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Castle, Sandown

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user reviews of the Castle, Sandown

please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.

Vastly over rated in my opinion.

I only stayed for about 15 minutes, as the staff made no effort to keep the 2 pub dogs away from my dog.

Two dogs pestering a dog on it's lead ... could have gotten nasty.


Pat_Bateman - 12 Oct 2018 09:36
The best pub in Sandown by far. Excellent range of real ales, reasonable prices, and very friendly.
hollybush33 - 1 Jul 2018 13:30
I was on the island for the Beer & Buses weekend (14 & 15th October 2017) and luckily this pub was nearest to my hotel. In the Stables annex there were ten or so guest beers and three or four superb guest ciders. In the main bar there were four or five guest beers including HOBGOBLIN GOLD, GODDARD'S IPA (£2.80/pint) and FUGGLES DEE DEE. Every beer I tried was in superb nick.

The whole pub had been decorated in original fashion for Halloween. These decorations are really worth going to see, as they are not your standard shop-bought tripe. The whole pub resembles a Wax Museum.

For smokers/vapers there is a very nice beer garden patrolled by two lovely cats, Tia and Maria. The owners and the locals were friendly and approachable.

I spent 4 days travelling all over the island, but the Castle was so good I made up a poem:

Though I have searched the Island round,
The Castle is the best pub to be found.

Don't miss it!
offramp - 18 Oct 2017 02:00
excellent pub,everyone should visit,enjoyed bude neet and bude black rock porter!great service,nice mix of regulars and holidaymakers!
hoppyal - 11 Sep 2016 15:40
Excellent pub with 6 beers on 2 from hobgoblin,young's special,2 from iow brewerys,had very good pints of island yachtsman.worth a visit if on Sandown.
hoppyal - 16 Sep 2015 22:24
Visited this pub on a couple of occasions recently when I needed to get away from my tour group. Well kept ales, a clean bar and friendly staff all made for a great experience.
seaeagle - 10 May 2015 07:18
This pub seems one of the most thriving pubs I've visited on the island. The beer was well kept and had a mix of locals and tourists to keep it busy. The quiz night was busy and they are open later than other places. Definitely a unique pub and some good beers on offer.
Ale_Bob - 2 Sep 2013 15:03
Tried this pub on recommendations from BITE ( and as my B&B was only a 2 minute walk away)......wasn't disappointed.
As I was on the Island, I decided to try the local brews, and they had 3 of them on, in varying strengths. The White Knight was the strongest at 4.5%, and at £3:30 (or £2:80 during "Happy Hour" - 5 to 7), was certainly popular with me.
Sandown isn't blessed with an abundance of pubs, but for ale drinkers, you can't go wrong if you just keep drinking here.
Perry - 9 Aug 2013 16:30
Went to pop in here for 1...ended up having 3! That says it all about this gem of a pub. Great range of ales, friendly staff and locals and a great atmosphere. All hidden away from the seafront but within easy crawling distance from the main bus routes. There's also a suntrap garden which was useful on my visit.
Oakman100 - 8 Aug 2013 15:56
top pub,always a good selection of ales,enjoyed the triple fff elder skelter very much.love the pub dog.
hoppyal - 30 Sep 2012 14:44
A nice pub with a range of beers on. It does not look too inviting from the outside as along a row of terraced houses and has a plastic door, but once inside the character can be seen. A pub that seems to celebrate halloween all year round with skeletons, suits of armour and weaponary on the walls. Glad we stopped by for one when heading back from the beach.
Mad123 - 12 Jul 2012 16:41
A back street boozer that features a large l-shaped lounge and a central bar. There are large flat screen tvs on both sides of the pub. Floor is mostly carpeted and the seating which includes a couple of sofas is reasonably comfortable. There are a few unusual beers on the bar, including some local IOW beers. The pub seems mainly frequented by locals rather than tourists. The castle theme is carried on in the lounge with loads of oddments; shields, axes, suits of armour, a portcullis etc!
boozers_knows - 6 Jul 2012 11:19
BESTpub in Sandown by miles good staff good beers and a friendly pub dog
lowerbourneshot - 10 Feb 2012 16:38
Best pub in Sandown by a long way, a good selection of real ale and fifteen types of draught and bottled cider.

The landlord and his staff know what they are doing and are friendly.

Pub has a DJ on a Saturday and had adverts up for a cider festival in July (too much Titanic Iceberg ale so can't remember the dates!)

Has a large outside drinking area and inside has some unusual decorations with skeletons and dragons theme.

Well worht a visit.
beershot - 5 Jul 2011 18:01
went here a few times in the last week,best real ale pub in sandown,had 5 beers on, of very good quality.always had a good few customers in,compared to other local pubs.enjoyed the beer mat catching dog as well.
hoppyal - 18 Jun 2011 14:25
Like reviewer "blue scrumpy", I wondered where I would ever find a decent pub in Sandown. Then I found this!

What a gem! Excellent beers, friendly locals, great decor (loads of wonderful dragons!), super service - what more do you want?
ecksact - 3 Jun 2011 06:19
Great choice of real ales and freindly bar staff, when we arrived we discovered there was a beer festival on in the back bar/room of the pub too, a real find. Only downside of my visit was treading in some dogdoodoo in the courtyard on my way to get a pint.
DudleyC - 6 Apr 2011 10:39
visited this lovely pub recently, and i must say the two gentlemen (Ian and Ricky a lovely couple.... of chaps) who run it made the evening very enjoyable for me and my family, the locals were very friendly, will definitely be going there again next time we're over.
sminky01 - 30 Jan 2011 14:32
Just as I was getting seriously disillusioned by the quality of pubs on the island, my faith was finally rewarded by a trip to this pub (our 7th of the day). Situated in a quiet residential street up the hill from the pier, this is a true locals pub where real ales are popular and the clientele are fairly friendly. The pub is strangely decorated and is more akin to the London Dungeon than a seaside local. We couldn't help but laugh at the skeleton poking out of the wall immediately behind a singer. Numerous other skeletons and ghastly items lined the walls, along with shields and medieval-type items - very strange but amusing. We found the pub clean and well kept. Real ales were available - Itchen Valley Green Jackets, Marstons Dragons Tale, Youngs Special, Green King Abbot Ale and Island Nipper Bitter. This pub could have been our pub of the day, if it had sold a real cider! Although a bottle of Green Goblin was a reasonable substitute. Well worth searching out if you're ever in this part of the island.
blue_scrumpy - 19 Apr 2010 20:14
what a pub! brilliantly decorated out for halloween superb range of beers very friendly staff & regulars an absolute must for anyone visiting sandown will definately go back there again when we visit the iow again
BAZ58 - 19 Oct 2009 11:29
The Castle is a great pub with friendly staff. Stayed at the pub on a bed and breakfast basis whilst over to watch the speedway in august, Dave and Jo made us most welcome and the breakfast that we were given in the mornings kept us going for the day. The pub itself has a wide range of draught beers and has entertainment on some weekends including a friday night meat raffle and a sunday night quiz which both seemed to be very well supported and popular. It also seems to be popular with the locals who were also friendly and made you welcome. If your over in Sandown give the castle a try and maybe even book in for a few nights you won,t be dissapointed
brum1875 - 7 Aug 2007 12:11
Found this gem while on holiday down there. Spent most of my drinking time in there. Played darts with the very friendly locals and joined in with their quiz night. Also a big hit with my partner(katie) who hit her first 180 ever. Thanks for a great time.

ptb - 15 May 2005 08:27
A good pub. Real beer and friendly locals in here.
DaveHarley - 16 Feb 2004 18:01

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