The White Horse & Griffin

Came here for breakfast around 9am one day while in Whitby for a few days. Lovely looking very old building. The dining room was through the back, a sign said wait here to be seated. We stood there for a minute or so, the waitress saw us but didn’t approach us, instead she turned away. We stepped into the room and had to ask her if breakfast was being served. She said yes, very nonchalantly. We chose our own table, there was another couple at another table, so not busy. Waitress came over and asked if we wanted tea or coffee and gave us the menu. She then told us the chef was ‘on his way’ When our coffee and tea arrived, we saw the chef going into the kitchen, thankfully. We ordered a full English breakfast and kippers. The food was really nice. The setting was old and very quaint. We finished and wanted to pay, the waitress was at the bar, we decided to go over and pay there on the way out. She was on an iPad checking her emails, when I asked for the bill she didn’t even raise her head. Would not eat here again, due to the service, such a shame that the Yorkshire hospitality seems to have missed this establishment. There were plenty more places to eat where the staff actually welcomed you.

We chose this hotel based on its history and close proximity to the centre of town. The building is a fascinating place, and due to its age is quirky and not the sterile surroundings of a chain! |Our room was lovely, single bed in a separate area giving the occupant privacy from the main room. Bathroom is modern and clean. Room and common areas are clean and inviting. |Despite being in the centre of town we heard little noise apart from the seagulls which you expect when so close to the harbour.|The staff are lovely and attentive. Breakfast was amazing although could have done with a bigger coffee cup for my first caffeine shot of the day! |The hotel is priced comparable to similar in the area, and I would say is good value for money. |The only negative for me was the lack of choice with the inroom tea / coffee tray and there was no milk.

Location of the inn is fantastic,just a short 3 minute walk from the iconic 199 Steps, making it a perfect base for exploring Whitby. The building itself has plenty of character and charm, with cozy, traditional feel that adds to the experience.||Breakfast was a highlight, delicious and satisfying. The bed and pillows were comfortable, ensuring a restful night's sleep.|That said, the rooms could benefit from some refurbishment, as they feel a bit dated. We stayed in the second floow room, and while it was quaint, it was quite noisy when guests walked above the attic room. There was also a noticeable old smell throughout the hotel, which might not be to everyone's taste. The bathtub was unfortunately unusable, the tap water took ages to heat up and filled so slowly that it wasn’t practical to use.||Overall, it was a good experience and we appreciated the unique character of the inn, but we’d likely choose a different place next time.

Room was very small, bedding clean, but bed very uncomfortable. Rest of room could of done with a deep clean. Walked past a mop bucket full of black water that was being used to mop floor. Told one room for breakfast to sit and wait and find out it was in a different part of the building. Not a great experience, would not recommend.

Just returned from a night in the discovery family room. Lovely big room for a family of 4 with so much potential let down by the upkeep. Double mattress needs replacing, feels like it has been slept on by one person for a while as we just kept rolling into the middle. Bedding was really clean, nice white cotton sheets. Damp, flakey paint coming off in bathroom and inside cupboard/wardrobe. Fire place flue blocked with carrier bags. One of the windows/skyights has a sign on warning you not to open it as it will fall off. (Not a major issue for ventilation as there is another 2 windows) however if you have these issues with the room just dont rent it out untill it's fixed. Gorgeous breakfast! Could do with sofas being refilled and a bigger TV for the size of the room also. Having to request jugs of milk isn't ideal either (Especially when they dont actually arrive) UHT would be better than none at all.

We stayed last week for three nights. It is certainly a very old building with a lot of history and character, however it needs extensive refurbishment (including the plumbing which was very erratic. The shower varied from being a good pressure to just a trickle), whilst maintaining it's character and charm. It's situation is great on the Abbey side of the river fairly close to a car park, although it can be hit and miss getting a parking space. The hospitality has lost it's finesse. The staff tried to be welcoming, but some faired better than others. The food is mixed; some aspects of the meal were delicious; the meat was faultless but my husband's chips were thin and oily without any substance, the onion rings were also oily and lacked the light crispiness you'd expect. My cream brûlée did not have the characteristic burnt sugar topping but was rather like a stodgy chocolate mousse. I am sad to say in it's current state and with the lack of a warm hospitality and far from gastronomic food it once served with finesse that I would not choose to stay or dine there in the future. I do hope it's current owners manage to recapture all it has lost, without putting off future customers.

Just returned from 1 night stay at this hotel. We booked room after viewing website which looked impressive. We were put in a room in the loft. The room was dirty scruffy and cold. One of the velux windows in the roof was hanging out with sign warning you not to open. The furniture in the room needed disposing of, the bathroom was rotten. I could go on and on. Only positive was staff member was polite and professional.Thankfully we had a great time in Whitby however will never return to this hotel

Very dissapointed. No toiletries or milk in out room. Velux window broken, allowing for draughts into the room. This was made worse by the fact there was a storm. We had to stuff towels round window. Room looked grubby, bathroom floor needed a good scrub. Lots of dust too.|Breakfast not great, a bacon sandwich was 2 not soft pieces of bread and 2 small pieces of bacon.

This hotel's in an excellent location considering Church Street doesn't have traffic passing all night but is still (very much so) in a central location. The room was so warm, I thought I had night sweats on Halloween/All Souls Day, turns out the bedding and thermostat made for a warm night, at no point during my stay here did I feel cold. The staff... I confess, the young girl with the dark hair and dark eyes who never told me her name (because I never asked) and she never showed me to my room, I have a crush on her, when I first saw her I thought f', I like you; (My Whitby Crush) but I'm too chicken shit / shy to act on it, but, this hotel's the best I've used in Whitby on this trip (I've used 3 hotels here and am writing this from the third Hotel I'm using here that I'm going to review once I've checked out, the White Horse & Griffin is the best and only £10.00 more per night than the other 2 hotels) because the Wi-Fi doesn't have any parental control on it and you can watch adult content on it and this place doesn't try to treat you like a child putting on any nonsense porn blockers; so the Wi-Fi works and doesn't filter anything and respects you as an adult. The room is warm and the bed is warm and waking up on a cold winter's morning isn't felt in this hotel because it's so warm, it's nice, and there's no cars heard passing because the main road outside isn't really used by traffic. I stayed here on Halloween which arguably Whitby seems to live for or, is a big night of the year for this destination at the very least, so I heard a little bit of the festivities going on in the bar downstairs, but that's the only fault and it's a minor fault and it's Whitby's biggest day of the year *citation required, so all is forgiven but the friendly staff and warm room, location and Wi-Fi situation make this the best hotel I've used here. Also, there's some historical providence to this hotel.

LOVED IT SO MUCH ASKED THEM TO CATER OUR WEDDING!!! We were in town visiting the town of Whitby. I was told to try out the White Horse + Griffin for a drink. I was surprised by it's size of the bar + overjoyed by the quaint restaurant down below (few steps down). The charm was so inviting I made dinner reservations there that evening. We enjoyed the wine selection as well! I brought my mother, my fiancé, + my future aunt... I was surprised how fantastic the cuisine was. To quickly stereotype myself: I am an American who works in the culinary world- so I can tend to be snobby about my food. I was wowed by the experience + quickly contacted them for catering our wedding. Ed was our main contact. He spent a lot of time skyping with us + making plans. He worked with our budget + to be honest wowed all our guests. I would recommend them in a heartbeat! I wish we could host another event there! We had our rehearsal dinner at the restaurant... upstairs private dining area. It was perfect. The next day had our wedding breakfast at a centre across the way. There offsite catering was spot on! Best WEDDING menu + food ever offered. This was a unanimous consensus from all of our guests.

We ended up having lunch here by accident really - you know how it is when you're all starving, one of you wants fish and chips, the other wants a burger, then add a vegetarian into the mix and you have one of those standing in the middle of the road not knowing if you're ever going survive this enforced famine! The out of the corner of my eye we spotted the white horse and griffen - glanced at the menu and decided to give it a go! The food here is not cheap, it must've been the somewhere near payday as none of as seemed to mind (either that or the hunger had made us all delirious). Once seated we were offered a bread roll, I had an olive one, and oh wow, it was delicious. They serve traditional fish and chips, alongside steaks and various specials! I decided to try the cassoulet - a dish I had never even heard of, let alone tried, but there was sausage and duck mentioned so I was sold! It wasn't speedy food, we seemed to be waiting a while for our food, but were enjoying a cheeky glass of red wine so we didn't seem to mind! The lunch was served in a pan! a very pretty 'copper' pan complete with handle! I was impressed, even more so when I tasted it - totally divine. One of the nicest meals I've ever had the pleasure to try!

A pub, restaurant and hotel. I've dined here and stayed overnight. This is a well located hotel and restaurant, serving a good breakfast. Room wise, the one I've stayed in had an insanely large and well appointed bathroom. The bed however was not too comfortable and was probably in need of replacement.

Stopped in for a cozy warm bite. The food is terrible. I had steak and ale pie. It was a bunch of cut up pieces of meat that it tasted old. There was no gravy either. They brought out 2 of the 5 of our meals out about 15 minutes before the others. Maybe they were having a bad day. We will never come back.

This restaurant has all the ingredients for a great meal out except a chef! The location is great, the cosy, old-world feel is relaxing and, because it was only 6pm, the one waitress had plenty of time to be friendly and attentive to all six diners. However, back to the food: I played safe and went for the cod in beer batter, chips and mushy peas. How could any chef worth his salt cock up such a traditional seaside staple as this? Well, I don't know, but he did. The mushy peas were grey and tasteless. The chips were big and trendy and unappetising. The fish, however, was the worst of everything and could only be made palatable by being smothered in ketchup. If this were my restaurant I would get rid of the chef and send out for takeaways from one of the myriad (and far superior) outlets in Whitby. They serve Timmy Taylor's Landlord, which is always good news for me, or was always good news until I tasted it here. Yes, they even managed to ruin that! The beer here is served lukewarm.

Very atmospheric coaching inn in the centre of Whitby. Food is erratic in quality: can be very good or very average. Best stick to the tried and trusted favourites such as fish pie and fish and chips.