'Florentinos' A nice looking room. We were there on a…read moreSaturday night at about 8 o'clock and the place was about three quarters full.The waitress was friendly and attentive and the we didn't have to wait for too long for each of our courses.The creamy garlic mushrooms I thought were excellent.I had the Italian beefburger followed by a Vanilla panna cotta and my wife had the Beef stew followed by Vanilla ice cream.To drink we had a small glass of rose,a half pint of Pepsi and a bottle of Peroni. The final bill came in at around £25 a head which I didn't think was too bad.

From the owner: The Royal & Fortescue is an astonishingly charming luxury hotel situated at the head of…read moreBarnstaple's historic High Street. Steeped in history, this elegant Georgian hotel offers stylish accommodation and a vibrant convivial atmosphere. With two restaurants to choose from, as well as a gorgeous lounge bar and sleek new cocktail bar, there's nowhere better to unwind.

Wow, love this place. It's a hidden gem, an enchanted garden. To reach the hotel, you walk up a…read morepath which is flanked with large beautiful sculptures. We were really going to the five times award winning restaurant, Terra Madre (part of the Slow Food network), for their 3 course lunch at £14.95 en route to our destination in North Devon, so did not have time to book ahead. Booking is essential. So we were offered the Bar Menu instead, which was actually a very good choice, 3 home made tapas dishes for £9.95, which consisted of a rather large bowl of piping hot buttersquash soup with two slices of homemade crusty bread, garlic prawns, hake in tomato cassoulet, garlic mushrooms, and Moroccan style lamb casserole. We added a couple of side dishes of mixed salad and homemade sourdough bread and olive oil. What a feast, all so, so delicious too! Fresh and more-ish, yum! With the booked lunch, you get a free ticket for the Sculpture Park, otherwise it is £4.50. After the meal, we had a look at the interesting art gallery cum dining hall. Some lovely pieces of art and paintings which can be bought. There are also tables outside to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere, have a drink or eat al fresco. Will need to return to wander round the Sculpture Park properly, in such a relaxed and beautiful setting.

Broomhill lies in one of the most glorious valleys in North Devon surrounded by hundreds of acres…read moreof woodland and bound by its own stream. The Broomhill Sculpture Park displays one of the largest permanent collections of contemporary art and sculpture in the South West. 300 sculptures by over 60 sculptors are sited in 10 acres of garden that present a wonderful balance between art and nature. This place is quite fantastic and is apparently one of very few art hotels in the UK. During your stay you can not only walk around the gardens and view all of the sculptures, but you can even purchase them afterwards (if you bring a very big chequebook!!). The gardens were a little drab when we visited, (but it was December!!), but I would imagine that during the warmer months they are quite breath taking. An art gallery is situated in the main dining area of the hotel itself and has many many pictures to view and purchase. The place caters for all sort of events such as weddings, large and small parties and corporate events (with its very own corporate facilities). The hotel is also renowned for its many Jazz events held throughout the year. The rooms are very reasonably priced and you get alot for your money. They are very spacious and have everything you need to make your stay very comfortable, with beautiful views over the Devon countryside. The setting is very rural and therefore very quiet and makes for a very relaxing stay and a very quiet nights sleep. The staff are a husband and wife combo (Dutch), and are two of the friendliest people you will ever meet in this business, who could not do enough to help you (especially if you like to drink tea!!). The food is organic and sourced from the local area, which is probably why it tastes absolutely fantastic (the Morroccan food is especially nice). Even if you don't stay at the hotel you should try out its restaurant, which is also very reasonably priced considering the standard. If I was going to be very very fussy then I would have to say that the alcohol is a little pricey, but I suppose it is a hotel after all. Saying that, if you visit their website, you will find that the hotel does do a number of offers to bring the price of staying at the hotel down even further i.e. B&B and reduced price evening meal. A must stop when visiting N. Devon.

What a wonderful hotel! This beautiful hotel is obviously run by people with love in their hearts!…read moreThe place is absolutely gorgeous, clean, and welcoming! The beds are so comfortable, and were a joy to sleep in after a long day of travel! The breakfast at the hotel restaurant? Oh my word! Heavenly!!! Seriously... I was beyond impressed by the entire experience, and I recommend this gem of a business wholeheartedly!

Oh dear. The hotel…read morepromised a fair amount upon arrival, such as a park view and carrying a nigh-on £80 price tag for the night. When pulling our rented Mondeo into the forecourt, the car suddenly looked at home... That's it yes... The Brend hotel was a relabelled Ford garage unless I am very much mistaken! Even down to the blue oval Brend logo that slotted into the silver frontage of the building. In short, for nearly £80 I got a single bed that had all of the comfort of broken concrete, staff who had all of the enthusiasm of lobotomised narcoleptics and the breakfast looked like it had spent time in a blender. I arrived at three minutes before 2, to be told that I could not order lunch, because they ceased serving at 2pm. Not a good start on the customer service front. I ventured to my room (that was completely out of the front entrance of the reception area and across the car park) and entered my pink-carpeted digs. Not the largest of rooms, with the aforementioned single bed taking up the majority of the space. The bathroom was even tiny - if you sat on the toilet, you could burn your face on the heated towel rail, if that was your kind of thing. It's not mine, but each to their own... After the gig, we joined the many coffin dodgers that were also residing there in the bar for a drink. The male bartender was super-polite and helpful, but the female (I think she was female, but I can not verify this assumption due to the Hitler attitude and slicked-back, heavily gelled hairdo) bartender was so full of passive aggression it clearly sent us the message to go to bed as it was nearly 11:30! The staff were friendly at breakfast, but the Full English was a write-off in the Ford garage. Uncooked bacon, the cheapest, rusk-filled sausage and soggy hash browns all mixed together with nasty baked beans. Bon appetit! Wi-Fi was not free, which winds me up - it is no extra cost for the hotel to provide this. The Gideon Bible ninjas had not visited my room. Possibly they were thwarted in their efforts by the grumpy Hitler bartender. I will give this place a miss next time.

Overall: A decent hotel with relatively decent food served on-site!…read more This Brend Hotel is only a 4 star, but it was enough for us. We were here on a long weekend trip to the South-West and this was our base. We managed to get a great deal, make sure you check online for special rates. They even offered dinner at the hotel for an extra 7.00 GBP per person per night (usually 25 GBP per person). It was well worth it! Their three-course dinners and coffee were highly acceptable. However, one night I chose the banoffee pie for desserts, which left me having the runs all night (it must have been the cream). They also do a decent breakfast selection. The decor feels like that of an old country club. The staff are friendly and courteous and the only complaint that I have is that the bed is quite small and uncomfortable. I ended up sleeping on the floor... it was far more comfortable than the bed!

Funderzone is a big indoor soft play centre. There are climbing frames, inflatables, ball pits,…read moreslides and lots more for your child to enjoy. All of the equipment is safe and surrounded in safety netting. There are staff that watch the children to make sure no one is messing around. But obviously you will need to keep an eye on your children to. There is also a room upstairs which has a pool table and downstairs it has a few arcade machines where you can win teddies and sweets. Whilst your children are running around you can get something to eat in the café which is all open plan. The café sells burgers, chips, hot drinks, cold drinks and slush puppies etc.. I find the food is slightly over priced but it tastes nice. The good thing about the cafe being open plan is that you can see your children playing; there is some seating underneath the play equipment as well so you can look up and see your children. The play centre is to suit all ages and I'm sure your children will love it.

This hotel was reasonably priced but the room we stayed in was quite dated. We had a en suite which…read morehad been put in the corner of the room, which was ok. The wall paper was verging on psychedelic! It was actually nice though and did a lovely made-to-order breakfast in the morning - which was a nice touch and saved wasting food.

Barun Gate is the restaurant attached to the Travelodge in Barnstaple. It is a nice restaurant with…read morea reasonable range of dishes but i did find the vegetarian selection to be a bit lacking. The service is good but can be slow as they get extremely busy at times due to the special offers they often promote like 2 for 1's. The prices are good especially if you can get one of these deals.