'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.

This hotel is comfortable and the rooms cosy. Heating is good and there is decent wifi. There is no…read moreroom safe. They have both a heated indoor and an out door swimming pool. Staff are very pleasant. Breakfast is standard English breakfast and is served buffet style. The chef cooks your eggs to order. Take as many sausages, bacon, mushroom, baked beans as you like. But I was disappointed to see a £3/- charge on my bill on check out. Our room rate included prepaid breakfast. One morning we had to order breakfast. I asked for an omelette and One sausage. I was given 2 sausages and charged £3/- for the sausages! What I object to was that I was not warned about the extra £3/- for 1 sausage! Then to hide it in my bill is disgusting! This is NOT best practice. Charge if you must, but please warn your guest first. I still had to pay the £3/- for 1 sausage. Be warned check your bill carefully!

Would like to have given this hotel a good review, but due to an incident with an overflow issue…read morein the bathroom and a lying member of staff I can't. The hotel itself is fairly decent and the rooms themselves are fair for the price. My partner and I stayed here for one night. We decided to have a bath when we first checked in. We started the bath and went to take our clothes off. When we went back into the bathroom the bath was overflowing, which according to a certain member of staff is something that happens fairly regularly, naturally we were worried that we'd be in trouble for this. I asked the member of staff who dealt with us if we'd be liable for any costs. He assured me we wouldn't as "its happens quite regularly, so you won't be charged" We were then moved to a lesser room (again, not something either me or my partner had any real issue with) at some point during the evening our door was knocked and another member of staff asked us if "we'd had another overflow or split a bottle of wine" as they'd had another leak through (surely they'd know what room it had come through from, rather than just try and blame us) Anyway, we then enjoyed the rest of our evening and even asked to check out late as we'd slept so well. When we then went to check out we were suddenly told we had to pay £180 for damages caused by the overflow. The overflow that we had been told the night before they'd had problems with, and that we wouldn't be charged for. As it was the same member of staff, I said to him that he assured us it wouldn't cost anything. He then said that "yes I did say that" and still presented us with the bill. We didn't have the money to pay in full there and then so we paid as much as we could there and then and said we'd settle up the outstanding later. In the meantime we spoke to trading standards and the hotel ombudsman, as well as a plumber friend. All of whom agreed that we had a good case not to pay the £180 for several reasons; it being a common occurrence at this particular hotel, the member of staff telling me to my face that we wouldn't be charged and then admitting to me he said it as he presented me with the bill, and the fact the overflow obviously has issues within this hotel. The member of staff who said all this has since told his manager that he never said what he said. So we ended up essentially being called liars. We don't lie and the fact this piece of scum has basically said we do I am furious. He knows the truth and we know the truth and we will be happy to stand up in court and/or to his face and look him in the face as he tells his lie yet again. So I say this, if you want to risk being served by a liar then go ahead and book a room, but be warned ... you never know what total rubbish the person serving you could be speaking. The bill has now been settled up but we will be pursuing our case through trading standards, the hotel ombudsman, and the citizens advice bureau.

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.

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.