The Old Ship Inn

This was probably the most awful experience I’ve had in a hotel for more than 10 years. It was noisy, rowdy, there was music playing in the bar until 2 am on a Wednesday night and I found it impossible to sleep. The staff were surly and disconnected and disinterested in delivering a smooth customer experience. For a town like Dorchester one would expect a much better service than the one that was provided used so I cannot recommend this place at all. Avoid it.

Had the halloumi and avocado ciabatta with fries, it was absolutely delicious. The place was clean and the staff were lovely and couldn't do enough for me. First time in Dorchester and glad I picked this as my first lace to eat. Reasonably priced food and very well priced drinks. I'll definitely be back here before I leave next week.

Sorry that I have to post this but they owe me over 1k for cancellations for 2 months by now. Be aware! I paid in advance in January but had to cancel in May. I contacted the management (mind, 5th since January speaks for itself) with no avail. No answers to my phone calls / emails / evidence what so ever.

Cheap and cheerful, stayed here a few times over the last couple of months, this time there was a new owner who has re opened the kitchen and the food was wonderful, pub has a great awe about it with lovely decor, staff were cheerful and welcoming, didn’t check in until 11.pm because of traffic and it was not a problem for them. Not the Hilton but nice little place. Will definitely stay again

We attempted to stay here for the night a few weeks ago. We are a family of four and a Dog. I was asked to pay for the room before being given the key to the room. At this point I was also informed that the chef was on Holliday so there was no food available. When we got to the room we find that for our £140 we didn’t even have an en-suite bathroom. We presumably had the unlocked (Not Very Private) toilet that was over the hall way from our room. On finding this out I immediately went back downstairs to try and resolve the issue and ask whether there was another room available as this was not suitable for us. The lady behind the bar did give me the keys to another room however on inspection the room was full of personal belongings. I immediately returned back downstairs without even fully entering into the room as I felt embarrassed. The lady did attempted to call the landlord who was not on the premises and could not be contacted. I explained that this was just not suitable and unacceptable. My wife was so upset that she began to have a panic attack. I asked for a refund to my card and told the bar maid that we would find somewhere else to stay for the night. The woman behind the bar was very nice and apologetic but said that she couldn’t do refunds as she didn’t have that option but promised me that it wouldn’t be a problem the landlord was a genuine guy and we would definitely get a refund. My only comfort is that I used my credit card to pay for the room. Hopefully the credit card company will have a better chance of getting us a refund than I have up to now. Three weeks later and multiple conversations with Martin the manager to sort the issue out still no response. As an added note there is no where to park we had unload on double yellows and it’s apparently a seven min walk to the nearest pay and display. There was one parking space but the car occupying the space looked suspiciously like it may have been the landlords car. This had been explained when booking but it may make you think again before booking.

Went in to have some lunch with my mum, sister and daughter. Felt quite uncomfortable on walking in as if we weren't welcome (everyone staring). When I say everyone there was about 6 people in there. Was a strange atmosphere. Found a table to sit at, bearing in mind there wasn't many tables as it's quite a small place (but found the easiest table to sit at with a pushchair) and was met by the rudest woman who refused to move her chair so we could sit down. She at first pretended she couldn't hear us ask her to politely move her chair and then rudely told us that she wasn't moving her chair and that we would have to find somewhere else to sit. We were shocked and aware that it's not the staffs fault that this woman was so rude, but to stand and watch all of this going on and not come over and intervene just shows bad management in my eyes. After we left in shock, I went back in to speak to the manager who told me that the rude customer is a regular and is a bit strange. That's fine, but it means you lost out on 3 more people paying for food/drinks who definetly won't be returning.