Torquay Seafront hotel

I have travelled to Torquay for family holidays since childhood, I know it well and knew the location of this hotel which was a key reason for my booking. This hotel is in an excellent location, on the seafront, a short walk into town, and next to Torbay gardens. I have booked other premier inns in other areas of the UK so thought I knew the standard of the accommodation I booked many months in advance, and selected a family room. I also paid in advance for breakfast for every day of our stay. Unfortunately this Premier Inn relies on its location, it was fully booked so room changes were not an option. The hotel is very worn to the point of scruffy, dirty and falling into disrepair. There is a leek in the ceiling of the reception area with a washing up bucket below, this did not catch all the water keeling and frequently there was water all over the floor, this remained for the entirety of our stay (one week). The bar area and terrace is very scruffy and unkept, hazard tape cordons off gates, dirty veranda which was never swept or properly cleaned with tatty furniture strewn across the terrace and lawn. Our room was clearly very worn, this was especially apparent in the bathroom, the soap dispensers (next to sink and in shower) were badly rusted, the “posh” bottles have clearly been in situ for years but are just refilled with cheap liquid, to the point flakes of rust fall into your hands whilst trying to use them (I resorted to washing hands with shower gel we had brought with us). The shower grout and sealant is discoloured and specked with mould, as was the back of the bathroom door and the defining. The bath itself was chipped at the bottom and sides, the shower curtain was not properly fitted / or the curtain had fallen off its curtain hooks. The room had not been properly prepared, the beds were clearly quickly made and not done well, and item (we think the bed runner) was chucked on the floor under the bed, the sink soap dispenser was empty , as was the toilet roll dispenser and for a family room there was only one bath towel, one hand towel and one bath mat, none of which were neatly folded. A trip to reception and staff did give us some supplies (toilet tissue and more towels) to rectify the situation for ourselves. It also became apparent the bathroom extractor either does not work or is woefully ineffective. The room furniture was a little shabby, a child had clearly been drawing on the wall by the door. We made the best of the room which I would say is the smallest “family room” I have encountered at a Premier Inn. Now for the restaurant… this area like the bar is very tatty and in desperate need of a through clean and renovation. For the breakfast sitting this was the worst set up I have found at a Premier Inn, the restaurant is simply not set up purposely for a breakfast buffet, there is a strange one way system along the staff service area for the hot buffet, the cold, dry buffet section is a haphazard arrangement of restaurant tables shoved against fitted booth seating in what appears to be a deserted / unused bar ?! The breakfast food was good and what I expected from a Premier Inn, however … the are significant issues with stock levels /supplies, many items were often missing. When I asked staff, sometimes more could be brought out , however often I was informed they did not have a particular item and were waiting on deliveries. This especially affected the dry / cold buffet with fruit selections, yogurt, pastries and jams not available. This is not acceptable, we along with many others paid in advance for the advertised breakfast. The situation was worse for evening meal sittings, over half of the menu was “unavailable”, there was clearly no stock due to arrive a time soon as throughout our stay there were signs in the bar and restaurant areas stating which dishes were unavailable and these lists were updated with additional menu options as stock ran out. They could not even serve basics such as fish-and-chips! Bare in mind some holiday makers had booked for breakfast and dinner, an advertised package deal. There was still 3 weeks of summer holidays to go so goodness knows what those who visit in the final week of August will live off, possibly gruel and water! These issues are clearly due to greater business issues, beefeater , who operate the restaurant area are withdrawing with the Premier Inn brand set to take over the restaurant and bar in Sept ‘26 (even though both are operated by the same parent company), there are obvious financial difficulties, huge numbers of Beefeater and Brewers Fayre staff are being made redundant in Sept. There will be no renovation of this location as there is no money, the restaurant is not fully stocked because the parent company is winding down its operation, poor staff are told to wait for food deliveries which are clearly not coming. The positives (aside from the location) are the lovely reception and restaurant staff, the female supervisor at the breakfast sittings (I don’t know her name) was lovely, she was personable and efficient, working in what is clearly a difficult situation, where she and the other staff face redundancy, she and others show up because they have bills to pay and if they leave they would loose their redundancy packages. This experience has not put me off all Premier Inns, but I will certainly be boycotting Beefeater and Brewers Fayer. I will not stay at this Premier Inn again, unless it has a major refurbishment, for next years Torquay holiday I will either try Hampton by Hilton in the harbour or return to rental apartments. I would not recommend this Premier Inn which is an awful shame given its great location - which is clearly what Premier Inn rely upon .

We’re in room 120 at the Premier Inn Torquay Seafront for 5 nights leaving tomorrow Friday 14 Aug. There are positive things about this hotel, perfect location, spacious room and good breakfasts. Unfortunately that’s it. There’s a tennis tournament on and a large bunch of entitled teenage hooligans have run riot all week stomping around rooms and landings early morning and every night. It’s like a herd of elephants above you. Two boys were holding another above their heads at 10.30 the other night until he crashed to the floor while others looked out of rooms and egged them on. Again 10.30pm tonight 13 August and once again I’ve done to reception to ask them to STOP THIS HELL from the room above. I’ve complained MULTIPLE times, but there’s only been a brief respite because your ineffectual staff don’t take it seriously and don’t keep checking. But what’s most sickening is the housekeeping! We arrived to a dead moth stuck above our heads as we walked in. We said yes to having our room made up daily but your ‘making up’ is just emptying bins and changing towels. The bed isn’t made, the bathroom isn’t wiped, the floor mopped it the bedroom carpet hoovered. The last straw was long dark hairs left around the soap dispenser, another in the sink and what looked like a pubic hair next to my toothbrush for gods sake! My husband has short white hair and mine is short and blond but we’d never leave a sink like that. Train your staff to do what we have PAID for - your revolting service makes me physically sick!!!!! After complaining about ALL these issues to reception we’ve been refunded a breakfast - WOW the equivalent of a whole £20!!! The bathroom was cleaned after I reported the hairs but that was the only time in five days. Today back to uncleaned. Also reception told us to ring customer relations but after going through it all i was told he couldn’t possibly do anything while we were STILL at the hotel - and Premier Inn would not ring me - I have to go through it all again when we leave - at 7am tomorrow when we need to get off early! Do you enjoy making a horrendous situation ten times worse? EVER heard of a little initiative to help a paying customer - instead of wasting a lot of their precious holiday? Finally we can only get water at breakfast or after 4pm at the bar - unless we’re paying EXTRA for a Premium Room! Seriously??? We’re in the longest UK heatwave since records began and you’re so TIGHT you can’t offer your customers WATER???!!! I’ve stayed in countless hotels over the years from budget to luxury and have never experienced such a disgrace. We work long hours all year and look forward to hotel service - otherwise we’d pay less and get self-catering! So I shouldn’t HAVE to keep chasing your apathetic team to deliver basic essentials. Not only have we not got what we paid for it’s also been made a hundred times worse. I WILL be speaking to ‘Customer Non-Relations’ again and COMPENSATION needs to be significantly more than a breakfast, because after this you don’t deserve to be in business.

Big hotel in ideal location, easy walking distance to local facilities. Staff were friendly and helpful, rooms were clean and ready to move into. Food service in the Beefeater on site was a bit slow for an evening meal, but food was well prepared and plentiful, Breakfast Buffet was excellent

Not very clean and it is like a maize trying to find your room. Needs to be refurbished!

Rooms on the ground smell of damp and the disabled shower smells of urine. It is an expensive room (£120) and should have been better. Sheets only half cover mattress.