The Old Bell Hotel in Derby

Great oldie world pub. Four real ales. Dancing Duck Beaky Blinder 4.5 excellent. Highly Recommended

I recently attended the Faulty Towers show at The Old Bell Hotel in Derby, and it was a fantastic experience! The show itself was hilarious, with the cast perfectly capturing the essence of the original series, keeping the audience entertained throughout. The food was outstanding—each course was well-prepared, delicious, and really added to the overall enjoyment of the evening. The service was top-notch, and the staff made sure we had everything we needed. It was a brilliant night out with friends, filled with laughter and great food. Highly recommend this experience!

We went to Derby expecting and looking for historical locations and traditional pubs. From the outside the Bell looked just the thing we were after. Once inside it’s not what you expect. It’s one of those places that pub chains buy then rip the history and soul out of. It’s basically one big room that’s had cheap nasty laminate floor put down. As a result it’s just an echo chamber. Even with just a couple of dozen people in it was unbearably loud. That being said it’s not the fault of the staff who were friendly and efficient. The beer was good also. The owners of this place need to realise historic buildings don’t need to be modernised. If you want an authentic pub with patina and character go to the Dolphin. That’s what we did and spent a few hours and ££££ in there instead.

Perfect location on Sadler Gate. Shame they're not serving food anymore due to fuel prices. Good staff with local knowledge

Beautiful hospitality, great atmosphere and amazing staff 💯

TITANIC EVENING DINNER EXPERIENCE. Would have rather been on actual titanic than this shambles of an event. There was no ambience no decoration, no dress code. The comperes were not loud enough and were drowned out by 2 very very loud tables near us. we were packed in like a Tin of sardines, the bar was dreadful they stopped serving in order to get the show going, leaving people stood there. might have been better to get more staff as this is not your first event is it. The food was nowhere near first class dining experience dessert was jelly just plonked on a plate. There was no one taking your order and we never received a meal choice beforehand. They missed several people on our table out. The food was lets be honest crap would have been better at my grandson birthday party and he is 7. Facts and figures were just taken from one website and not looked into further as a lot of facts were incorrect. To conclude the worst experience of dining i have ever had. Rubbish staff, rubbish food and rubbish entertainment.

I photographed a wedding here and the staff were really polite and accommodating, thank you.

Shaun (hope I spelt your name right) was amazing! Gave us a tour of the pub and filled us in with its history.

Good pub with an excellent range of beers

Attended Disco for Adults, daytime disco. Excellent 👌

Fantastic experience with excellent food. Arron from the restaurant was a very pleasant young man and most efficient. Hotel rooms clean and recently refurbished with lovely views.

The Titanic experience, rather like the original was not one to be repeated. It was advertised as being a First Class Titanic dining experience and that their chefs would “accurately recreate” the menu on that fateful night. The chef should have been made to walk the plank as the menu bore no relation to the original First Class menu on the Titanic or to anything half decent. I expected white linen tablecloths and napkins, crystal ware, silverware and centre pieces. When we arrived, I thought they had forgotten to set the tables at all. A knife fork, spoon and paper napkin were provided. The entertainment tried hard but the acoustics were so terrible it was difficult to make out what they were saying to the extent that the people at the back gave up and made so much noise that it made it even more difficult to hear. The waiting staff were helpful and polite but were working on a sinking ship. They would have been more honest to advertise it as a third class experience and having an Irish jig. Expectations would have been much lower then and might have matched what we received. Truly awful and very disappointing.

Great choice of beers in a beautifully historic building. One of Derbys oldest pubs. The Tudor Room is from a different age as the name suggests, a log fire and comfortable seating. Enjoy . M

Nice place, long narrow bar. Well decorated. Staff were friendly and polite. On the Guinness which was very nice. A few photos on the walls. Great visit.

We was looking forward to the dining experience but it all failed/sank from the start. The dining tables where set out so tight like sardines and every time someone wanted to go to the bar they had to ask people to move. We wanted a Pims but because the bottle had not been opended they would not offer the drink. We could not hear the show/presenters as the 2 tables behind us was making so much noise we could not even hear the violinist. No one stepped in and it just got worse the more the event carried on. The meal was not first class but more like third class and it was very rushed. We was served like cattle not white gloved experience as what we was expecting. It was more like Fauly Towers which is the next event. We wont be coming back and this was not just my opinion from more than our table. We booked in a hotel and had this as a special anniversary meal as a suprise, It was certainly a surprise. I took a couple of photos of the food and cocktail but really should have taken more to give you the true Titanic Experience.

Called in with a couple of the lads whilst out in Derby last Fri. The good old days of Saddlergate and every bar being rammed have unfortunately long gone,but it was an enjoyable atmosphere and good beer in the front bar area room. 👍🏼🍻

Stopped in here for drinks, they have a good range of beers and some good ciders. Nice traditional pub with comfy chairs. Friendly staff. Slightly off the beaten track down Sadler Gate.

Cheap cheerful but sometimes a bit odd smelling

Beautiful building with heaps of history and great staff, highly recommend.

Nipped in for a pint. £9.50 for 2 pints so bit more expensive than your chain pubs, the atmosphere and attentive service is worth it though.

At last busy again great atmosphere

Never stayed there, but the bars are good

Love the adult discos at this place. Such enjoyable evening's 😉

Oldie world pub. Friendly staff. reasonable prices.

Terrible experience, I ordered a lime and soda and the bar-tender refused to serve a non alcoholic beverage.

Not bad drink nice to seeit still going under its lod name.

Nice venue, friendly pub. Attended the songs from the musicals event. It was terrible, first half drowned by keyboard. Female high-pitched voices, male singer out of tune. It required much more practice. £17.50! A lot of people left at half time.

We went to the faulty towers dining experience here, great little pub, good service, they had the faulty towers characters off to a tea, great night out, never stopped laughing and food although a little slow coming out it was cooked beautifully, highly recommend trying this

The beer was terrible, could not drink it as it tasted of metal and made me feel very sick

Beautiful old pub! Been coming here for 40 years plus,never disappointed!

Atmosphere is great and the staff are lovely

With a pint being valued over £5 it would be worth it if the bartender smiled or was even polite. Never going there again. Very depressing attitude from the staff.

Popped in mid afternoon on a Wednesday, not many in , but good service and good pints .

Used to love the Sunday lunch here - unfortunately the don't do that any more. Still a good bar full of character and history but without the food we didn't stop firca ling vudit

It's a pity did not serve food, but excellent venue for derby folk festival

Good pints, little stingy on the nuts ;)

Went to the Faulty Towers experience with my wife two sisters and their partners absolutely fabulous night will never forget great food marvellous staff so attentive don’t miss this experience 10 out of 10

We have just been to the fawlty towers experience had a fantastic time, so funny great show basil was amazing

We had our wedding reception here on the 5th August 23, room is beautiful, all the staff are really nice and the food was amazing couldn't of asked for more

OK, but not as good as the original bell, some 10 years ago. Expensive, but nice choice of beers, decent staff, good atmosphere. Try it, worth a pint at least.

Having been previously to en event, which was good, we have tried to book another two events. The first event was cancelled on us after booking and no suitable alternative was in place so had to push for a refund. The second event, I have phoned and emailed at least 6 times various contact details at The Bell and no one has responded in full to my enquiry after being advised on the phone to the events line “I’m just a barman”. Still waiting for the manager Sean Brough to get back to me. Communications are very poor. And family who went to the ghost tour event said the food was horrendous and the event was woeful. Shame as the Fawlty Towers event was excellent and the venue is a very prestigious building.

Always call in at the bell if I'm drinking in the area . Good selection of beers and very knowledgeable staff .

Step back in time, in this delightful watering hole. Full of charm & character. Not just talking about the staff!

Nice pub, our barman was really friendly and knowledgable… a rarity these days! Nice outdoor seating at the front in the sun. Wide range of draft ales and beers.

Lovely traditional city center pub serving lovely cask ales and great Sunday dinners

Not Ben in the hotel just in the pub very nice place

Only in bar for drinks but excellent service

Would not recommend using their catering. Food was bland, lacked logical variety and for some products seemed uncooked/not cooked or stored appropriately. (Half the guests experienced diarrhoea but could not prove/disprove it was the catering as GPS needed samples for testing.) When discussed compensation for poor catering for the expensive process per head the events manager Shaun ghosted my emails. Incredibly poor management of the situation. The above left a stain for what started off as a fantastic experience putting the event together. Bar staff were lovely and Shaun was accommodating with the organisations hired such as photo booth and decorations. Would recommend the location but NOT the catering. Over priced and bland at best.

Darling little place in the day time but it was excellent night... rate it FULLY

Great night at the 80s adult disco 👌

Great place. Function room was nice too.

Beautiful events room for a small party

Hired the Ballroom for a party of around 70 people and the event was very good. Plenty of food in the buffet and great service at the bar. Would recommend for any parties or other special events.

This is a very pub had a noce pint of beer here.

Really good beers but could do with food at all opening times

Friendly Staff, lovely place but shame the chef seems isn’t a chef at all! Pork was rock hard! Vegetables are uncooked couldn’t even cut the stem of tender stem broccoli

The hotel and pub on the side and pub in the back are derby legends .

Visited Saturday 28th January 2023, mid afternoon. Built in 1650 it's Derby's largest remaining coaching Inn and was considered one of the grandest outside of London, the Tudor frontage was added in the early 1900s. At its peak it had over 50 rooms, multiple bars and restaurants, it's been a doctor's, court and even held prisoners in its cellar. Nowadays it's massively impressive and gives a real sense of Derby's fairly grand but sadly lost history. The main bar is in 1 room spanning the front, beer choice is pretty good with a nice mix of cask, craft on keg and lager with a full range of spirits, soft drinks, tea and some nice smelling coffee. Staff are great, really smart looking and attentive but friendly and talkative. Hard to believe how much this place has changed, it's great to see someone actually caring about such an historically important building. Well worth going and visiting their website for their full history.

Had a refurbishment since I last went and looks alot better. Had a good pint of beer but my partner and i were the only people in their so atmosphere was limited. Didn't even no there was rooms you could stay in.

Excellent beers and great staff and atmosphere

Nice place. Staff also pleasant.

Great function room, private and large. The food wasn't as good as expected though, the meat was dry and the other dishes were a bit bland

Had a great evening at The Fault Towers Experience evening in tie amazing ball room. Lovely old building with friendly staff. Thanks

great little place, fantastic coffee and tea, and even a bit of homemade cake great service from some really pleasant servers.

We went for a ghost tour and supper at this wonderful old hotel/pub.our guide was Jack,funny,informative,we explored parts of the hotel the staff were afraid to go alone!followed by a supper of yummy sausage ans mash in the Tudor room in front of a roaring fire.absolutely excellent,thanku so much really enjoyed it!!!!

Went to the Scrooge evening last night with a group of friends what a throughly enjoyable evening. Food was good but the Lost boys were quite simply brilliant a really good laugh ….would recommend the evening to anyone and good value for money

Went on the Ghost walk with some friends. Hands down the scariest part of this whole experience was the food. Parts of the tour were up and down very dark , poorly lit steps with no handrail in places. Very poor safety and only a matter of time before someone falls. Some of the history spoken about was interesting but no part of it was remotely scary or ghostly. Returning for “supper” and served undercooked sausage, watery tasteless mash and tinned peas was a real treat. We did not eat it. £30 per head !! An absolute joke. Would not recommend this to anyone at all. We have been before to The Fawlty Towers experience which was great so we were all very disappointed.

Amazing Ghost Tour evening. Highly recommended. What a fantastic location and guide!

Had a nice pint out with friends lovely atmosphere 👍

Booked the Tudor for private party. Lovely manager and all booked and helped with set up. Only downside was the lad on the bar, unceremoniously ushering us out at 6pm . He ought to have said when it was getting near time to leave instead he announced he was going home and we had to clear up,! Bit harsh!

Nice place , staff could do with training on smiling a little , in no rush to return

Good beer and well manerd staff

Good service but slightly expensive on the drinks.But nice bar with excellent bar staff.

The Old Bell on a Thursday was quiet, they rang the bell for last orders just after 21:30, we had barely been in the building 10 mins, strange thing to do, not a charming place.

Attended a week ago for a retirement, a lovely venue, could have done with another member of staff behind the bar, but didn't detract from a great night.

We had the most amazing wedding day with our family and friends on 9 9,22. Planning and support from Sean the event manager was outstanding with great communication ,advice and ideas. Great choice of packages that were flexible to accommodate dietary and allergy needs. Everything ran smoothly on the day, Great food,great staff and all in all a really great venue. Lastly was great for my now wife to have a dedicated room at the venue to get ready in with her Bridal party

Been going to the Bell for 30 years thankfully don't stick to the floor now. Friendly barstaff and professional

Only had drinks, service was good.

Great Sunday evening, visited for a music event, Jam Night. Fantastic atmosphere, safe environment, warm welcome and good service at the bar. Lovely venue.

Just had Sunday lunch delivered,excellent,second time I’ve had it and been bang on both times,I’ve even ordered an extra one for tomorrow 😉

Nice old style pub, beer prices okay for the city and the snug in the back is beautiful

It was a family gettogether and we all enjoyed the Bell pub.Thanks

Couldn't believe the quality of sunday lunch served, very enjoyable. Shame some of the beers are overpriced, the craft ales are reasonably priced though!

A genuine antique gem; this place has old world charm, good beer and smart professional staff.

Beautiful period features inside and out, with a good seating arrangement. Friendly enough service and a bang average selection of beers. Refreshingly un-rowdy on a Saturday afternoon - great spot for a quiet pint and a book or a laptop.

Really good night. Good entertainment. Had a very good catch up too. Will def come back

A very old pub,it could do with some Renovation.but nice.

it was packed when we first got there so thought wow must be a good pub,waited ages for a drink only to realise all the people that where there was the people like us waiting for the murder event night to begin,when we came out of the back room at the half way break the pub was dead and when it finished at 10pm it was dead,so we werent gonna stay for another drink in a dead pub 🤷‍♀️,and altho they advertised cocktails my cousin asked for one and he told her he can't make one right now as there too busy 😅😆😅😆,when she turned and told me this i was like what, "you can't do a cocktail right now!" He looked at us both and said its busy but then said ohh ok ill do ya one 😆😆,well yeh i think ya should there are places out there packed all the time doing 10 cocktails at a time 🙄🙈 and its ya job!!!!!!

The most tasty Sunday Lunch at this friendly 1650 Tudor pub in Derby. Thanks to Craig who pleasantly and proudly showed us around this gorgeous pub. Thanks to the staff, the 2 other Craig’s, Alex and special gratitude to an amazing Chef Carly. Definitely will recommend this Traditional Food Pub .

First time there. Nice pint and good atmosphere. Would go back

Great night at Night at the Musicals! I booked this having no idea what to expect but we were not disappointed. Amazing singing just like being in the West End!

Friendly staff! I went for a party and it was really nice, no hassle with food or drinks and everything was served on time. I'd definitely visit again.

Walked In and the bar was Empty on a Saturday eve, beer was decent but not cheap. Bar service was excellent

Great place to meet up with friends 🤗👍

One of my favourite pubs in derby. Great beers and excellent food.just nipped in for a crafty couple,lovely.

Very nice place and choice of drinks, but not keen on the way the peanuts are served, out of a jar into a bowl. Tasted stale. Not very hygienic or covid safe. Next time it will just be drinks only.

Beautiful Sunday roast service was excellent a slight mix up with order was notice and fixed straight away. Plus extra veg and gravy brought promptly. We arrived early and were still accommodated even though we were waiting for the rest of our party. Thank you

Excellent Sunday lunch. Staff very smart and polite. Bass beer spot on. Would definitely recommend to friends

We had our Family Sunday dinner delivered last Sunday after a recommendation and I couldn't recommend enough. It arrived within the time allocated by a very friendly driver and there was more than enough food. It wasn't the hottest dinner we've ever had but it had travelled to Chellaston. We warmed it through a little and it all tasted delicious. Thank you and will be passing on the word. We had Lamb, Beef and a pork dinner with desserts to follow.

Had an enjoyable drink here, am impressed with how much better it is to when I used to visit here 20yrs ago & it was just somewhere to drink & dance!