The White Horse, A Heartwood Inn
Hotel · Mole Valley ·

The White Horse, A Heartwood Inn

Hotel · Mole Valley ·

Victorian coaching inn where Dickens wrote; £4M refurbishment

excellent food
friendly staff
attentive service
lovely room
great service
sunday lunch
victorian-era coaching inn
charles dickens
The White Horse, A Heartwood Inn by Tablet Hotels

Information

High St, Dorking RH4 1BE, United Kingdom Get directions

LGBTQ friendly

Information

Static Map

High St, Dorking RH4 1BE, United Kingdom Get directions

+44 1306 881138
whitehorsedorking.com
@whitehorsedorks

Features

•LGBTQ friendly

Last updated

Jan 24, 2026

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@michelinguide
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Proper English: Exquisite English Country Hotels

"It seems there’s a White Horse of some description in just about every town, village, and hamlet in England. But only the one in Dorking is the Victorian-era coaching inn where Charles Dickens wrote part of The Pickwick Papers. It’s also the only one that recently underwent a £4-million refurbishment to bring it up to modern standards that even Dickens couldn’t have imagined." - The MICHELIN Guide

https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/travel/proper-english
The White Horse
@michelinguide
48,380 Postcards · 8,030 Cities

Proper English: Exquisite English Country Hotels

"The Victorian-era coaching inn where Charles Dickens wrote part of The Pickwick Papers." - The MICHELIN Guide

https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/article/travel/proper-english
The White Horse
@michelinguide
48,380 Postcards · 8,030 Cities

The Eccentric Inns of England

"A Victorian-era coaching inn where Charles Dickens went to write part of The Pickwick Papers, the White Horse recently spent £4 million on a refurbishment to bring it up to the standard demanded by guests who’ve grown accustomed to the boutique hotels of London and the surrounding countryside." - Mark Fedeli

https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/article/travel/michelin-guide-hotels-across-england
The White Horse
@tablethotels
8,496 Postcards · 3,270 Cities

The White Horse (Dorking, Surrey) 4 Verified Reviews | Tablet Hotels

"In this business, it pays to be specific; it seems there’s a White Horse of some description in just about every town, village, and hamlet in England. But only one is remembered as the Victorian-era coaching inn where Charles Dickens went to write part of The Pickwick Papers, and that would be the White Horse in Dorking, Surrey. It’s also the only one that recently sank £4 million into a refurbishment to bring it up to the standard demanded by guests who’ve grown accustomed to the boutique hotels of London and the surrounding countryside." - Tablet Hotels

https://www.tablethotels.com/en/dorking-hotels/the-white-horse
Tablet Hotels
The White Horse

Surrey C.

Google
We had a very nice winter lunch here after shopping. The staff service was prompt and friendly as well as helpful too and all with a smile, thank you. The food was very good, with plenty of flavour for a pub lunch, and decent portions too. We had the sausage and truffle mash some sides and a couple of pints of beer. Reasonably priced I thought for 3 people about 100 pounds. Inside it is very clean, well presented and laid out, there was plenty of room in our window booth and good light too. So... Yes we'd go back and enjoy our lunch there again. Recommended

Jan Callicott (Eaton S.

Google
Enjoyed a lovely evening at The White Horse in Dorking, to celebrate my birthday. The staff are well trained, considerate & attentive and food delicious. The bar area is beautifully designed & furnished and feels cosy with a vibrant atmosphere, on a Friday evening. It’s like the TARDIS, as from the old fashioned coaching inn exterior, you don’t realise how busy, large and wonderful it is on the inside. Definitely recommend you visit and download their App to join their loyalty programme with some good savings & offers.

L H

Google
1st time for me to visit on a recommendation from a friend. Very busy day due to Christmas Market in town .. luckily we had pre booked. Nice welcome and good atmosphere overall. Very busy Sunday service which was to be expected. Bit disappointed the Cauliflower Roast wasn’t available as it’s one of the things I’d been looking forward to trying. I’m a pescatarian so had other options but I like a roast on a Sunday! I was offered an alternative which was nice but didn’t really match the rest of the dish as it was some sort of Spicy Samosa. The roasted carrots and parsnips looked like they should have been on a child’s plate and only three roast potatoes - I’m sure if I’d asked more would have been brought maybe. The Yorkshire pudding was BIG and tasty for what it was (clever and cheap way to fill 1/4 of the plate) However gravy was extremely thin and pale! Lacking flavor or substance and again very small potion! I don’t like to be a harsh critic but trained as a chef years ago before changing careers so know when the ‘basics’ could be better. Staff were hard working, knowledgeable and polite. CAITLIN was our server and was VERY patient and helpful throughout our time at the White Horse. Hope she gets the recognition she deserves.

Jan M.

Google
We stayed for a night on November 1st and honestly it was utterly perfect. Free parking (limited spaces) the room was lovely and very comfortable. We were belatedly celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary after a difficult few months and The White Horse were lovely, leaving us a congratulatory note offering a drink at the bar. My Husband had hurt his back quite badly and they were very empathetic offering more comfortable seating during dinner and breakfast. The food is unbelievably good!! A great choice and everything was wonderful. Special shout out to Caitlin who looked after us at dinner. Friendly, chatty, happy and she gave great service - a credit to The White Horse and hospitality. The breakfast was extremely good too. We will definitely be returning! Thanks for making it a lovely night. Jan & Jason x

Miss D.

Google
We’ve been to The White Horse before and were really looking forward to coming back again. We booked interconnecting rooms with our friends for an overnight stay with breakfast. The rooms were automatically upgraded without us requesting which was a nice touch, the rooms themselves were lovely with thoughtful gestures like sweet treats and the radio playing softly in the background. Staff were courteous, friendly and helpful when we misplaced a shopping bag in the main bar! Caitlin served us a tasty lunch on Sunday. Will most definitely come again!

Simon M.

Google
Annoyingly Google defaults to a hotel accommodation review when I think a lot of people are just eating here. We had a Sunday lunch which was excellent, very friendly attentive service. Roasts were good only negative was the Yorkshire pudding which needed more egg in the mix making them huge but dry. The trout was good. Plus excellent starter and pud selection. Heard a few negative reviews but see as you find and would certainly give 4.5* if we could.

B3180VYkarenb

Google
We booked for lunch and glad we did. The dining area is very popular which is always good. We had a lovely table by the window and ordered our pumpkin ravioli, just for Halloween! The meal was delicious and the service was fantastic. No complaints whatsoever. A special shout out to wonderful Kayleigh, there was nothing she wouldn't do and she made us feel very special. We will be back!

M G

Google
Beautifully fitted out with sumptuous decor; definitely feels like a top-end pub. Food was ‘ok’ - presentation was a bit sloppy and with a little more care and attention to detail it could have been a lot better. Staff all very pleasant and friendly. Fairly pedestrian range of beers on tap - would be better to have a couple more ‘guest beers’ or a craft IPA sort of thing. I think it would go down well and the place would certainly suit it. All in all, a good place and I would go back, but as mentioned above a little refinement in certain areas would be a huge benefit.