Fantastic castle resort set amidst acres of beautiful English countryside. Stunning location…read more While we were there for the NYE package (our activities might not be the norm year round), there were plenty of activities to keep us busy including archery, table tennis, clay pidgeon shooting, hiking, practice putting area, driving range, full 18 hole championship golf course, spa, indoor pool ( with sauna and steam room), afternoon cream tea, falconry event (bird exhibition including a very cool owl), live music, and fancy course dinners. Pros: 1. Beautiful castle with great sitting rooms on the main floor. 2. Wonderful cream tea every afternoon. Delicious scones and jam and tea. Wonderful loose teas. 3. Beautiful golf course. 4. Attentive staff and some were exceptionally friendly. 5. David-the ex sommelier and now the events manager-was fantastic. He was knowledgeable and passionate about his wine knowledge. Great guy. 6. Room turn down service. 7. Gorgeous indoor pool. 8. On location spa with many treatment options. Cons would be the following: 1. Secluded location means you pretty much do everything at the hotel. No option to walk to other options...but you can pretty easily drive into town (we didn't explore this option). Some might say the remote location is a Pro. 2. One dining room option can get a bit boring for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Decent food but not fantastic and the food was not consistently good over the course of 3 days. 3. Older style rooms. 4. Our room, number 40, had a great view but the window was a bit small and then ceilings were a bit low. 5. Central heating means the room can get hot and there's not way to change the temp other than to open the window. 6. We had incorrect charges on our final bill....but they easily removed the charges without any argument. 7. Our hallway to our room often smelled like food. Wasn't a pleasant smell.

It is one of my favorite places that we stayed at during our trip around England. Set in a…read morepicturesque park (Dartmoor National Park) in southwest England, in a region called Devon. It is the epitome of a country retreat! Fantastic service from the moment you step in to the you check out. The classic double guest room is very comfortable, roomy enough to spread out. The room was always stocked with bottled water and milk in the mini fridge, as well as fresh healthy snacks of nuts, dried apricots, and fresh strawberries. They provide you with luxury brand name toiletries. Lots of fresh clean towels as well as robes and slippers. There is internet access in the room through a cable - no wifi in the area at all! Lots of public rooms for guests to sit and relax and enjoy a drink or afternoon tea which we did and it was absolutely delightful! The hotel has two restaurants to offer guests. The Edwardian, serving up contemporary British cuisine, and the Castle Bistro serving up foods like pizzas and burgers although i had the leg of lamb and that was just amazing!! The food at the Edwardian was okay. The food at the Castle Bistro was better. The hotel also has a spa, which we didn't use but we did use their pool and sauna/steam rooms. There are changing rooms at the pool as well as showers for the guests. The pool is indoors but looks out to the park - gorgeous views. Bovey Castle also has a golf course for those who like golf. There are also lots of other activities like fishing, tours of the area, falconry, and gin making. I highly recommend it if you can afford it. I can't wait to return!!

Overnight I've become a huge fan of this chain of budget hotels which I only discovered by accident…read morewhen surfing the internet. Vastly superior to Travelodges though sometimes almost as cheap, or even cheaper when they offer special deals (three nights for the price of two, etc). The rooms are clean, spacious and comfortable, with plenty of storage and a superior standard of furniture and fittings. Our room had a telephone, large flat-screen TV, tea and coffee making facilities with lots of teabags, hot chocolate and fresh biscuits each day. In addition to the large bed was a plush two-seater settee. The en-suite had a large power shower and, again, the tiling and fittings were of a high standard for a budget hotel. There's a modern lift to rooms (very good disabled access), beautiful carpets and curtains, and a foyer with local information and a sweets and chocolate machine. Breakfast came free with the room rate and was served across a short walkway in the Jack Rabbit pub. It consisted of a continental-style buffet with an excellent choice of cereals, fruit juices, fresh fruit, yoghurt, breads, toast, preserves and croissants. A machine provided good quality teas or coffees. You can eat as much as you wish and there are helpful staff on hand to assist if need be. A free newspaper (Daily Mail) was also available each day. All in all, a superb value package at only £89 for 3 nights (the special offer this month)! Certainly a chain to watch - there are 200 branches around the country and more planned.

Well it was a treat! And I will say it was worth it. Expensive_ but memorable…read more Gidleigh Park definitely deserves its Michelin Stars unlike somewhere I have eaten in Exeter! Setting = Moorland edge Food = Crafted to a higher level Staff= Performed their tasks with precision _ I only drank water, as it was a long way to drive and I wasn't going to drink. Yet like magic just as my glass emptied, they would re-fill it. I have to say I drank my water glass dry many times as it was such fun watching them fill it up again! The food did taste special _ not only the taste, but the texture, goodness knows what sort of sieve they used to get things so smooth. And some of the dishes were feats of engineering. I think I was just enjoying being delighted. Another nice thing was I especially didn't dress up smartly just to see how the staff would behave towards me. And hats- off-to- them...they treated us exceptionally well; which inwardly made me giggle as we both were wearing our 'Star-Trek' T shirts that day. I would recommend going to Gidleigh which falls under the auspices of Michael Caines the chef and not the Cockney Actor (Sir Michael Caine). SAVE UP and go, just the once it is worth the trip, I promise! March 2010 We returned. Our Expectations were higher this year based on 2009. Somehow it does represent good value for money. Even today the impression they made on me is glowing! I would urge anyone to make an effort and get out to Chagford. Gidleigh is on my list of Top things to do for ultimate pleasure. January 2011 The food was highly enjoyable. It is still a worthwhile trip you will not be disappointed. See photos...

This is the ultimate escape…read more The manual to using this resort is extremely simple: get here by horse. Contact the hotel to arrange this. If you can't ride horses, a helicopter may be a good alternative. For those of us not reading the manual, remember that you'll be driving on 10 feet wide roads lined by thick, 600-years old oak hedges. They are enlisted cultural heritage and protected by UNESCO. In other words, it's exactly the same roads people used 600 years ago. Quite an experience. No matter what your GPS says, a car journey form Exeter will take you at least 3 hours. The hotel operates time slots for alternating directions of traffic - check your arrival time with them. If you are coming for dinner only, time planning is even more crucial. Quite rightly, the butler will simply not let you skip courses. They will be served in the intended order without exception. In the case of an 8-course dinner, expect it to last until 11 pm. Whether you arrive on a horse or dig your own tunnel, you haven't lived until you come here.

The Fountain hotel is also a pub, situated in the centre of town next to a river. There are two…read morebars, each with different character. The front bar has a modern cafe feel and the back bar remains traditional, boasting a roaring fire with blackened oak beams. Both are served by the kitchen that caters for the hotel guests and the more exclusive restaurant. The food at the Fountain is very good indeed. I always have the beef burger (comes with bacon and cheese, topped with homemade onion rings) and chips (homemade again) with a great tomato relish. However, I always try the rest of the family's food and it is always good value. Puddings typically include cheesecakes, ice creams, creme brulee, tarts all generous and tasty, if a little overdressed at times. The beer i choose is always Betty Stoggs, but on my last visit this had been discontinued, so I had to settle for Doombar instead. With this slight setback aside, overall the service is great, the welcome is friendly (and extended to my children) and the food is fresh, handmade and tastes it. Highly recommended. Update: July 2011 Not as good as it used to be. Burger is excellent still but missing the homemade tomato relish, got bottled chilli sauce instead. Roast dinner gravy wad too peppery and yorkie pud was reheated. Trying somewhere else next time.

Absolutley excellent food - I highly recommend it!!…read more Great chef - great value and (fantastically) - food is served all day. Often travel the 25 miles from home to eat there with my family. Have tried both the excellent bar menu and the a la carte food in the lovely courtyard garden - more than satisfied. A short but good value wine list in the bar - good options of daily specials - cannot recommend the salads and home made pies enough. I have not had a better consistently good experience anywhere in Devon - well done The Fountain!!!

This place was really nice! Overall I liked it a lot. The staff was friendly and the food was…read moregreat, especially for a hotel! They were really accommodating and the grounds were just gorgeous! The hotel is located right on the sea in the town of Sidmouth. It was a perfect beachy location and the town in super cute with bunting everywhere. The beaches are rocky instead of sandy which is completely foreign to me but I guess that's how the beaches are there. My observation however was that they definitely prefer an "older"crowd which tended to be crabby and openly snarky, which made me feel like I was staying in the world's nicest nursing home hahaha.

Absolute fantastic stay. The hotel is in a great position right on the sea front. If you have a…read morebedroom with a sea view that would definitely be a bonus. The hotel takes pride in it's service, you have to wear a jacket and tie to the evening meals, not used to that, but it was great fun. All the staff are helpful and friendly. Rooms are nice and have everything you need for a good stay. They have good facilities as well including an indoor and outdoor pool and spa. Overall the stay was great and I think we may be going back next year.

Woo-hoo! Talk about dreams being fulfilled and standing in the same spot that Luisa and Martin…read more(from Doc Martin) have been in! I didnt stay at the hotel, and unfortunately, we arrived a bit too early to eat dinner, so cant really provide any reviews relating to either of those things. What I can however talk about is the thrill and sheer exuberance I felt, walking around in the parking lot of the Old School Hotel, seeing the Doc's house, the lovely Harbor bay below, Bert and Al Large's restaurant - it was like visiting an old familiar house! The staff here were super friendly, even when I do think the must get super tired of all the gawking tourists, and cant wait to come back here another time and hopefully this time, experience dinner too! Yelp 312/ 2018

Is there a statute of limitations on Yelp! reviews? I stayed here in 2007, not knowing who Doc…read moreMartin was (I've since become a big fan of the show.) In any case, I came here without a reservation, and I was promptly assigned to the Chemistry room. The room was small (but I did ask for the cheapest they had), but I remember how comfortable it was. I was a big fan of all the pillows on the bed, into which I sank with pleasure. It had an ensuite bathroom, and it was very warm and cozy. I especially liked the view across the harbor. They had a very nice little bar near the reception, and the dinner I had there (fish) was elegant and excellent. A nice couple from Cornwall that I had drank with earlier even invited me to join them. I still remember the conversation. I'd highly recommend staying here while in Port Iaasic.

Wonderful place,evocative of another more elegant era. All the main rooms are Art Deco. Quite…read morepricey, but wonderful for a special occasion,all the rooms are like being on an Ocean Liner. Links with Agatha Christie. Can only be accessed by tractor at High Tide,quite an adventure