Having stayed at the Devonshire Arms in Pilsley on the Chatsworth Estate some 10 years’ previously we decided to have a night away to celebrate our birthdays. We were greeted with a friendly smile by Tracy and shown to our room upstairs in the Farmhouse wing earlier than the 4pm check-in time.
The Bubnell room was warm on arrival, with a low victorian cast-iron radiator under the window, but during the course of the stay it became very hot and stuffy and we had to open all the windows at 8am the next morning to get some air.
The memory foam topper on the bed made it very hot when sleeping with poor sleep quality as a result. The beds we knew already are some three feet or more in height from the floor to the top of the mattress but there was only one set of library steps for climbing into the bed. I had to use the foot-stool on my side which is difficult when partially disabled.
The white flower light fitting in the area outside the bathroom was covered in dust and should be cleaned at least once a year!. At least show it a duster. The kettle is dangerous and refused to stop boiling once switched on so if left unattended could be a problem.
Dinner in the evening was a mixed bag. The Partridge starter I chose was excellent but the beef brisket main was presented poorly with the diced vegetable sauce covering most of the plate in a sloppy fashion. There were too many miniature shallots, which looked like silverskin onions. Presumable the sauce had white wine vinegar in it which further reinforced the idea that the shallots/onions were pickled and from a jar. Having said that it was full of flavour and the bone marrow and horseradish mash was beautiful. It just didn’t look great.
My wife’s starter consisted of just 3 pieces of calamari and 2 scallops – all for £12. Yet her main of duck was exceptional. Another mixed bag.
The menu outside the pub doesn’t reflect the food on offer, showing predominantly roast dinners.
Breakfast was not as I had expected after our previous visit. The bacon was no longer ‘Chatsworth Cure’ which they had made a big thing of before in the ‘Devonshire Breakfast’. It was simple smoked back bacon but presumably still from the estate. Nice enough.
The hash brown looked like a standard bought-in offering when it could be so much better. There was half a round of black pudding, half a tomato, one sausage and a Portobello mushroom. Only one poached egg was delivered up despite the menu saying ‘Eggs cooked your way’ (or some-such wording). The clue is in the plural of eggs, not singular. I had to ask for a second egg with the commensurate wait that goes along with that. Nothing in the breakfast would suggest it was an exceptional artisanal offering.
All-in-all it was a disappointing stay for what is supposedly a 4 star establishment and I drove home feeling somewhat deflated.
However, this experience won’t prevent us from visiting again. We’ve stayed at the Cavendish Hotel in Baslow before, again part of the Chatsworth Estate, and that was beyond exceptional. The Devonshire Arms at Pilsley though needs to up its game but then again that’s just my opinion based on this visit.
The Willoughton Wanderer 
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