The Ancient Gatehouse & Rugantino Restaurant

Booked into the Ancient Gatehouse in Sept 2023 for one night. Communication before arriving was very good. The hotel itself if very old and a most beautiful building. I have seen some reviews commenting about the smell and the stairs etc, which is rather ridiculous. The building is about 500 years old! This only adds to the charm. Views from the back of the hotel are stunning as it looks directly towards Wells cathedral. I forget her name, but the manageress was most helpful and very friendly. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed when we stayed so we are looking forward to eating there when we return in a few months time. If you don't like old buildings and creaky stairs then stay in a Premier Inn. We loved it, hence our return for 2 nights soon which we are very much looking forward to in a bigger room.

Lovely hotel in good location, would have preferred room at back of hotel, very noisy at front with Dustbin men at 6am and not much privacy with big window, no nets and tea making facilities in bay of window. Lush Breakfast. Not for hard of walking or disabled with steep narrow stairs

Great staff, great breakfast! The only comment I would make is to recommend where to park in Wells on the website, as I couldn't see a recommendation for this. We will be staying again!

Had to stay in Wells one night for business. The location is central and great for sightseeing. The staff was very friendly and the restaurant was great. But. The rooms... Oh my... The rooms are not good at all. As others have mentioned, the stairs to the rooms are extreme. I was booked into a room that is - aparantly - part of the escape route. So, on the door there is a "break glass in case of fire"-thing that will allow anyone access to the room. Also, the lock could probably be opened with a rusty spoon as it was about as ancient as the rest of the hotel. So, 0 stars on "security". Ceilings are VERY low, so watch your head at all times. Bed was OLD, and lumpy. Now, two days later my back is still sore. A lot of noise from the street. Heating is turned up to max - probably to compensate for the windows that are not windproof at all... The final kicker was the lack of breakfast. At dinner we asked when breakfast was served, at which point we were told that they had opted to not serve breakfast. No staff after the restaurant closed. No staff in the morning. So, not really a hotel - more like a bed & breakfast without breakfast...

WELLS Holiday (08/12-05-23) Looked amazing on *********** and booked a 4 poster bed with big window and window seats for our wedding anniversary and a twin for my dad but on arrival we was shown to our room but when my dad who is 81 was shown his the stairs were so steep with only a copper pipe as a handrail there was no way he could get up them so we had to swap and it was hard getting up and down and we had a young dog. Good:- Location was great next to the cathedral but we was on the street side. Room was clean and dust free. The bathroom was great and the shower worked perfect. The staff were great and on arrival our cases were carried to our room and one woman gave us a great location to visit. Dog friendly. 'Hot Fuzz' filming location Bad:- No on site parking and it was a slog to find good near overnight parking. Stairs to second floor are so steep and hard to get to there dangerous and must be a health and safety concern. Carpets worn and ragged. Headboard was worn and torn. Windows were small and hard to close. Only radiator behind bed. Room very warm. Fan in room but very noisy. Blind pulley damaged and awkward to use. Carpets never hoovered. Only one small toilet roll a day. Some nights the enterence door locked early. Some dead flys on towls. Woke up every morning at 04:30-05:00 by bin men emptying bottle bins every morning. It was a good 4 night break but the stairs are that bad, I will post a photo, the room we booked was so much better but we never got to use it and my dad on leaving did say about it but the manager didn't care or want to listen and said "the stars are mentioned on the site" and just pushed the bill to us!!! Very unprofessional way to act, and only our room (we gave to my dad as he wasn't able to use the stairs) was on the site as the room we had was very average, you don't even get to go in tje gatehouse part of the building!!! A big letdown for a fantastic location.

This is a wonderful spot to enjoy Wells. The cathedral is across the green space in front of the hotel. The food in the restaurant excellent. The stairs to the room may be steep but worth it.

Great location overlooking the Cathedral. Very friendly and helpful staff. Our large room had an antique 4 post bed with beautiful wood carvings. We chose to dine at the hotel’s restaurant and we’re not disappointed. Great Italian food and great service, again overlooking the cathedral.

Great location - right in the center of town! Also has a restaurant, but it was full and I could not have dinner there - must be good! Had view of the cathedral from my room, which was a 3min walk - glorious! Very quiet as facing the back. Room was single, not big but plenty for one; bathroom was large. Access to the room was up 2 flights of stairs, first one OK, second one "treacherously steep and narrow!" - good if you are in good shape! Breakfast was very good.

This ancient building definitely has its challenges, and I can see that it would be difficult if you have any mobility issues. Some of the decor is a little tired, but inserting mod cons and moving furniture in such an old building is very hard. We very much appreciated the wonderful view of the cathedral from our room. The mattress was a little soft for our taste. Breakfast was good (dinner in the restaurant was excellent).