The King of Wessex, Bath - pub details
Address: Kingsmead Leisure Complex, 5-10 St. James Street, Bath, Somerset, BA1 2BX [map] [gmap]
Tel: 0871 951 1000 (ref 19824) - calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras
Bath Spa (0.4 miles), Oldfield Park (0.7 miles), Freshford (4.2 miles)
Chain: Wetherspoons
Pub facilities/features:
- Fruit machines, Quiz machines
- Food served, Real ale
- Smoking area, Air conditioning, Disabled access, Disabled toilet
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> Current user rating: 4.2/10 (rated by 29 users)
other pubs nearby:
Bath Brew House, Bath (0.0 miles), Trinity, Bath (0.0 miles), Cork, Bath (0.1 miles), Griffin Inn, Bath (0.1 miles), Garricks Head, Bath (0.1 miles) - see more nearby pubs
user reviews of the King of Wessex, Bath
please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
5 most recent reviews of 27 shown - see all reviews
| With Wetherspoon’s houses you generally get what you pay for, but recently I have had a bad experience at Victoria Station, and yesterday another having drinks and a meal at the King Of Wessex, Bath's branch of The Walking Stick & Zimmer Frame, turned into a nightmare. Despite there being a massive bar, customers formed an orderly queue in front of one of the cash registers until one of the two bar staff deigned to serve you. Then they took your order and money before pouring your drinks. Whilst doing that they discussed everything from what they had for dinner to who was in their bed when they woke up! Ham, Egg and Chips turned up with cold leather eggs and 12 cold chips (or bits of chip) each. When a member of staff passed by we commented on this but there was no concern shown. We went on to order two desserts and a beer, but only one was served, and despite being able to tell them how much I paid (over £11 including a pint) I was told I would have to pay again. Then the pint I had purchased with dessert (the same as the first pint of the evening) did not clear, so I took it back and was told that it couldn't be replaced as I had drunk some? Eventually got a "manager" to agree that the portions were cold and crap, the desserts had been ordered but not both served to the same table, and, perhaps most tellingly, despite the ice machine not working, it was wrong that I got told that I could not have a lemonade and lime because I asked for ice. We got half the cost of the meal and desserts back, and also given a survey website for Wetherspoons. This will knock their average! seaeagle - 31 Oct 2014 00:34 |
| Ended up here for some cheap food as we knew it would have a highchair for our little 'un, and we wouldn't end up paying through the nose. Glad too, as it was pretty uninspiring stuff - and I say that as someone normally happy to eat at Wetherspoon's. Several ales on, and had I not been driving, would've been tempted by an offering from Box Steam. As for the boozer, it's long and gloomy, as people have previously said, and was really busy on a Friday lunchtime. Posh loos, but the rest of the place didn't inspire you to stay for too long. duchyjim - 19 May 2014 09:11 |
| Very large Wetherspoons next to the Odeon cinema As mentioned in posts below this place is rather uninspiring and apart from the decent range of real ales and cheap food (standard 'spoons staples) there really is not a great deal to say about the pub. Lots of tables and chairs crammed in. I came in around 11.30 on a Sunday and it was pretty busy already. lezford - 22 Feb 2013 15:30 |
| In all my 15 years of pretty regular drop-ins to Bath, I have never even considered seeking out the local JD Wetherspoon's outlet. Quite besides the fact that I'm not even sure there was one until relatively recently, the obvious reason is because with the plethora of pub paragons in this vicinity, there should simply be no need to bother. It will almost inevitably be inferior by comparison! Other than genericism of expectation (which can be a blessing in an area poorly-stocked with decent ale or food houses), particularly on pricing (which let's be honest is only a contraint that troubles a minority of punters in Bath), there really is little point in seeking this out. Having finally had cause to visit the local Wethy here - the appropriately-titled King of Wessex - I can only confirm that I was correct in adopting this view. Let's consider this pub's merits standing alone without comparisons with its more individual counterparts. It harbours all that one comes to expect from a standard JDW pub experience - highly-competitive prices across the board, a reasonable spread and quality of beers (cask is mostly local), an acceptable quality of food across a range of menu options, and clean, tidy and efficient interior design. One doesn't find an impressively-converted old building as it's a brand new construction. But one does find a surprisingly well-heeled mixed clientele (the difference I suppose between Bath and branches in, say, Croydon!). It is all perfectly comfortable and amenable. But as the previous reviewer made clear: it is characterless, anodyne, and most damningly, decidedly un-Bath! Neither the pub chain nor its customers can avoid that; a Wetherspoons can sometimes mark the zenith of character in some towns, and they do try. But in a stark, functional, bland glass goldfish bowl like this, there is no chance of it developing any authentic patina, irrespective of inherent quality of service and wares. One really could be anywhere in Britain once inside. A less brutally-modern and more charmingly-traditional setting would at least have given this wing of the T Martin empire a leg-up, even though it could never really aspire to becoming one of Bath's top destination boozers. As it is, it is one of the most forgettable experiences one can have locally. There are WORSE pubs here by far, but even they are at least memorable, if only for the wrong reasons! My chilli con carne was actually very tasty, as was my pint of Box Steam Rail Ale (3 BS beers were on that day and all were well-kept). And I paid no more than around �6 for them. But it was only the need for speed passing through which negated tempting oneself to get entangled with the many old favourites that brought me here, and other than being in that predicament again, I doubt I'll return. It's not the push factor of this place, so much as the magnetic pull of others. TWG - 20 Sep 2012 17:12 |
| This pub boasts a good range of beer at a very reasonable price compared with its competitors, some decent food and probably the best toilets in any pub in Bath. All very commendable and yet ...... it's pretty horrible. One large uninspiring rectangular room crammed with as many tables and chairs as can be fitted in. All the atmosphere of a railway buffet at one of the major stations with people continuously coming and going. Slow service at the bar and dull to the n'th degree. Only worth visiting if you have time to kill and it's raining outside. MarinerBill - 3 Mar 2011 22:33 |
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