Westgate Hotel, Winchester (From Daily Echo)

Westgate Hotel, Winchester

in Pub Reviews By Warwick Payne

BEER and sandwiches is regular pub fare, but the Westgate Hotel in Winchester goes further and will soon be selling breakfast.

It already serves the full English and lighter options to residential guests but from January onwards they will available to all.

The pub, on the corner of Romsey Road and Upper High Street, also offers lunches and dinners and has a good reputation for food.

As well it might, as the landlady, Helen Sutherland, is the former chairman of Hampshire Fare.

She runs the pub with Guy Carpenter and took over the pub and guesthouse 11 years ago.

She said they refitted the bar soon after, have just finished doing so again, and have also upgraded the guestrooms.

She said: “When we came here there were 13 rooms but only one communal bathroom.”

After extensive work, there are now eight rooms instead, all with en suites.

Guests can also enjoy breakfast, and from January, the same invitation will be extended to non-residents.

She said: “I thought ‘I’m in the kitchen anyway, so why not offer breakfast to all of our customers?’”

A take-out service for items like bacon sandwiches and freshly-squeezed orange juice for commuters is also proposed.

The venue is only a couple of minutes from Winchester station, which is one of the reasons the pub is there.

In the mid 19th century, the Eldridge Pope brewery opened a network of inns across the south for rail passengers.

The Westgate Hotel is thought to be one of them, and dates back to the 1860s if not before.

Now a Marston’s house, the pub tends to rely less on train passengers for its business.

However, it does rather well out of Hampshire County Council, which has its HQ opposite the front door.

Indeed, council staff can claim a 10 per cent discount at the venue, which has a wide selection of food, wine and ales.

■ Westgate Hotel, 2 Romsey Road, Winchester, SO23 8TP, telephone 01962 820222.