The White Horse, Leamington Spa

I went to the White Horse for Sunday lunch this weekend just gone with a couple of friends. When we arrived, my friend wanted a pint of ale on tap, only to be told (one by one) that all the ales he had asked for were off & that he would have to wait for the new ones to be put on. We then ordered food to be told that the card machine wasn't working, and that we would have to pay cash. 40 mins after ordering our food & it not arriving, my other friend went to ask about it, & was told that it would be arriving in a minute (although there was no apology for the wait). When the food arrived (with apology), it was very nice - I had the lasagne and it was a good sized portion & very tasty. However, we sat there for a further 40 mins after finishing, and by the time we left the pub, no one had come to clear away our plates. This was despite the pub not being particularly busy.

Things I like about the pub - the board games, the sweets behind the bar, and one girl who served me initially who was very friendly and apologetic. Newspapers were available. The range of beers & ciders is good, when they manage to have them all on.

However, I think the White Horse really needs to get the basics right - the quirkiness of the games and sweets doesn't make up for bad service & poor attention to detail. The female toilets could do with a good clean (I can't vouch for the gents), and in fact I got that impression about the whole place.

I must stress that I don't have a grudge against this pub (!). When it had first been refurbished a couple of years ago, I had a fabulous Sunday lunch for a friend's birthday, and the service was very good. I also spent the evening there on New Year's Eve 2008 and had a really good night. From both of these experiences, I had been recommending the place to others. However, I get the impression that complacency has set in from a management perspective. It's a real shame as it could be such a great pub.

To back up a previous comment, unfortunately a friend of mine was also treated quite badly by the manager around a year ago. My view is that everyone makes mistakes, but in the service industry it is how you make up for these mistakes that makes the difference between your customers wanting to bad-mouth a place and wanting to recommend it to others. Unfortunately, if you are treated badly, you are very likely to tell lots of people about it, and less likely to do so if you have a good experience.

Please - if you are White Horse staff seeing this - please do something about it! The pub could be so much better, especially as the food was really quite nice. There is plenty of competition for good food & nice pubs in Leamington, so there is every reason to sort these things out.

6 Jul 2009 12:12