A spacious centrally located dark bar which attracts the office crowd for lunch and a party crowd at other times.

The Venue
Formerly known as the Factotum and Firkin The Hill is a big, modern bar. The floor is dark and the ceiling is high and the silver-grey wallpaper is quite funky. There are booths either side of the entrance in the window alcoves and the bar on the left travels all the way down the length of the room to the end where there’s a big screen showing sports. There’s a pool table at the back too and all along the side opposite the bar are four and six-person booths. In the middle of the room there are grey pillars and high tables and chairs.

It’s karaoke time on Friday nights which is very popular and on Saturdays there’s dance music. There’s a mezzanine level too which can be hired out to a capacity group of 50. It’s equipped with a couple of TV screen and is popular with a group of friends watching a big game.

The People
The two male barstaff look no older than 15 and, probably as a result, The Hill attracts a very young crowd with students shirking studies in the afternoon and partying at night. Lunchtime pulls in an office and shop worker crowd between 1pm and 3pm. But, presumably due to inexperience, the service is often poor.

The Food and Drink
On tap you’ve got a selection including Strongbow, Fosters, San Miguel, Guinness, Stella, Kronenbourg and, more unusually, Addlestone’s cider, as well as red, white and rose Stowell’s wines. And then there’s Budweiser, Cobra, Bulmer’s, Beck’s and Coor’s and in bottles. The food is your regular pub fare with sandwiches, salads and burgers. A plate of ham and eggs for £4.25 and a chicken burger is £4.15. You can bag two meals for £7.50.

The Last Word
The surroundings are nice enough but gormless service doesn’t endear you to the place. If they get more competent staff things will improve.

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