Coombe Lodge open at last, but it doesn’t seem quite finished

Not much on: the Coombe Lodge ‘Spoons only had two ales on offer last night, but that was enough to cause confusion

EXCLUSIVE: After a three-month closure for a £1m refurbishment, what is it like in the first Wetherspoons pub to open in Croydon for 25 years?
KEN TOWL went to find out

Now open: early impressions are that Coombe Lodge is not much changed

They reckon that last year, across the country, around 400 pubs closed.

So let’s be clear: a pub opening, even a re-opening, is a good thing. Pubs are an endangered species. Here in Croydon, we lost two Wetherspoons pubs, the Milan Bar and the Skylark, in rapid succession in early 2022. It looked like Wetherspoons chairman Tim Martin was losing faith in Croydon’s tipplers.

But here in December 2025, a new Wetherspoons, albeit a franchisee, has opened its doors at Coombe Lodge, in the large, Grade II-listed building which, until September, was operating as a Beefeater. It is the first new Wetherspoons to open in Croydon for 25 years.

Despite being out-of-town, Coombe Lodge could do well, once its teething issues are sorted out.

An accident waiting to happen?: one of the serious disadvantages for customers visiting Coombe Lodge is the lack of pavement on the side of the busy A212 near the pub

It was doing all right last night, its fourth night of trading since its three-times delayed opening last week. There were plenty of customers. Many will have driven there (there is a big car park) or walked the half a mile down the hill from the Coombe Lane tram stop and crossed the road at a traffic island by a reassuring speed camera.

Coombe Lane, the A212, is busy with traffic here and not well-lit, and there is a bend in the road where the entrance to Coombe Lodge is.

North of the entrance, the pavement is half-covered by vegetation. To the south, there is no pavement at all. Add to this mix a few merry Christmas drinkers, and it looks like an accident waiting to happen.

All-day opening: it was easier getting served at Coombe Lodge using a smartphone app

And oh, it was busy all right on Monday, but you would expect that on the Monday before Christmas. If they want to keep their customers, Wetherspoons at Coombe Lodge will want to get their staff trained up, fast.

It is difficult to quibble about the prices at a Wetherspoons. They are very, very low and, while everyone has their theory about how they do it, no one quite knows Tim Martin’s secret. It would be good, though, if the staff stuck to the prices on the menus.

There were hints that all was not well when we arrived.

Where you would expect there to be an array of guest ales displayed across a row of pumps, there was instead an array of empty pumps. There was just Ruddles Best on a pump at one end and Old Speckled Hen at the other.

I asked for an Old Speckled Hen. The barman looked puzzled. “Old?”

“Old. Speckled. Hen,” I said, with, I thought, clarity.

“Old Speckled?” he said, sounding as if he had never heard of the beer, nor of that kind of plumage on a chicken.

“Old Speckled Hen,” I said, emphasising the bird in question.

Table service: early signs are that Coombe Lodge is set up for diners more than drinkers

At this point, the barman turned to a colleague and instructed them to pour me a pint of Old Speckled Hen. She asked me which pump it was. I pointed to the one with the Old Speckled Hen badge on it.

We were getting somewhere, I thought. But the person behind the bar couldn’t find Old Speckled Hen listed when she came to charge me for the pint at the fully digital till.

Between the two staff, they decided to charge it as a “guest ale”, but this did not qualify for the discount that Wetherspoons’ menu says applies on Mondays. At £2.99 per pint, it is difficult to begrudge paying the full price.

Later, my mate Simon asked for one drink and got charged for another. They rectified it after he pointed it out.

It seemed that many of the staff were just not familiar with the products or the tills and they had not learnt the old pub expedient of leaning around the pump to see the sign that showed what beer was on.

Looks familiar: the bar has a new top, and there’s new ‘Spoons carpets, but there’s not much else changed with the pub’s layout

We observed that a few of the bar staff crew did know what they were doing, and they were mentoring their novice colleagues. It was like being installed in a hospitality industry training session.

Best advice, if you want to be charged the right prices, use the Wetherspoons app. It worked fine for us, drinks appearing within five minutes of the order, food from the busy kitchen a little longer at 30 minutes.

The staircase to the upstairs toilets had been artfully blocked by management and, when we enquired, we were informed that they would be opening “soon”. You couldn’t escape the feeling that this should have been a priority to have ready before the pub opened last week.

Emergency storage: there are signs throughout that Coombe Lodge’s opening has been rushed. But the unique carpet has been fitted throughout

The downstairs men’s toilet was inadequate. The yellow plastic sign with the legend “wet floor” on it was, quite literally, a bad sign. The floor was very wet, the three urinals unable to cope with the onslaught of so many visitors.

Priority, it seemed, had been given to the carpet, which was impressive. Each Wetherspoon pub has its own unique carpet design and it was great to see the Coombe Lodge iteration in its virgin state, as yet unsullied by years of spillage.

On the way to the toilet, a propped-open door revealed a “conference room” that is in use as a dumping ground for spare chairs, tables and cleaning products. At least the carpet was in place.

In fact, the carpet was everywhere but in The Orangery, which, with its tiled floor and high glass ceiling, is still as beautiful as it ever was, but where the acoustics are terrible. Choose The Orangery if you don’t want to hear anyone. Select the carpeted areas if conversation is preferred.

Taking shape: Wetherspoons have not confirmed whether the carpet is inspired by the game of hexagonal chess

So this was Wetherspoons’ Coombe Lodge after, we were told, £1million had been spent on a thorough refurbishment.

Frankly, apart from the carpet, the lack of toilets and the neophyte staff, Coombe Lodge looks and feels like it always did. As we went in, we overheard a man coming out talking to his friend, saying, “They’ve just given it a lick of paint, that’s all.

“Perhaps they used the same builders who did the Fairfield Halls?”

I would be happy to recommend Coombe Lodge. I’d suggest walking there downhill from Coombe Lane tram stop but, on the way home, walking to Lloyd Park tram stop (also downhill), after taking great care when crossing the road.

I would also suggest waiting a bit before your visit, till all the teething problems are sorted out. And the carpet will be magnificent for a while yet.

2 Responses to Coombe Lodge open at last, but it doesn’t seem quite finished

David Tanner says:

December 29, 2025 at 9:08 pm

Call me old Mr Picky, but I won’t be making the pilgrimmage to the new Spoons, , even if I was still a drinker I wouldn’t bother to patronise a pub that was associated with Tim Martin and will probably be a magnet for the local gammons and other pub bores.

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- Christopher Myers says:
  
  December 30, 2025 at 11:14 am
  
  Oh dear, what a pointless post. You’re not a drinker, or a pub person but you still want to have a say about this. Are you a Kibitzer? Can’t think of another explanation
  
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