The Three Lions - New Forest

We highly recommend this place. Everything was flawless. Our room was impeccably clean and had all the necessary amenities. The hot tub was delightful and definitely worth the additional cost. The enclosed terrace opened up to a spacious garden, perfect for our dog. The staff were all incredibly friendly and went above and beyond to ensure our stay was perfect. The dinner menu was delicious, with generous portion sizes - be mindful when ordering sides if you plan on having dessert! The location is unbeatable if you are traveling with a dog.

We visited this restaurant a couple of times just for drinks, as it was the closest pub to our weekend accommodation. The service was friendly and the food we saw being served to other customers looked delicious, so we decided to book a table for Sunday lunch on our last day. We prefer to eat a little later, so we booked for 5pm. I was worried that the Sunday roast might not be at its best, as I have had bad experiences at other places in the past. However, I was pleasantly surprised! The roast beef was fantastic and every aspect of our meal was exceptional. The service was superb and the staff were very friendly. I wish I lived closer so I could become a regular at the Three Lions!

We have visited the Three Lions on several occasions in the past. The service has always been subpar, although the food itself was decent but not outstanding. Despite this, we decided to give it another try as it is local to us. When we looked at the menu for a Sunday family lunch (which would have included 8 people), we were shocked to see that there was a charge of 50p for extra gravy. This speaks volumes about the establishment. Who charges extra for gravy when a £20 roast should already come with enough gravy? It seems greedy and unappealing. As a result, we will be choosing other restaurants that appreciate our patronage instead of returning to the Three Lions.

Our visit was completely ruined by the hotel manager and I ended up crying in the car park when we left! The worst experience I’ve had at a hotel or restaurant ever. When we checked in the receptionist told us the breakfast time and there was no mention of the cost. We thought breakfast was included, my brother made the booking so I didn’t have the record. At breakfast we were told it wasn’t included (fair enough if we hadn’t paid for it but I said I thought it was included and offered to go and get my phone to check. the lady said she’d call the manager to check. We sat down and the lady told us breakfast was £10 but that she was waiting to hear back from the manager about whether it was included and she gave us some menus. We were going to pay anyway even if it wasn’t included but just wanted to check. The menu was a set menu with a main brek item, tea/coffee, fruit juice and 1 side. We all ordered the items included. When it came to paying I said to the lady that I’d pop back down and pay as I didn’t want to cause my Dad any stress. When I came back to pay, the lady said we hadn’t paid for the rooms! I showed her the payment on my phone and that issue was sorted but it was strange and a bit strange. She then said the breakfast was £52!!! Then the manager came in. I explained she said it was £10 each which would have been a total of £30. The manager then started getting angry saying our rooms were really good value and why did I ever think breakfast was included which was strange as I already understood we needed to pay for breakfast by this point. We then got into a back and forth argument about whether the lady had given us the menu with prices. The manager then showed us the menu with prices which we hadn’t seen started saying we must have seen the menu with prices as my Dad had ordered a grapefruit juice (it’s just his favourite juice! I then turned and asked the lady if she had told us the breakfast was £10, she said no. I asked her if she had given us the menu with prices and she said yes. I asked her twice and she lied repeatedly. It was a very strange situation. I actually started to feel a bit sorry for her as I think she must have been scared of loosing her job if she told the truth as the manager was very aggressive. He then said things like ‘You’re really enjoying this aren’t you!’ I was not enjoying it at all!! He then started going on about the cost of the Frobisher juice and how could the breakfast have been £10 talking again about how good value our rooms where and starting to rant, he was getting quite angry. But this wasn’t a question of value, it was a question of whether we knew the cost of the breakfast we didn’t. In the end I paid the £52 as my Dad was waiting and I went into the car park and burst into tears! My Dad popped back to tell them that we didn’t have the menu with prices and that we had been told it was £10. So overall, a horrible experience!! of course it wasn’t about the cost in the end, it was about not knowing the cost then being asked to pay a different price to what we’d been told I was a liar.

After spending many years walking in the forest, I one day stumbled on this pub. This pub has now become a regular stop on my many walks. All the staff are wonderful, however Velvet always brings my dog Elsa a treat, and will stop for a quick hello when she has the opportunity too, it's moments like this that keep regular customers coming in the door when times are quieter. I enjoy all my stops in this lovely pub.