A disappointed visitor to the Pandora Inn left a one-star TripAdvisor review after finding the pub – which was named Cornwall Tourism Awards Pub of the Year in 2014 and 2015 and is known locally for its isolated, waterside location – hard to reach.
The customer, Jane P from Windsor in Berkshire, took to TripAdvisor to express her disappointment at her visit in a review titled "Rubbish".
The review, seen by The Morning Advertiser, read: "Was looking forward to this while I stayed in Truro, but just plain and simple.
"Long narrow country roads that went on for what felt like miles with no directions in dark.
"Then a wait for a parking space. Food disappointing. No more to say but dog friendly."
Downright mean spiritedness
Alongside sharing the review on the pub’s Facebook page, the owner of Pandora responded directly to the negative review on TripAdvisor.
The response read: “Sometimes the unfairness of a review on TripAdvisor leaps out and smacks you in the face and sadly this type of review often says more about the person who wrote it than the venue they have been so unkind too.
“Jane you are correct – the beautiful and unique Pandora Inn is accessed down narrow country lanes – you were visiting Cornwall after all and visiting probably the most famous pub in the county.
“If we were located on a main road in a town centre would you have wanted to visit anyway? We also have clear signage all the way from the main road (A39 Truro/Falmouth road) with the large brown tourist signs of the kind that most tourist attractions have – they are brown with white reflective markings so that they can easily be seen in the dark.
“The fact that thousands of happy customers find us every week indicates that they do quite a good job in directing people to us.
“Jane, you are also correct that we have a small car park – isolated country pubs as old as ours weren't designed with the modern motorist in mind and a look through our reviews helps advise you about this and we also have an excellent section on our informative website under the heading 'arrive', which is designed to help you plan the best way to get to us.
“Constructive criticism is always welcomed at the Pandora as it helps us learn and improve what we do but downright mean spiritedness as expressed in your review is just sad – we would say more but probably best to leave it at that.”