We booked this at the very last minute, just an hour before we left home. We arrived to a very picturesqe old building, with a note on the door saying the restaurant was closed, no mention of this on the website.
Snug bar with log fire, bdrooms comfy ans spacious with lots of storage, but very dated. The bathroom had carpet, no shower and the hot water was just a tiny trickle, it took almost 10 minutes to fill the sink, so a bath was out of the question. The breakfast was excellent. On googling the hotel owner, it seems he wants to turn the house into a private dwelling and is in dispute with the local council, perhaps this explains some of the problems.

This was the fourth time we have stopped at the RhydSpence and it never fails to impress. We got engaged at the Rhydspence in 2006 and try to get back every year.

The rooms are always warm, clean and well looked after, the food is always wonderful and the beer is always well kept.

Peter the landlord/Owner is the very definition of charming and efficiently.

The Rhydspence is always my first choice when staying the Hay on Wye area..............

Mark and Amanda Davies

The inn is steeped in history, and clean comfortable.Anyone looking for 21st century fixtures and fittings will be disappointed, but for me the room and ensuite were perfectly adequate for the property. The purpose for my stay was to visit historic sites and buildings in the Hrefordshire/Wales border region. Peter was extremely helpful in suggesting many locations that I had not been aware of prior to arriving.
With regard to food I found it excellent quality, and good value for money. The ambience in the bar was very comfortable, and all the visitors were very happy to enter into conversation about anything and everything. I will certainly return, and have already recommended the Inn to many of my friends

I wanted to take my mother and sister out for a treat so decided to go to the Rhydspence. My sister had had bar meals over the last couple of years which she said were lovely, so I was happy to try their evening meals. I knew it wasn't the cheapest place to eat but I don't mind paying if the food is of a high standard.

We booked for 7.30pm but arrived at 6.50pm in order to look over the menu and have a drink. It was a bit of a trek from the car park to the front door which incidentally was locked. After several attempts and ringing the doorbell, we were eventually let in by a young boy. The landlord was a bit strange but as I have a sarcastic nature, I wasn't too worried. The lounge area was a little cold but I put that down to the fact that we had arrived early and the fire needed stoking up. We were asked if we wanted to order earlier which we were grateful for as we were ravenous. My sister and I ordered garlic mushrooms en croute and my mother had brocolli and stilton soup. We were taken through to the restaurant which was dark and chilly and left for some considerable time. A young girl eventually came with our starters. The £8.00 en croute mushrooms consisted of a few button mushrooms, dipped in garlic butter and served on soggy toast and the soup was so thick I was tempted to ask for a knife and fork rather than a spoon. We were given rolls but they were undercooked too. We queried the en croute mushrooms saying that we thought they would have been in some sort of pastry but were informed our soggy piece of toast was in fact a crouton!!! For the main course, my sister and I had rack of lamb and my mum had sea bass. The lamb though luke warm was well cooked and tender which was just as well as the rest of the meal wasn't. The plate on which the lamb was served was too small to get the undercooked luke warm vegetables on and the potatoes which the lamb sat on was floury and undercooked. The sea bass came in a bag which consisted of several layers. When the waitress brought it out, she didn't seem to know what to do with it so made a half hearted attempt to break through the layers and left us to do the rest. The bag overtook the whole plate and the fish wasn't filletted so as the plate wasn't big enough, we were left with no other choice but to put the veg on the bag with the fish, every time my blind mother took a bite, she got a mouthful of bones.

My sister spoke to the owner and was told she should have sent the food back and it was too late to do anything about it now. With this attitude I wasn't prepared to spend a further £8 per head on disappointing puddings so at that point I paid and we left. I would not recommend anyone going there and would strongly suggest you drive straight past.