenty minutes, the food arrived.

    The order was wrong, the kitchen staff had sent one large portion and one small. After i pointed out the fact that there should have been two large portions. The small plate was taken away..
    Thus leaving the large portion and garlic bread at our table..

    Now to reiterate that i was on a date, i wasn’t thinking that for me to consume my meal would have been a ideal way to impress the lady I was with.. As she was left plate less.

    After 15 minutes of waiting, of course now, the two plates are cold upon the table. So i called over the waiter, whom after a short and polite conversation, said he would take the plates and replace them under the kitchen heat light.

    Now in so far as my limited knowledge of food preparation, is it safe to reheat fish products or indeed is it acceptable to even reheat any food products thereafter???

    Upon hearing what the waiter was planning, i took decisive actions to ensure that i was able to have the reheated food, passed back to me.. i pulled the scampi apart.
    And said that all three plates should be served at the same time.

    We ordered food approximately 8.05 pm .. 8.55pm fifty minutes after placing our first initial order, still our table is merely adorned by pints of Carling (with a dash of lime). Lets not forget that this is a first date and still we haven’t been able to have a late evening meal… So releasing that it was a wasted opportunity for us to relax and have a good time. I called for the manager (Shaun) to come and i gave him the opportunity to explain what the problem was?

    Upon which I was unfairly accused, of being nasty to two members of his staff. Which I then asked who i had apparently upset.. to which he retorted that he didn’t need to justify anything… he then claimed that I was being rude towards himself, which indeed i wasn’t.. The lady i was with can clarify this to be fact .. i was left feeling despondent as to how i was mad eto feel and highly disrespected in front of the whole public house…

    I asked for a refund and left, luckily enough for me and my date, all was not lost. We enjoyed our meal at the local KFC…

    I would like to Express my discontent and anger as to how i was spoken to and how the manager tried to publicly show me up..

    I remained in my seat at all times, i didn’t raise my voice during the conversation, i didn’t personally insult anyone, i didn’t swear.. I i didn’t wish to be treated as i was.”

    I have no words, but I hope that the date went well.

    “Absolutely a disgrace the decor was very dark and dismissal decided not to eat surely if this was a “weather spoon” pub why isn’t they a dress code and the customers that it attracted were from the angel and county brough very low life will not set foot in this place ever again !!!”

    Dress code? Seems aspirational.

    In terms of the real ale, there are seven on at the time of writing, the Ruddles and Abbot Ale from Greene King, as well as Doom Bar from Sharp’s being the regular beers. The four rotating ales are the Ossian from Inveralmond, the Odin’s Gold from Rudgate, the Midnight Bell from Leeds Brewery and the Cavendish from Welbeck Abbey. I went for half a pint of the Midnight Bell which was roasty, malty and had a bit of liquorice taste to it, well-kept and smooth.

    It’s a venue with history, the staff seem friendly, it’s clean, the prices are low and the real ale selection is decent. All really rather lovely.

  • The Bluecoat in Rotherham

    The Bluecoat in Rotherham

    The Bluecoat

    Address: 6 The Crofts, Rotherham

    Local Council: Rotherham

    I’ve now visited this pub.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.