The Sawley Arms

“Lovely evening meal”

A group of 4 friends met for a meal. The customer service was brilliant. They were so attentive, accommodating and friendly. We had a lovely, relaxed evening with fires burning and super food. Two of us had the steak which came with a bottle of wine. The steak was perfectly cooked and we asked to t… more

A group of 4 friends met for a meal. The customer service was brilliant. They were so attentive, accommodating and friendly. We had a lovely, relaxed evening with fires burning and super food. Two of us had the steak which came with a bottle of wine. The steak was perfectly cooked and we asked to take the wine away with us. Due to merry chatting, we forgot it. The lovely staff saved it for us to pick up later. We shall definitely be back.

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“Immaculate Inn!”

We stopped at this Inn whilst touring in the Dales. We only had time for a quick lunch but wish we had stayed there! A great lunch was provided very promptly and served by such a lovely lady. We had a look around before leaving and found the Inn to be immaculate and very welcoming. We will be looki… more

We stopped at this Inn whilst touring in the Dales. We only had time for a quick lunch but wish we had stayed there! A great lunch was provided very promptly and served by such a lovely lady. We had a look around before leaving and found the Inn to be immaculate and very welcoming. We will be looking to stay there on our next visit to the Yorkshire Dales.

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“Excellent accommodation in a lovely village. Good for children. Nice breakfasts and a fine meal in the evening.”

I booked four rooms for our family of 10, two doubles and one twin on the ground floor and a family room with a double bed plus bunk beds for children, which was on the first floor. Quite pricey, I thought when I booked, especially as breakfast was not included, but it was for a Friday and Saturda… more

I booked four rooms for our family of 10, two doubles and one twin on the ground floor and a family room with a double bed plus bunk beds for children, which was on the first floor. Quite pricey, I thought when I booked, especially as breakfast was not included, but it was for a Friday and Saturday night in midsummer and the rooms turned out to be really lovely, as was the location, a pretty village, very quiet, close to Fountains Abbey. Also family rooms are hard to come by so well done to The Sawley Arms for providing such well-thought-out accommodation for little ones. There was room in the pub garden for the children to run and there was a playground nearby. The welcome, especially for those family members arriving very late, was kindness itself. My husband and I took the twin room, modern, spacious and absolutely immaculate. Lovely modern bathroom with a big walk-in shower (no tub). All the expected amenities provided including kettle, tea/ coffee/biscuits/ mineral water, hair dryer and bathrobes. We did hear the footsteps of the family in the room above but since that was our family that was OK. Breakfast was excellent with lots of choice (reduced price for children), as was the evening meal four of us had on the Friday. The bar and restaurant were both pretty busy. The only reason I give four stars not five is that, although service was excellent and very friendly, hot food was slow to appear both at dinner and at breakfast, both at our tables and at others. It's possible they were short-handed in the kitchen and at dinner we and other diners received fulsome apologies and the 10% discretionary service charge was removed from the bill. This was very likely a short-term situation and I don't hesitate to recommend The Sawley Arms both for the restaurant, location and the high standard of accommodation. Plenty of parking and outdoor seating.

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“Sour Taste regarding Imposed Service Charge”

We had the occasion to stay in this hospitality establishment overnight as a stopover en route home. The young lady who checked us in was very friendly and very efficient in letting us know what we needed to know and she showed us to our delightful room. The room was well presented with everything … more

We had the occasion to stay in this hospitality establishment overnight as a stopover en route home. The young lady who checked us in was very friendly and very efficient in letting us know what we needed to know and she showed us to our delightful room. The room was well presented with everything we needed for our stay. It was clean and the owners had, obviously, spent money on the decor and facilities. We enjoyed our dinner with good service (the same lady who checked us in) with helpful recommendations from her. Our pre-dinner drinks were outside although, unfortunately, there were no cushions on the sofas, etc. Breakfast was served at a reasonable hour the next morning although there was only one serving lady who looked rather sullen who appeared to not want to be there. Upon reading the limited menu, it seemed as though there would be up to a 40-minute wait during peak times. Serving at the most 7 people, I do not consider to be "peak times" yet we still had to wait which could have been made more palatable (please excuse the pun!) if they had served the toast during that wait time. The major concern regarding our stay was the insistence of applying a 10% service upfront where we had to suggest that we did not want to pay. This was, particularly, annoying when we found out that the imposed service charge did not, even, go to the serving staff. This is a practice now which is widespread throughout the hospitality sector and it is up to the guest to challenge it every time to have it taken off. The hospitality establishment does not indicate upfront when booking that they apply this so-called discretionary service charge. However, given the above, we would stay here again but fully aware that we need to challenge the imposed service charge.

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