The Way Inn, Basingstoke

I used to like this pub but I'm afraid I probably won't visit again. The food service is erratic and sometimes I'm left waiting too long for food that prooves to be sub-standard. The staff are friendly enough but it often seems like nobody is in charge and the place is in thinly diguised chaos! Perhaps that accounts for the inconsistent levels of customer service too.

I agree with another reviewer - the landlord must be deaf if they think that the music is at an acceptable volume. My friends, family and I have all commented on this to staff on previous visits but even if they turn it down it soon goes up again.

The prices are reasonable and the other patrons are usually a vast improvement on the other pubs in town, but lately it's felt like a much younger place and I think it's ruined the pub. If I wanted to sit surrounded by overactive teenagers throwing apples at each other and shouting at the tops of their voices, I'd go find a student bar :-( Word seems to have circulated that this is the new place to be for that age group and it doesn't make relaxing surroundings. I'm barely 30 myself, but at least I can conduct a conversation without throwing beer mats accross the pub at members of staff.

It's a shame. As I said at the beginning of this review, I used to love visiting the Way Inn. I don't know why things have changed so much, I don't believe the landlord has changed (I still see him pass through the bar from time to time) so perhaps it is just that he is considering a change of direction? Maybe it's a staffing issue, maybe it's just the way things go in the pub industry. Either way I think the Way Inn has gone sadly downhill. Maybe management should pull their finger out and address some of the issues! I've noticed a huge sway in opinion amongst my friends and colleagues.

Come on Way Inn - get it together!

14 Sep 2008 20:29