Fox Plays Game of Two Halves

The Fox Inn
Great Barrington
Near Burford
Oxfordshire
United Kingdom

http://www.foxinnbarrington.com/index.html


Where is it?

From the front entrance for the main bar you need to head left and you’ll see a door that allows you to double around the back. Go down the steps around to the left. On the left is a corridor that leads to an exit. The male toilets are to the right.

From the car park head to the left of the main building towards the river. Take the first door on the right. The Gents is to the left.


What’s it like?

This place has a great reputation for food and I must admit it is OK on the meat dishes but poor on the salads. The same goes with the décor. Authentic but a little too neglected to be comfortable anymore. Generally, this is a pub with great potential but in its efforts to cater for the local Cotswold country folk (not a bad thing in itself) it does half of the job well and forgets the other half.

No surprise then that the same is the case in the toilets. The floor has nice slate tiles and the walls are clean and OK. But then a trough urinal that is something out of the 1970’s greets you. This wouldn’t be too bad if it weren’t for the awful white residue over it. Then there is the dirt on the radiator under the hand dryer. Just look at that mess! It’s like Mr. Cigarette Ash Hands has paid a visit and against his best judgement decided he just couldn’t resist using the nice warm dryer. What is a surprise then is that the toilet cubical is one of the cleanest I’ve seen in a long while!

It’s a shame that the whole place screams of good intentions that are never properly carried through. It means that every time I use these toilets it is with trepidation. You find yourself rushing through, not because the next pint becons, but because you just want to get out of there.


Marks out of 10:

3 is a fair score here.


Comments to the management:

You need to decide if you really want to run a pub or play at it. Good management never did anyone any harm and you need to do some in the toilets if you are going to inspire confidence in your guests. I just keep on wondering about what state your kitchens are in!