The Fisherman's Haunt, Christchurch

Featured reviews

• G

  Google user

  ·1 month ago

  “​We recently stayed at The Fisherman's Haunt for three nights as we were attending a wedding at the very nearby Sopley Mill. While the location is very convenient for the venue, we were ultimately quite disappointed and would rate our overall stay 2.5 stars. ​The Positives: The proximity to Sopley Mill is ideal, and our room itself was large and spacious. You can clearly see that the property has an incredible amount of potential to be a really fantastic place to stay. ​The Negatives: Unfortunately, the reality is that the pub and hotel are eye-wateringly overpriced for what you get—especially considering breakfast is not included in the price. The property appears very run down and certainly does not match the polished pictures advertised online. ​Room Condition & Cleanliness: Despite the great size, the room was very dusty and had a distinct smell of damp. We also found dirt marks on our bedsheets, particularly under the pillows. ​ Housekeeping: During our three-night stay, our room was completely unserviced. The bins were never emptied or cleaned. Luckily my partner, had packed a spare toilet roll (a habit I always thought was strange, but I completely understand why now!). ​ Bathroom Hazards: The bathroom tap would not stop dripping, and the metal fixture itself got dangerously hot—hot enough to easily burn yourself. While the water pressure seemed good, the main shower head was badly blocked, with water unable to come out of most of the holes. We had to rely entirely on the handheld shower attachment instead. ​ Access Issues: On Friday night, we went out for a meal with family and returned around 10:30/10:45 PM, only to find the entire place locked up. We were left stranded outside and had to knock very hard on the door until someone finally came to let us in. ​ Noise & Disturbances: We could hear their dogs barking very late into the night. The poor animals had been barking for up to two hours and sounded completely desperate, as though they needed the toilet. We eventually had to ask the owners to attend to them. ​ Unprofessional Atmosphere: The most uncomfortable moment of our stay was hearing the owners having a giant argument. The atmosphere was so awkward that we actually chose to stand outside in the car park for up to 30 minutes while waiting for our lift, just to get away from it. ​It is such a massive shame because The Fisherman's Haunt has the bones and location to be exceptional. However, given the lack of cleanliness, maintenance issues, and the uncomfortable atmosphere, we wanted to warn others to set their expectations accordingly. The cost of our stay was over £700... we feel miss sold by the pictures online and expected much much better than what we got.”

• G

  Google user

  ·1 month ago

  “One of the worst meals out we’ve ever had. We came for a pub lunch. The pub was almost empty with only 9 people eating on a Saturday in August (first bad sign), we waited almost 1 hour and the food was NOT worth the wait. It was so oily, the onion rings were questionable and the salad looked more bad than good. No complaints to the waiters themselves but that pub needs a serious turnaround or it’ll be closed very soon. Things just felt slow and not worth the visit. First and last visit, would not recommend based on our experience.”

• G

  Google user

  ·2 months ago

  “We were a party of people for my daughter’s wedding at Sopley Mill. All booking independently. The rooms were very good. The staff were great The administration needs to get their act together. I booked 2 rooms and paid for them at the time of booking direct. They told me one of the rooms still needed paying for, I said no that both rooms had been paid for. After 40 minutes of computer searching they found the payment. My brother on his booking they said he hadn’t paid, he doesn’t do internet banking so had no proof that he had paid so he paid £366 for the 2 nights. When he got home he checked with his bank and he had paid when he booked also direct. They did refund the over payment. My daughter who was the one getting married was told she had only booked 1 night. They eventually sorted it. The rest of the party had booked via booking.com or similar and had no problems. All I can say is a lovely hotel that needs to understand how their direct booking system works.”

• G

  Google user

  ·2 months ago

  “We stayed here for one night after deciding to find somewhere close to Bournemouth, and we’re really glad we chose this place. We stayed in the large ground-floor room at the front, next to the car park. Despite being close to the entrance and exit, it was surprisingly quiet, so we had a great night’s sleep. The king-size bed was excellent, with a comfortable mattress that made for a very restful stay. The room, bathroom, shower, and toilet were all spotless and well maintained. We also appreciated that the room stayed at a comfortable temperature, even during the June heatwave. We didn’t have the chance to try the food, so I can’t comment on that, but based on our stay, we’d definitely recommend this hotel and would happily stay here again.”

• G

  Google user

  ·3 months ago

  “We booked this for three nights through Pet Pyjamas, believing this would be a dog friendly pub. We stayed for one night. Where do I begin? The room was old, tired, dark and smelt of damp. The bedding was clean and fresh, but that was about it. The room had not been cleaned. There was thick dust on the window sill - such an obvious place to 'miss' when cleaning a room. All the fitments were 'wonky' and looked like they'd been put up in a rush, there were stains on one of the chairs, the old furniture had been repainted and the desk top was 'rising' where it had been repainted and the floor looked like it had been there since the 60's - cold, wood pieces rising, no comfort at all. We paid extra to for our dog and yet there was nothing provided for him. No bowl, bedding, treats, nothing, just an extra amount on an already overpriced bill. As we went round the site we realised there were no dog bowls anywhere and no bins - so we had to drive out of the pub to find a bin to get rid of our dog 'bags'. Very poor The local environment offered nothing. The pub was next to a main road with fast moving traffic, including large lorries. Walking the dog on the only evening we stayed was horrible for us and the dog. To go anywhere, you had to get in a car and drive. The inside of the pub was quite nice - I presume any money spent on the place has been spent on this as it definitely wasn't spent on the rooms, and having spent 10 mins outside, it wasn't spent on that either. The pub looks very run down from the outside, the seating area hadn't been cleaned or painted, there were cobwebs and weeds everywhere, and the noise from the road made it impossible to spend any time there. We had prebooked dinner, so felt we had to at least give that a go. The food was acceptable, nothing special at all, just standard pub grub. My husbands steak was cooked as ordered, however, it was full of gristle and not a good eating experience at all. My dinner was cold by the time I got half way through it. Serving hot expensive meals on cold plates? Rooky error! The prices. just like the price of the room, were ridiculous for what was served up. By the end of the meal I had already made a reservation at another pub (which turned out to be worth every penny!) for the following two nights. We left the following morning. The only positive thing about our experience was the lovely girl who served us. She ran the bar and served all our food. I hope she is better looked after than the pub and accommodation is. This is a pub trying to be something it is not. The rooms weren't worth half the price they were charging - to be frank I've stayed all around the country in Premier Inns, and would take any of them above this place any day. The food is basic pub grub, served with a lack of finesse. Not worth the price being asked. The pub lacked atmosphere and customers - and we should have known we had made a mistake the minute we arrived and the car park was empty. Worse still, before we had even got through the door we were warned by a local about eating 'elsewhere'. Needless to say when we said we were checking out early, and told them our major reason was that it was sold as dog friendly and was not, we were not offered any sort of alternative or compensation. If they had, maybe we wouldn't be writing this damming review. Please, please save your money. This place just isn't worth wasting £200 for a night We left with our skin crawling.”

• G

  Google user

  ·5 months ago

  “Due to work commitments, I spend a great deal of time in the area and always stay at the Fisherman's Haunt. I cannot rate the service, cleanliness and general feeling of being welcome highly enough. The food is of an exceptional standard. There is a fixed menu which is complimented by specials. The choice is varied and of extremely good quality. The staff are great too. The rooms are very comfortable, spacious and clean. I've not sampled the Sunday roasts, but I'm told they are excellent too. If my mid week experiences are anything to go by, the Sunday lunches will be epic ! I look forward to every stay at the Fisherman's Haunt. If you haven't tried it yet, you really should.”

• G

  Google user

  ·5 months ago

  “We arrived with our dog for a three night stay to a welcome but unfortunately not all was good. The room was clean and the evening meal was good. The bed was comfortable but the room was never a comfortable temperature and the heating wasn’t available. The bed was made on the first morning but the bins weren’t emptied tea/milk wasn’t replenished and our towels couldn’t dry a and weren’t given fresh ones. We mentioned this at breakfast and our tea was taken off the breakfast bill. We seemed to pay more than the website quotes as our breakfast wasn’t included but as we booked direct they let us off the dog payment. The second morning our room wasn’t serviced at all. I went to mention the lack of attention. Julie was apologetic and offered more but Ian came out immediately jumped at me saying that it was St George’s day what did I expect. I don’t feel that was a good reason to not clean our room especially as it wasn’t actually St George’s day it was just that was the day they were celebrating it. To top it all someone came into our room this morning without knocking at 9.10 presumably to clean it but we didn’t need to vacate to 10.30. A very disappointing stay. Would not recommend.”