The Cross Keys

This a review of of the bar and the restaurant it's local to where I've been staying and the food has been absolutely amazing twice. I chose the fish and chips with the strawberry ice cream and the next visit I had the steamed mushrooms fish and chips

We have very recently from our second stay at the Cross Keys hotel in Saffron Walden. Overall, our stay was ok, the hotel has some plus points but also some which are negative. On the credit side this ancient hotel is very attractive externally and has definitely has ‘old world’ charm. The hotel is extremely well located in the centre of Saffron Walden; this is the chief reason we returned to this hotel, since for our purposes a central location was important. The hotel does not have its own car park but there is a large public car park (Swan Meadows) about a 5- minute walk away that is reasonably priced and indeed is free between 6 pm and 8 am, hence parking is not really a problem here. The hotel dates back centuries and therefore unlike modern, purpose- built hotels the rooms are all different shapes and sizes and do not have air conditioning. I believe all bedrooms are upstairs and there is no lift hence the bedrooms are unavailable if one cannot climb stairs. Our room on this occasion was on the small side but was clean, adequately furnished and the bed was comfortable. The old - fashioned sash window could be opened quite easily to ventilate the room, but I suspect that in the depth of winter these single glazed windows might mean the room gets very cold. Unfortunately, two out of three of the bathroom lights were not working and although we reported the issue almost immediately upon arrival this problem was not rectified during our two- night stay, I was given to understand that the light bulbs were in some way unusual and not easily obtainable. Maybe the hotel needs to upgrade their lighting system to a more conventional one so that non-working bulbs can be placed more rapidly. On the negative side we found that the service at breakfast time was very slow indeed. This was also a problem that we encountered last year and were hoping there may have been some improvement since then, however, this was not the case. Fortunately, we were not in any hurry but if one’s time is short it might be better to obtain breakfast elsewhere. It would seem that the chief cause of such slow service is a lack of staff; whilst the staff members we encountered were pleasant enough we never met anyone who appeared to be in charge overall. It should be noted that no staff stay on site overnight (although one is given an emergency number to ring if you need help). In addition, after 10pm the only access to the hotel is via a fire escape staircase situated at the back of the hotel. On one evening we arrived back shortly after 10 pm to find the staircase lights were not on (which could lead to trips and falls) in addition, there were a couple of men hanging around near the bottom of the staircase. Although these men caused us no bother whatsoever, if I had been on my own I think I would have felt rather frightened at climbing up into the darkness with the possibility of being followed. So, for these reasons I do not recommend this hotel for lone travellers who

Having arrived at the hotel we checked in and were asked to pay the full amount for our stay. We were shown to our rooms and it was noticeable how cold it was throughout the hotel. We were told that the boiler had "just" broken down but there was a small convector heater in each room. We visited the restaurant area which again had no method of heating. The food was well presented although the waiting time was a little excessive. We were advised that the main entrance would be closed after 10pm and that entry could be gained via the rear fire escape. We returned to the hotel shortly prior to 10pm to discover the main entrance was locked. We located the rear wrought-iron fire escape although this was in total darkness and unlit. Fortunately we could use our mobile telephone torch light to locate the entrance key pad and gain entry. In our opinion this was/is extremely dangerous and a serious risk to the patrons. We shall not be returning to the Cross Keys Hotel again until the major maintenance problems have been resolved and rectified

In the restaurant- Cups of tea are terrible. I sent it back it was like dishwater. No apology for that. Food is good, but customer service really falls short. One of the waiter’s spilt hot water on my friend and just smiled with an ‘oops sorry’ type phrase. No napkins, had to ask. No one checked how our meal was. Really need to improve

Lovely spot in the centre of the old town. Great room with en suite with a shower, comfortable bed, and tea/coffee-making facilities. The restaurant provides various quality meals from Breakfast to Lunch to Dinner. The staff are most helpful. We will book again! It is reasonably priced.

Took a while to get seated even though it was empty and waitresses clearly saw us but continued to keep talking. Took a long time to get food ordered and served. Overall service was poor and took a lot longer than needed. Asked for bill half way through and still had to go up and get it