The Cross Keys in Uttlesford

Booked for a big group family lunch. All had the roast which was great quality and value. Limited menu unfortunately however due to staff shortage and this sadly affected service which was slow. Yet we would return as it was very nice.

Have had some lovely lunches here, and the last one was no exception. No awful music to drown conversation, which makes this a top choice for me. But the service was slow - we waited so long to pay that we almost lost the will to live... Lovely staff, though!

Lovely stay, Friendly staff. And fantastic breakfast included.

Booked a Sunday lunch for two in the restaurant. Charming location, good choice of food all freshly prepared, draught beers and great service.

I'm a wheelchair user and I was disappointed that the staffer didn't help getting in and out of the pub.

Delicious Sunday lunch, fab service, highly recommend

A gorgeous pub. Visiting family in saffron Walden and came here for lunch and drinks. Lovely quirky place. The food was excellent, as was the service. Staff nice and friendly. Tillys tearoom next door is gorgeous. We will definitely be back.

Absolutely fantastic in all areas

Short walk to night parking you can park in the side street to unload your bags. Nice pint of Timothy Taylor and Sausage and Mash for dinner. Comfortable bed and quirky room No4. Great helpful happy staff, I will be back travelling for business.

Went into the cross Keys this afternoon for a hot drink and cake. As we were taking in a group that should have been 20 and at the last minute came down to 15 we had to book. We were shown a room that we could all sit in together which was perfect. There was a bit of a misunderstanding, as a hot drink and cake turned into high tea with sandwiches and sausage rolls. However, these things happen and everyone enjoyed the tasty spread laid on for us. The cake in particular was delicious and we were well looked after. I could highly recommend it, lovely staff and lovely atmosphere. Thank you

We are her with friends on Sat 15th March. All was superb. Lovely staff, delicious food, wonderful, warm, welcoming atmosphere. Will definitely be back for more. Highly recommend.

Lovely place good food great staff.

Great place to stay and eat, staff are all very attentive and friendly . Defo would come back food amazing.

Popped in for a glass of wine. Beautiful Tudor building with charm. Friendly staff and told us some facts about the building. Worth a visit.

Lovely food and great service. Would highly recommend

Very pleasant stay, friendly helpful staff, great evening meal, excellent breakfast - bacon crispy, coffee perfect. Room 7 warm and cosy, room 8 arctic - we couldn't find a way to get the heating to blow warm rather than cold air, so turned it off. Discovered a portable fan heater the following morning! Bed, bedding etc excellent. Permanent light on inside the wardrobe, and TV on standby, are not eco-friendly. Quite a few people we know would not be happy with the glass-walled, unlockable loo. But generally, a good, though slightly oddly appointed, room. Note that the nearest car park is Swan Meadow, and apart from on Sunday, this requires you to go and put money in before 8am each morning.

Fantastic friendly staff, lovely clean rooms and a breakfast to remember. Would highly recommend...

Great food, with an excellent menu

This hotel has re-opened their coffee shop. The staff member on the tills was struggling. It did take a while to get it as he was rushed off his feet. I am not sure how many staff members were supporting him. The carrot cake I had was absolutely delicious. It was the general speed was slowing him down. I'm not saying who's to blame with the till. I know he took my order. They aren't printing receipts to know what the order is. I think he needs extra technology to help him, like a screen showing orders he's got to do. It's nice to see them reopened but I don't they've geared themselves up for the level of orders.

Very dry food and not well done Definitely last time here

We had a family dinner at the hotel in a lovely side room. Prebooking was easy, some changes and additions on the day. Staff very good and attentive. Very busy junction, possibly due to a set of roadworks and a diversion. Food included great burgers, lobster tagliatelle, fish and chips and steaks. All yummy. Fish especially good. A great find.

Lovely staff, delicious food, beautiful building, warm atmosphere. We came for an evening meal before seeing a local show and the staff made sure our food came out in plenty of time to get to the show.

We stopped in for a light lunch in this beautiful ancient town centre pub/ restaurant. what a lovely place. Internally it has been renovated to a high standard keeping lots of the old timber beams. Very good service and very good freshly prepared food. Would have loved to stay longer! And dog friendly!

The food was varied and enjoyable. The staff were very helpful in dealing with the confusion of arrival time of different members. This enabled all of us to have an enjoyable lunch despite the confusion.

Lovely hotel right in the town centre. Not so ideal if you’d like a good night sleep as windows not great and you hear every noise. Even heard joggers running past in the early morning. The staff are joyful and friendly but unfortunately for us the service, hence the bad score, let it down. We booked dinner for the Saturday evening which was poor service and breakfast (which was delicious when arrived) was even worse!!! There was not such a thing as hot water as we had to wash and shower in barely Luke warm which wasn’t what you wanted after a day walking in the cold. Room very small but clean and lovely comfy bed. Tea/coffee making facilities were spot on.

Had a fantastic stay at the Cross Keys recently. The location is perfect, right in the heart of Saffron Walden with ample parking nearby. The room was cosy and comfortable, and the building itself holds plenty of charm. The staff were very helpful, friendly and obliging. The breakfast included with the price of the room was excellent, and the pub on the bottom floor very nice. Overall a super little inn which I'd highly recommend to anyone and look forward to returning to 😊

Pros: Comfy bed and pillows. Great location. Beautiful building. Warm welcome on arrival. Good breakfast selection. Cons: 10am check-out time seems stingy considering you can't check-in until 4pm. Bathroom lock didn't work. No bottled water in room (hope the bathroom tap water is drinkable!) Mouldy shower seal and heavy calcium build-up on and around shower. Also had to fiddle with the water pressure for a very long time to get hot water to come out the shower. Very loose toilet seat. Getting our order taken at breakfast took a while as only one waitress and manager had his head in his phone.

I think the staff were a bit stretched as service was a little hit and miss I.e. pre dinner drinks arrived at the same time as the meal, long gaps between visits from waiters and had to go to the desk to pay. The food looked great and very nice portions but veg was a little cold under the meat.

It’s a friendly atmosphere and food is of a good quality. We had Sunday lunch - party of 4people but we all said the food was not hot enough.

We went twice over the festive period the first time 28th Dec, and we were sat opposite the kitchen, the door was open so we could see everything. A couple came in with a dog ( nothing against dogs!!) sat in between us and the kitchen. We had our meal served, and it was lovely, but as we were eating it, the chef or one of the chefs came out and fed the dog sausages!! We never saw him sanitise when he went back into the kitchen!!! The second time, the wait was ridiculous even the waitress came and apologised for the delay. Once the food arrived, it was warm, not as hot as you would expect, because we were that hungry after the wait we just ate it and left. My problem is they put a service charge onto the bill (10%), and given the choice, I wouldn't have given this because that service was non-existent and normally I tip very well for good service 👍

We made a last minute decision to have a night away and the Cross Keys Hotel, Saffron Walden was able to provide. The period room was everything we had hoped for with shutters on windows, a ceiling that was wavy with age and internal timbers - to say nothing of views out onto the High Street and Kings Street from the first floor. Chef Roger provided excellent vegetarian, gluten free food and we had both breakfast and evening meal. A delightful stay. Many thanks, staff of the Cross Keys.

An evening meal. The pub is beautiful from the outside and inside and perfect place to hide from the icy cold in early January. We had loaded potatoes which I’d recommend before steak and ale pie and the steak for mains - both very tasty. The two chaps who dealt with us were very welcoming and polite, overall very good experience. The non alcoholic options were good too.

Terribly slow service. We waited three quarters of an hour for our food to arrive and my lunch was cold. The food is generally good but the wait is frustrating, especially when a service charge is added to the bill and although optional, it’s uncomfortable to refuse to pay it. This is not a one-off. The ambience and building are very good but the service is consistently poor.

So disappointed in our visit. We braved the crowds and visited the market on a Saturday afternoon. The pub looked warm and welcoming on a very cold day. We were ushered to the bar when we first got there while a table was made ready for us. Only waited 10 minutes which was great. Ordered some bread and olives which took 20 minutes to arrive …. We should have taken more notice of the timing!!! After an hour of waiting for our lunch (a chicken wrap and a roast beef sandwich) we asked for the bill and for our order to be cancelled. The waitress apologised and offered us our sandwiches free of charge but quite frankly we’d had enough of waiting. Won’t bother going back but if you want to wait ages for food, it might suit you. All the gear and no idea springs to mind!!!

Christmas Day lunch: The table was decorated beautifully and the food was delicious and the presentation was appealing. Service was a little slow but , having said that, the restaurant was exceptionally busy and our waiter was very attentive. A lovely venue to enjoy Christmas lunch with family.

Superb chef, the tempura haddock was amazing and he happily stir fried some delicious veg so I could have mine without chips. Great service too, thank you!

Big Thankyou to Wendy & all the staff at cross keys hotel for letting us host my Mother-in-laws 80th birthday. They were great!! They made us feel welcome and they helped making the night run smoothly!! Food, service was great!! Thanks again!

Did not stay at the hotel, but had Christmas lunch. Service was terrible. Unfortunately the restaurant was short staffed on Christmas day which led us to have very poor service. The manager was useless and not up to the job, just buried his head in the sand. There was a young lad waiter who also was not coping and had a bad attitude and was rude. There was one good waitress called Laura who was very good and did her best in a tough situation. We stood for 15 mins inside the door before someone even acknowledged us and we had my 2 elderly parents ( one with a walking stick) . Once we sat down at the table we waited 20 mins and no offer of drinks so we had to chase. Our starters came after 35 mins which was fine, but still had no drinks ! ( We had pre ordered our food as it was Christmas day). We had to chase again for our drinks! We had finished our starters before the first drinks arrived! Food was ok though. We had to chase for our desserts , then they bought out 2 desserts, but we had to chase for the other 2 which took them another 20 mins and they bought out the wrong desserts ! so had to send them back and waited again! Fortunately the food was good, although the roast potatoes were more like boiled potatoes, which was a shame particularly as roast potatoes are important to your roast on Christmas day. Luckily we did have one waitress who was trying to hold it all together called Laura, and if it wasn't for Laura I am not sure we would have stayed, but on Christmas day you are limited to what your next option would be....will not be back.

This was our festive Boxing Day meal, 12 of us managing to gather together for the first time in a year. As a result we did enjoy ourselves, but sadly there were disappointments. Whilst staff were extremely friendly, each of the three courses were extremely slow in being served. The food was of good quality and tasty, but most of the main courses were no better than luke warm. When the bill was presented, each dish was individually priced instead of showing the festive menu fixed prices, and it was only subsequently that as a result I found that the total price paid for the pre booked meals exceeded the original charge shown on the booking confirmation. Overall, a disappointment, but great staff and a great venue.

The food and service was brilliant could not fault it. All the staff were so friendly and the food was AMAZING. It was my Birthday and they made it very special for me and my family.

Ate in the restaurant. Very good. Service was good. Not stay at hotel so rest of questions not relevant

nice setting, friendly service, nice people but the slowness and need for continual reminders never fails to disappoint

Lovely stay in the centre of town. Enjoyed a festive Xmas meal which was excellent and two good breakfasts. Our room was very good and staff friendly with good service.

Happy on all fronts. Efficient and friendly service. Fish & chips just right on this visit. Same for coffee/cake last week. Dog friendly, with treats on offer. Highly recommended.

My friend and I meet here regularly as it’s half way between us both from Kent and Leicester. Had a great breakfast as always! Always made to feel welcome! My dog was welcomed too and given lots of doggie biscuits!

We called in for Sunday lunch and had a main course each. We followed that with coffee and a cake in the coffee bar. We were served by friendly staff and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere.

Lovely meal, good service. Some items not available but not a problem, thank you

my partner and i used to absolutely love coming to this place, we had been coming at least twice a month for the last almost two years. for our last two visits, the service has been incredibly slow even if it wasn’t busy, taking on average 30 minutes to be served, and our starters have been coming out before our drinks. we both work in hospitality so understand things happen completely, but it’s been a little frustrating. when we went to eat last night, we were one of 3 other tables seated. it took a good few minutes for us to be seen and seated, 15 minutes for our order to be taken and then 30 minutes for our drinks to arrive. when they did, the size of my partners drink was wrong and there was a big red lipstick mark on the rim of the glass. we called the waiter back over and showed him; he looked all around the glass and couldn’t seem to see it, and then said “i’m assuming you’re going to want a new glass”. he took it away and returned a few seconds later with the same glass that had clearly just been wiped around the rim. when we got our starters, the onion rings were thin and lacking in onion. we could also audibly hear the kitchen from where we were sitting. Granted, the table was opposite the opening to the kitchen, but we could hear the kitchen complaining about what we had just ordered. when the mains eventually arrived, the portion sizes were very disproportionate and some things that were advertised on the menu were missing. we asked for the bill after only eating half of our meals, and it took asking the server twice for her to bring it to us. when it came, we had been charged for the wrong size drink, and after that had been amended the optional tip was added on to the total we had to pay without an option for us to choose. We usually love it here but doubt we’ll be back :((

Nice hotel the staff were great they had to work particularly hard in the restaurant as all the tables were filled and there were about 20 choir people standing and singing christmas songs which we very much enjoyed staff copped very well with that many people to look after well done. Also the food was very good and so was the breakfast. PS was was a bit bothered not having any staff on site overnight but this is not a complaint would still visit again

One and a half hours wait for appalling food. Shakshuka should be a Middle Eastern dish of peppers, tomatoes, and spices with an egg broken into the hot mixture. No spice or flavorings were detected. I assume that the rock hard yellow lump and the white crusty area was the egg. Served with granary bread. Really?..Hubby’s wrap was just as awful.

We had a lovely evening, with choir singers in the background. No complaints. Recommend the burger :)

We had a delicious lunch in The Cross Keys...a venue I have always liked. Good service, warm atmosphere and excelent food.

Friendly welcoming staff. Rooms quirky and have character.

The cutlery and glasses were dirty, the service was ok. The food choices were limited and i would not go back

Had dinner on a Friday evening (we didn’t stay in the rooms). Food was delicious and service was great - we will definitely be returning

We thought the pub / restaurant was lovely and the staff friendly and attentive. My mother in law wanted mussels and fries but being Sunday the waiting staff didn't think they were available. She came back to say the chef could make them for her. Our only disappointment was the dessert. The creme brûlée didn't have much taste and the crumble was a bit mushy. But all in all an enjoyable Sunday lunch on a wet afternoon.

We came for Sunday lunch, food was amazing but the service was a bit slow

Staff terrible - rude, do not listen to orders and do not follow up. Waited over an hour for food and 4/6 orders wrong

We stayed at the Cross Keys in Nov 2024, the restaurant was lovely, and the food was great. But the room was cold and very noisy. I took my husband for an overnight stay for his birthday, but we hardly slept all night due to the noise from the main road. Unfortunately, the room we stayed in was located at the front of the property and really needs double glazing installed, I would have got more sleep, sleeping in my car on the hard shoulder of the M25. The service also lacked, I had to ask for dessert, as the manager (who also kept singing all the way through service) was to busy looking on her laptop, arranging staff shifts for the following week. We were also told that the bar was closing early, around 20.15pm, I would assume to lack of punters drinking in the bar. I can't fault the food though this was very good, and we really enjoyed it, but the room well, this really lacked and needs to be used as storage only due to the road noise. Sorry but we won't be back.

I paid £22.95 for a plate of food that was worth £10! I had 2 bits of tender stem broccoli and about 5 small potatoes that left a taste in my mouth. When the meal was finished the staff kept walking past for 20 minutes and didn’t even clear our plates, we had to find a member of staff to get our bill. One good thing was the tea is nice

Just went there for food, which was not great. Went for burger in which the bun was burnt like charcoal and the beef patty had bone fragments in it which I was lucky not to break my teath on. Still, they did knock 25% off the bill. It's a shame, as we have been wanting to go for some time.

We came for a meal but waited so long to be served that we left. The couple dining next to us said that their food was cold.

Lovely pub,great atmosphere and sevice was good.polite staff. I wish I could say something positive about the food as well. My sunday roast was swimming in gravy, Yorkshire pudding was soggy and flat as pancake. Burger buns were burnt. My husband found bone pieces in the burger. They did reduce the bill though. When we got home, he was ill with stomach pains/sickness.

I have given rooms only two stars as our room was not that great. This was my fault though, as I booked through Booking.Com and had the cheapest room. Next time we stay at the Cross Keys we will book a better room through their own website and I would advise anyone staying there to do the same. The service we received during our stay was excellent and all the staff we met were really friendly and very efficient. The evening meal and breakfast were also first class. The location is as good as you can get, right in the middle of Saffron Walden. The hotel has no parking, but Swan Meadow public parking is only four or five minutes walk away and at £4.70 for the day is very reasonable. I would advise using the MiPermit parking app to pay for parking, as it can be used from your room and will save an early morning walk to pay for the coming day. We will certainly stay at the Cross Keys again, though in a more upmarket room.

Sunday afternoon. No Sunday steak left. Clearly understaffed. We were four at the table and two of us got our food in normal time. Number three about ten minutes later and number four when we other three had finished our meals. No excuses or apologies.

Poor service in the restaurant at lunch time. After well over an hour waiting we gave up the will to live and left.

Great stay, staff very welcoming and the room was cosy and to a good standard. There was live music and the Sunday roast was very tasty. Good atmosphere and very relaxing. Breakfast was served up to 11am and very filling. All in all a good stay.

Good service, Food good, Drinks far too expensive

Excellent, friendly staff who were all super-helpful. Lovely old building with lots of character. Right in the centre of Saffron Walden which is very quaint old town. Free parking on street overnight and car parks close by. We stayed on a Monday evening. Last orders were called at 21.30 and bar/restaurant closed at 22.00. Rooms were excellent BUT no heating on in the evening until 23.00!! My colleague feels the cold and had to borrow a fan heater from the bar. Breakfast is advertised as available from 07.00 but that is when the staff arrive so we were waiting outside until 07.15 to get into the restaurant. Evening meal and breakfast were both very good. Reasonable value for money overall given the location. Again I must emphasise that the staff who were on duty during our stay were excellent.

A nice enough place, and our lunch was uneven but pretty good. Because it was Sunday, we each had a roast. My wife was very happy with the beef, and our guest enjoyed his half chicken. My pork loin, though, was overcooked and the roast vegetables were mushy. The sticky toffee pudding was the best we have had of three tastings, but the fruit crisp was made with canned vegetables and incurred a thirty minute delay for some reason. Service was friendly but very slow. The noise level (mostly little children screaming) was deafening.

Whilst the menu isn't huge the food was tasty and reasonably priced. Have to say the service was great too.

My partner and I stayed here last year and loved the place, so decided to rebook it again. Unfortunately, after staying this time we were extremely disappointed that it didn't live up to the standards of our previous stay. The room we stayed in (room 8) was advertised as a Deluxe King room, but unfortunately is much smaller than the Deluxe King room we stayed in last year, so much so that it feels quite unfair to charge the same price for both. The room itself was cold, and the aircon/heater unit had been deactivated. Also, the bedding from the previous night had been left on the floor, so had to be collected by the staff member upon entry. On the plus side, the bed was soft and comfortable, and the room was clean and nicely presented. We booked a meal in the restaurant, and was disappointed to see that there was only 1 chef working and 2 inattentive staff members serving the tables. This meant that despite the restaurant being basically empty, the food took a long time to come. My partner ordered the calf's liver, which was served as a big slab, and had not been prepared correctly so was full of tubes. It was cooked well, but unfortunately was practically inedible. I ordered the Pie of the day, which to be fair was delicious, but the seasonal veg left a little to be desired. The young female staff member who served us was very pleasant, however the young male who was also serving had no interpersonal skills whatsoever. Breakfast in the morning was very nicely prepared, although once again even though the restaurant was basically empty, the service was incredibly slow. That being said, there was only 1 person serving tables. Out of all of the staff members we dealt with, he seemed to be the only competent one, being very friendly and polite. However, as the people on the other tables were leaving, the staff were happy to leave their dirty plates etc on the tables instead of clearing them away. I assume they all got cleared at the end of the breakfast service, but it's not nice to sit in the middle of a row of dirty tables. It is sad to see somewhere that we stayed and loved just a year ago be so disappointing, and so we will not rebook in the future.

Real great traditional fish chips. Pint of Genius Stout. Meal came with nice home fries, with pea chutney. Desert strawberry ice cream.

Beautiful place with lots of character, excellent food and service! will definitely return.

Had an enjoyable dinner in the restaurant with my daughter. The pork belly skewer and the fish & chips from the prix fixe menu were tasty and well-presented (I heard they have a new chef who has just started). The service was excellent.

Perfect location, great breakfast, pleasant and accommodating staff. Hotel is a quaint pub and rooms are clean, beds comfortable. Bathroom was a bit dated and no shower curtain which made taking a shower in the tub a bit of a crouching affair. Also check out is an early 10am (strange because breakfast it until 11am) which makes it a bit of a rush in the morning.

Stayed here for one night and experienced mixed levels of service. First of all it’s a lovely old historic building in a central location. Because it’s listed there is no double glazing or air con so if you get a room located facing the road you will definitely hear road traffic especially if you have to open the windows. I didn’t eat in the restaurant for dinner but received a warm welcome from the bar staff and my room was nice and clean with a good shower so no probs there. My main concern was the lack of service whilst waiting for a table at breakfast. There was a member of staff who was responsible for breakfast and checking out but was working on her laptop and basically ignored me for 5 minutes despite knowing I was waiting and even when a member of the cleaning staff advised her that I was waiting she still didn’t respond until I actually had to walk over to where she was sitting. The main reason for my average rating. But once she had got up away from her laptop she was very friendly and efficient afterwards so not sure what was going on previously. And full English was very good. The only downside was that there were no fruit juices available. So overall, a very mixed experience.

Disappointed that the bar closed at 9.00pm and was only offered a drink to take to my room as I was walking out the door

Dropped in for a drink with a view to having lunch. It was very busy, we were shown to a table and then completely forgotten. Got drinks from the bar and needless to say didn't have food

The staff were nice but we had to wait almost half hour for our drinks - which they got wrong on several occasions. I understand we weren't charged for these however. We were also disappointed that there was not a more reasonably priced sparkling wine. If the staff had not been so friendly and the food hadn't been so nice, I would have marked it down to a two or a three.

Great stay. A real character hotel with lots of quirky features. We stayed in room 1 it was very clean and had all the toiletries and tea,coffe,hot chocolate and biscuits you would want. All the staff were very friendly and helpful. The evening meal was very good and excellent portions. Breakfast was included and there was everything you could wish for on the menu both continental and cooked. We will definitely be back. L

Slow service, warm wine, cold food & a steak that was inedible. Should have read the reviews. Only 2 staff working and think it was probably the young guys first night. Won’t be returning.

Got charged £15 for 2 coffees and a small bit if flapjack. Queried it and eventually they grudgingly said they would refund £4 They weren't very apologetic and we just checked our credit card statement- instead of a part refund, it appears the £4 has been added on! So, roughly £20 for 2 coffees and 1 tiny finger if flapjack.🤨

I didn’t stay overnight so unable to comment on the rooms. We had lunch which was lovely. A good choice on the menu and the food was nicely presented and delicious. Service was good and the staff were friendly. This wasn’t my first visit but the service and food has always been good. Definitely recommend

I had the baby back ribs and they were pretty good and very tasty. The portion sizes were mediocre for the price. The staff were very friendly. P.s: Don’t order the ginger beer, it is old Jamaica which is the worst one.

Mens toilets in a very bad way upstairs . The smell was horrendous, I've drank in some bad boozers, but this one takes the biscuit for worst smelling. Food was OK, but to go to the toilet afterwards was not pleasant and made me feel ill. Plunger by the toilet and a urinal masked off. We were going to come back for Sunday lunch, but no thanks. Hope the kitchen is taken more seriously. I would expect better from a hotel.

Oh dear! Peas soup was tasteless and so heavy. Prawns in brioche bun were tasteless with tooo much batter. £10 glass of wine lacked body and was sour.

Food was delicious with very creative starters. A warm hug on a cold blustery day, you can go wrong at Cross Keys for a classic British pub experience.

Lovely 17th century inn with well equipped rooms and good food

Disappointing. Ordered a drink at the bar and asked if it was table service, bar tender said it was so so went to find a table. Shortly afterwards, the chef walked up to the table next to me, whom it appeared were friends of his and said he was in the kitchen alone! I asked him when he passed by if the liver was Lambs or Calves, he said the latter. I waited for the staff to come to the table to take my order ……. I waited ……I waited…….I gave up waiting and walked to the bar to find the two bar staff chatting. I ordered the Liver and bacon, and sat back down. Got back up 15 mins later to order another drink (no staff in sight) I was sat in view of the kitchen and it appeared there was sequential order cooking going on and a lot of bells coming from the microwave. Poor chap was doing his best but my food took ages!! (38mins). I asked the bar staff who were in the kitchen now if the chef had started cooking my dish as if not I would have to leave, I was told it was 2-3 mins away. Not too long after that the dish arrived, the whole dish was smothered in what was supposed to be a red wine jus, but resembled thick packet sauce/gravy. The mashed potato and vegetables were obviously microwaved to a temperature that would threaten the Space Shuttle. The liver was served in large medallions, never seen Calves liver served this way, only Lambs liver, what ever the donor mammal (jury still out), it was pretty tough sadly. Apart from delivering the food, no member of staff visited my table to ask if I wanted drinks, if the food was ok etc, this missing the opportunity to redress this disappointment. To the owner- your management was non existent- if you are the management- a single chef cooking that menu says that the food won’t be anything special! Ps- might be an idea to train your staff not to swear in the kitchen and say ‘I’ll do my best to close the kitchen by 8pm as it’s so f’ing hot’ so close to customers waiting for their food turn in the microwave. Pps it really was f’ing hot -maybe consider some AC????

Excellent communication from initial booking to check out. Lovely friendly staff, professional, efficient and caring. Very comfortable room and immaculate ensuite bathroom. Food was excellent and freshly cooked to order. A great place to stay.

Hopefully we just happened to visit on a ‘bad day’ - but service was shocking (we saw several tables leave in frustration) . We ordered two croissants and two coffees. It came to £16. To me that seems ludicrous! The croissants weren’t even nice - cold and undercooked.

What a fabulous stay! We arrived early so was allowed to check in and leave our luggage in a secure room while we had time to have a roam round the town. When we back to the hotel the lovely Simon took our cases and showed us to our rooms, which were absolutley beautiful. We enjoyed the delicious food in the evening, being looked after by all the staff with smiles and banter which makes it feel comfortable & homely. And well as for the beds, heaven! Had a great nights sleep. Didnt want to get out of bed for breakfast but so glad we did. The wonderful Wendy is one of the best to greet you with a warm friendly smile and great personality. And must say Wendy the choice of music in the mornings be it rain or shine can only just brighten anyones day 😊 From check in to check out we were so looked after and nothing was too much trouble... We left feeling happy, relaxed and 100% sure this is a great place to stay See you soon guys for sure, keep up the good work 🥰😘🥰

It was very cosy and welcoming, I had the fish and chips and it was delicious. The staff are very kind, the food came very quickly and took us to our seat straight away

Okay so we booked in to this hotel for a friends gathering we all checked in booking 6 rooms between us all. Hotel nice food okay. So we went up to our room left our bags and went to join our friends in a wine bar are room was room 9 We got back at 11pm and went to bed got up with noise coming from somewhere from 6 am. Sounded like a pump so while up thought shower breakfast and leave Turned the shower on went to get in freezing cold water left on half hour still cold. Rang down they said will send up someone. To look.at it. A knock on door saying it will take 20 minutes to heat up I waited and waited still nothing looking around the room dust everywhere cobwebs. Still no hot water so had to wash in freezing cold water. Got dressed and went down for breakfast. Spoke to someone all he said was sorry about that i will contact someone. I was not happy he should have said half price for the room or something or even free. The room had no windows and was quiet Claustrophobic you at too walk up a spiral staircase out side which was green and i got that on my clothes my friends rooms wanted all cleaning they told me. But there water was okay. We paid £150 for the room and it wasn't worth it. I sent the hotel a email but heard nothing don't recommended it.

Only went for lunch but the food and service were good. Would recommend 👌

Great restaurant! Great service and great location and room.

Held a suprise 60th birthday dinner for my mother in law here. The food was amazing, the service was great! Special mention to Sophie who was a great help with surprising the MIL and bringing out a cake that we had bought. Would definitely come again!

Lovely and historic hotel! I'm familiar with Saffron Walden and always wanted to stay at the Cross Keys due to its history and location in the centre of town which is just perfect. I stayed in room 7 which is actually behind the main building in what looks like a converted barn, and was a beautiful and comfortable room with lots of space and high ceilings! The location of the hotel is incredibly convenient, you are a short walking distance from pretty much anything to do in Saffron Walden. The staff were efficient, polite and professional. My full English breakfast in the morning was delicious and included in my room rate. I drove, and while there is no parking on the premises, there is ample parking available at the Swan Meadow public car park which is a very short walk to/from the hotel, for around GBP3.50 for an entire day.

Lovely restaurant in pretty town. First time back for a few years. Sadly, Sunday lunch wasn’t great. Not served hot, and quality of meat not great at all. Pork wasn’t a roast cut (looked like belly slices) and beef very fatty. Would love to see this place be a good option in future.