Torquay Seafront hotel

I have held off writing this review until I could make my feelings/issues clear with the Premier Inn Guest Relations Team. However, although recorded, no further action will be taken, so here goes. We arrived and the staff on the desk made it clear they had been busy and wasn’t very welcoming. We had booked a family room (118) the room is huge, so this was great. Beds were made and was fresh linen, but that’s where this positives end for this room. The bathroom stank. I mean strong urine like a badly kept men’s toilet in a pub. The room clearly hadn’t been cleaned properly, not just that day, but in weeks!! Now we aren’t fussy, so I’m not saying we were moving furniture like they do on TV when reviewing rooms, this was clear on the skirting boards. And the plug when we went to plug in a charger, we couldn’t believe it. Then they can’t have pushed a vacuum around that day, otherwise they would have seen the tablets we had to pick up found on the floor in two different parts off the room. I don’t know if they were prescription drugs, vitamins or recreational drugs, but either way if the room had been cleaned, they surely would have been seen and picked up. Imagine if young children had picked these up?!? Please see photos. My wife went to reception and complained, we were told to wait while another room was prepared. We were then given room 4, not quite as big, but an adequate sized family room. This room had been cleaned, however as with the rest of the hotel, it was tired and well overdue a refurb. Once we got unpacked, we went out to explore our surroundings, and by chance we passed the lady who reallocated us, and she said as a way of apology, we were given free breakfast. We appreciated the offer, but would this have happened if we didn’t happen to pass each other? Who knows. The breakfast was an experience, we have stopped in a few Premier Inns so we know what to expect, but here, you have to book in. We wasn’t aware of this, and they made hard work of getting us a table, despite half the restaurant being empty. I was told they have 200 guest to seat, but if we are quick she could seat us. We did, we were quick, and the tables still remained empty, so why the big deal? Then later after we had eaten and gathered our things from the room, a short while later when we went out for the day the tables were still empty, so really no need to make such a big deal. On the Saturday the hot food was cold and poor. However the Sunday was much better and fresher, back to what we would expect. The rest of the hotel is well overdue an overhaul. Carpark is uneven, the paths to the car parks are a trip hazard where tree roots have lifted the block paving. The carpets are worn and look dirty. All the paintwork and walls are marked. It’s a Premier Inn, cheap and cheerful, we wasn’t expecting the Ritz, but we do expect cleanliness and freshness. The restaurant was clean and more up to date, so not sure why the rest of the Hotel hasn’t been brought up to date inline with it.

Great location, the rooms are spacious and very clean. The bathroom is also good size, however the shower is located in the bath which is not ideal for an older person (1) by having to step over the edge of the bath to access and (2) is very slippery when having a shower. Very quiet and secure. I would recommend.

Room was dusty ,fridge did not work which you pay extra for stains all over carpet , cobwebs in corners of room ,TV was pixalated making viewing impossible,bed was clean and comfy bathroom was also clean

Excellent location with a view from many rooms. Walking distance to transport network and boat trips. Excellent room facilities, comfort and very clean. Very good value for money . Would prefer more twin room options. Breakfast choices and quality was good but more focus on healthier options (e.g quality fresh fruit and low/zero fat dairy) would enhance the experience.

First impressions were not great; it took 30 mins to check in and at one point the line of guests stretched out the front door of reception! For some reason there are no self check in screens available which seems bizarre; if ever a hotel needs them, it is this one..... After finally checking in we made the long walk to our Premier Plus room (sea view) which is in the annex of the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the room; it was much larger than any other Premier Inn room I have stayed in and it benefitted from dual aspect windows which actually opened (albeit limited by the safety catches). It was great to actually be able to open the windows which is often not the case in Premier Inns. It was also helpful given the limited effectiveness of the air con. The air con in many Premier Inns is often limited in its effectiveness due both to the minimum temperature setting (19C) and fan speed, but it was even worse here due to the relatively large size of the room. Thankfully, it was not a particularly warm night outside and with the windows open I had a comfortable night's sleep. Another benefit of the room was the walk-in shower in the room. This was excellent and looked very new, working perfectly. This Premier Inn is the first I have stayed in with a Beefeater restaurant. It was ok and the food was reasonable, but it was very busy and the room felt a bit cramped. The staff worked very hard and were rushed off their feet. Arguably, management need to look at recruiting more staff to support colleagues. Being a Beefeater, the bar area was more substantial and had a wider range of drinks available compared to many Premier Inns, but overall I would suggest the Thyme restaurants found in many Premier Inns are preferable to Beefeater. Overall the hotel was fine, but it needs updating and smartening up in certain areas, particuarly to the exterior of both the main building and the annex.