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Cheaper
Average
Higher
About
3.5
#7 of 8 hotels in Bideford
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Finding an ideal quiet hotel in Bideford does not have to be difficult. Welcome to Durrant House, a nice option for travellers like you.
Guest rooms offer amenities such as a flat screen TV, and guests can go online with free internet access offered by the hotel.
Durrant House features room service, to help make your stay more enjoyable. The property also boasts a pool and free breakfast. If you are driving to Durrant House Hotel, free parking is available.
While staying at Durrant House, visitors can check out Tarka Statue (1.2 mi) and St Mary's Parish Church (1.2 mi), some of Bideford's top attractions.
If you’re looking for a Thai restaurant, consider a visit to The Appledore Inn, which is not far from Durrant House.
If you are interested in exploring Bideford, check out one of the parks, such as Northam Burrows Country Park and Victoria Park.
Durrant House puts the best of Bideford at your fingertips, making your stay both relaxing and enjoyable.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to VisitEngland.
This summary was created by AI, based on recent reviews.
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Durrant House Hotel captivates a number of guests with its quaint charm and a range of appreciated amenities, including diverse dining options, a comfortable outdoor pool, and a cozy reading room. However, the allure is somewhat diminished by the hotel's outdated decor and signs of wear.
While many patrons commend the friendly staff and find the rooms to be clean and reasonably priced, some travelers advise that the rooms require urgent refurbishment and highlight occasional cleanliness oversights. Additionally, visitors sometimes encounter additional fees and slow service during busy periods.
Atmosphere
Quaint
Rooms
Neglected
Value
Reasonable
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Satisfactory
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Family friendly with a nice pool area and fantastic children’s play area at the back of the hotel. The spa on the first floor offers a large variety of treatments, I had HD Brows and I am very happy with them and the service. Food was excellent, service was a little busy over popular breakfast and dinner times, however staff were doing a good job under the pressure and were all wearing face coverings or visors. The bedroom was spacious and clean, they are not offering daily housekeeping at this time which is understandable, however did change the towels, empty bins and replenish the refreshments daily which was appreciated. All in all a good hotel and I Would stay again.
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Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 20 Aug 2020
Dear Guest, Thank you for taking the time to review us on your stay. I'm glad you enjoyed your time with us and found us to be family friendly and took the chance to use our R&R Spa during your stay. We do hope to welcome you back to the hotel when your next in the area. Thank you, Durrant House Hotel
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Durrant house is a 5min drive from Westward Ho. On arrival Durrant House reception and eating area has nice traditional victorian decor. Staff were very welcoming. Stairway needs a good clean flowers are dated losing colour with the light. The corridor outside the room had a strong not do pleasant smell of the furniture. We had the romantic room with a four poster bed (very squeaky) and jacuzzi, there was a seperate shower room too. The room had the victorian decor look. There was a electric fire surround (deco purposes) It looked lovely when switched on. In the room there was a complimentary basket with coffee, cappuccino, crisps, chocolates, slippers, body wash, soap and shampoo. There was also 2 electric heaters, ironing board, iron, hair dryer and a mini fridge which was so useful! There was also only one robe we had to request the second one. We were told there would be rose petals on the bed on arrival but there wasn't. Overall it was nice room but dusty, the floweres and side tables in the room were covered in dust. Lighting wasn't amazing either bulbs were different colours, white and soft white. it was a bit dark in the room doing make up and using the hair straighteners was a struggle as the socket was far from the mirror. Vegetarian breakfast was pleasant however portions were small. Theres not much on offer for the vegan or vegetarians which was disappointing. On our first night the bar was a little rowdy. Pool area is lovely during the day (bit cold), but very dark at night lighting would be nice which would encourage people to sit around the pool in the evening. Plenty of free parking in private carpark.
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Date of stay: August 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 7 Sept 2021
Dear guest, Thank you very much for your constructive review and also good comments on your stay and our staff. I do hope you had a lovely time in the local area and that we can have the chance to improve your views further in the future. Kindest Regards, Durrant House hotel
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A lot to digest? Read an AI-generated summary of recent traveller reviews.
We have just returned from a weekend break. Room 105 is a inside overlooking a sunken garden which needs a spruce up. The window opened onto a ledge with work this ledge could be a sitting area. Like most of the hotel needs a spruce up, refit. Slight noise from the lift. The decor all needs to be upgraded. The bathroom fittings needs to be renewed all past it’s best. Good clean towels daily. In these times the room is not cleaned daily as it would normally. Room 106 was much bigger, a separate sitting area like a little sitting room to enjoy, no outlook though. Window in bedroom looked onto a wall, keep curtains closed. Breakfast and dinner was included in the break. Quarter a glass of orange juice. Request more. The coffee is not brilliant. The cooked breakfast was okay. Dinner had to be pre ordered. It was acceptable, more veg is available if you ask. Drinks seemed to a little expensive. Bottle of wine £17. The gardens and swimming pool was nice. Be careful as black cables sticking out of each side. The waterfall was lovely sound but needs attention. A good place to relax. One young couple had rap music but they got the message it wasn’t wanted and he used his head phones. The weather was fabulous so the pool was a boost. Each side of the hotel has a car park surrounding it so a room without facing the car parks is difficult. We went through a local travel agent and the price we paid and what we received was good value for money.
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Date of stay: June 2021Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Room 106 had a separate sitting area.
Room 105 slight noise from lift
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 3 Aug 2021
Dear Guest, Thank you for your comments on a recent stay with us. Its lovely to read your review and your positive comments, which will of course be passed on to our team. Your constructive comments will of course also be passed on and will be looked into, as all guests feedback is extremely important to us for regular improvements throughout the hotel and services that we offer to our guests. Overall im glad you had a good holiday and enjoyed your time in the pool area with good weather for your stay. We do hope to welcome you back to the hotel again next time you are in the north Devon area. Kind Regards, Durrant House Hotel
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First impressions of this hotel were great, the lobby area was beautiful and so was the pool area but the rooms were very basic and dated. We aren’t snobs about where we stay but this hotel wasn’t good value for money.
When we left our hotel room to go down to the pool we realised the front door wasn’t locking behind us, we went down to reception to report this and they gave us a key to manually lock the door instead of using a key card, this was fine except for when we went back to the hotel we realised we couldn’t lock it from the inside with the key. We went back down to reception to report it again and were just told that it locks automatically. I said this wasn’t the case but no one seemed to want to come to the first floor to check. I was tired after driving a lot over the day before so gave up and we decided to barricade ourselves in to the bedroom by pushing a chair against the door. We reported this again to reception when we were checking out but the two receptionists that were on the morning shift didn’t seem to care either, not even an apology or asking if we wanted to speak to a manager or an offer to escalate the issue. This morning I decided I wanted to report this further but I’ve just seen on the terms and conditions that this isn’t possible after you have departed so it seems as though no one at the hotel wants to deal with complaints or problems. Apart from the security issue, the bed was rock hard and you could feel the springs which made it difficult to get a good nights sleep before my 6 hour drive home the next day.
There was a speaker outside the bedroom door that played music until about 10.30pm which also didn’t help when trying to get an early night.
The breakfast was small, I ordered the full English without mushrooms and they bought it over with the mushrooms, you got one of each item and you had to ask for anything additional like toast and sauce. It felt like once you had been given your breakfast they would avoid eye contact so you couldn’t ask for anything that was missing/extra.
There was a lady who worked by the pool, she helped bring our sun lounger over and sanitised it for us and she was honestly the only helpful staff member that we met at the hotel. The pool didn’t feel heated at all, it is advertised as heated on booking.com but it was a hot day so the pool being cold wasn’t too disappointing. I’d imagine it would be during the colder months.
The bathroom was the only other thing that we liked, the shower was high pressure and it was very clean so that was a positive.
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Date of stay: May 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 10 Jun 2021
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. I’m sorry to hear you were having trouble with your room not locking. We do not have manual locks on the inside of the bedroom doors, as the doors do lock automatically when they shut. I do apologise if this was not the case with your room and that your door was not locking. It would not be the case that we didn’t care and I know our staff would be extremely disappointed to know you thought this. It does happen that because the doors lock themselves, some guests do think the doors don’t lock, and I can only imagine our receptionist thought this was the case and this is why you were given the hard key to help with this. Unfortunately I cannot look into this properly, as we do not have your full details from this review. We do have a full time maintenance team and will act to remedy any issue immediately, I am sorry if there was any confusion when this reported and this was not actioned in this instance. Should you have let us know the music in the corridors was disturbing you by phoning down from you room, we would have ensured this was turned off, as we control this from the reception desk. It is usually to a level that is not disturbing and does get turned off around 10pm-10.30pm each evening. Due to government guidelines we are not currently able to have our continental buffet including toast and sauces available for guests to help themselves, however this is all available to order. When it is safe again to do so and allowed, we will of course return our buffet to the restaurant to save any delays or anyone waiting for an item from the continental buffet. The outside pool is heated, to a temperature that it is not too cold to enter, and is closed in the colder months. The temperature of the pool is checked regularly and is heated to 26 degrees. I’m glad you were able to use the pool during this lovely weather we have been having. I’m glad you liked the bathroom in your hotel room and that you found this to be clean with a high pressure shower. All of your feedback will of course be taken on-board for future improvements throughout the hotel and services we provide. Kind Regards, Durrant House Hotel
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So, let's start with a positive, very friendly and helpful waiters/waitresses in the bar during the evening and at breakfast, especially given the restrictions and rules due to the current situation, can't be easy for them having to wear those awful visors. But, unfortunately, the positivity stops there. The hotel is extremely behind the times, my twin room was very dark, smelled of damp, many shades of brown/beige except for the grey net curtain at a small window which overlooked the very noisy main road. No bedside table lamps, just very ugly overhead lights above the beds which, if you had limited mobility, you would struggle to turn on and off from the comfort of your bed. TV remote intermittently worked. Ample storage for clothes but no door to hide them. The hospitality tray was not refreshed during the day, meaning I had to ask reception and was given a paper bag with refills. Shower curtains are not great. There is no outside space to relax and enjoy a drink or meal if the weather is good, I would have expected a large terrace but instead there appears to be an unused neglected courtyard area with a derelict water feature, complete with abandoned pump, muck and leaves. The garden area with pool and seating states that no food or drink to be consumed or dogs, so if I was visiting with both child and dog, where would I go? The back of the hotel is a complete mess with part of the grounds resembling a building site. I know that smokers are viewed as pariahs and second class citizens but making them sit on manky, damp and stained stools under the arch of the car park is unacceptable. My booking included breakfast (which was average) but I really think that charging £15 is way over the top when most people would never eat everything on offer, perhaps look at breaking down the cost to make it more affordable? Way out of Bideford town centre if you don't want to drive. To finish on a positive, lovely hot water shower
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Date of stay: September 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Not at front due to loud road noise
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 7 Sept 2020
Dear Guest, It’s great to hear that you found the staff to be friendly and helpful and I am glad that you found your shower to be lovely and hot for you. I’m saddened by your comments on your bedroom; however thank you for taking the time to write your review so we can use it towards improvements throughout the hotel. I can only apologise if you did not have your tea/coffee tray replenished and am glad that we were able to remedy this for you when you came to reception. Our water feature in the courtyard does work and is on daily. It is not derelict or abandoned. It turns off at night as the pump disturbs the rooms surrounding the courtyard; therefor it is on a timer. We do have signage asking that there are ‘NO BOTTLES OR GLASSES PERMITTED, ALTERNATIVES ARE AVAILABLE AT THE BAR’, this is to ensure that there is no glass in the area around the pool . However we are happy for guests to consume food and drink and do also visit the pool throughout the day at the minute taking food and drink orders for guests. This isn’t something we usually do however as we have been busy during this period at the pool area we thought our guests would enjoy this and we are always looking for ways to improve our service. Breakfast was included in your room rate and is complementary. The breakfast is usually set up as a buffet for guests to help themselves too, as well as a cooked breakfast order being taken and drinks included. We have priced this accordingly and although the buffet is not limited and we feel that for all the options you can pick we are not overpriced. Kind Regards, Durrant House Hotel
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As the reviews on here show, I'm utterly amazed an establishment like this can remain open to the general public. From the moment I set foot in this hotel, I counted the seconds before I could leave.
The hotel is disgustingly filthy, the corridors oppressively smell of a mix of dirt and sanitizer. The rooms are even worse. Stained carpets, yellow stained sheets, blood stains on the wall, grime, mold and cobwebs on the windows. Cheap metal office furniture even in the upgraded rooms and all the fittings were badly fixed after apparently many attempts. I couldn't bring myself to get in the sheets with all the stains and slept on the bed. After asking for the room to be cleaned, nothing was done and a later complaint induced the response ' you should have asked a second or third time' The pool was filthy and cloudy and most people declined to dip their toe in. The staff/ management were hopeless and clueless in all respects, with little authority, and little regard for their paying customers. It must be exhausting to work as an employee like this.
So here's the thing, I don't want a management response to this review, your platitudes and excuses on all the other reviews are embarrassing. You should be devastated by just one of these reviews. If however as suspected, you don't care. This must serve as a warning to anyone who wants to book at your hotel.
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Date of stay: August 2020
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip:Choose a different hotel
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 2 Sept 2020
Dear Guest, I'm sorry you were unhappy with the response to your email. I am astounded by your comments on the pool area, the pool area and pool are regularly used and had been renovated just after lockdown before we re-opened. The pool is cleaned thoroughly every single morning, the pool area sanitized and cleaned regularly throughout the day and the pool area is cleaned again at the end of the working day and regularly vacuumed of leaves etc. I honestly cannot understand your comments on this. There is no Metal furniture in the bedrooms, therefore again, I cannot comment on this. We have members of staff that their sole Job is only to walk the hotel all day, sanitising, cleaning and ensuring all areas are tidy, all touch points are sanitised, toilets are cleaned, sides are cleaned, furniture is cleaned and therefor again I can only apologise if you feel this was not the case. Your complaint to us during your stay was the bed linen had a small stain on it. We apologise profusely for this, however again ensure you that this was clean linen, which had been washed to the high heat recommended. We have had an extremely busy period working extremely hard after being in lockdown for months and you are correct, it is extremely disheartening to read the reviews we have received recently and it is devastating to read and also damaging to business. We do always do our up most to ensure any concerns are remedied during a guests stay and feel we did do this during your stay. I feel the tone in your Review does not mirror your experience, your comments to us during your stay or your previous email to us. Again I am saddened you feel this strongly that you did not enjoy your stay and that it has come to you writing a review to this standard. Yours sincerely, Durrant House Hotel
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We booked this accommodation through Booking.com with the expectation that we had managed to find a gem looking at the photos etc.....how wrong we were....Upon arrival we were handed our room keycard and sent through “the reading room” which was very dated and drab this took us into a corridor which smelt damp and fusty. On entering our family room (no.61) it got worse, the floor was covered in cheap laminate flooring the damp smell was strong and the wallpaper was hanging off the wall near the window due to it being wet.....on a par with an old caravan. We shared our concerns with the receptionist who was willing to move us to a room with a carpet!(no.126) But now a triple room not a family room, the room itself was basic, 3 single beds, a desk, a side table and a very small TV and tired decor. The en suite was more modern. Our room overlooked an internal courtyard which desperately needed some TLC . This room was so noisy not just from rooms above or Nextdoor but the constant noise of the lift and dog’s barking made it a nightmare. On the whole this hotel is not only dog friendly but seems to favour them over people! We tried to move our restaurant booking to a table in the bar for the fourth night running as the menu in the bar is more kid friendly and we’re told no as they would only reserve them for dog owners despite the fact they had accommodated us every other night! The menu advertised a kids free “Bizzibox” with their meal which our son was only given on the last night, unfortunately the Haribo jelly sweets in the box were rock hard and inedible, on closer inspection they were 6 months out of date! On the hotel website it advertises 10% off food if you book through the hotel, this is misleading and only applies if you book your room direct not a table. The hotel also had decided not to participate in the eat out to help out scheme which was disappointing. Breakfast was ok but as everything had to be brought to order due to covid it seemed disorganised, we didn’t get our hot drinks until we’d finished our cooked breakfasts and the toast was paper thin and cold everyday. We got the feeling that the staff were drafted in last minute after lockdown was lifted and had had little or no training in hotel service. It’s not all negative though, despite the majority of the staff seeming like the blind leading the blind there were a few that deserve a mention for their excellent customer service ; Anita, Zoltan and Amanda and the pool and kids play area are lovely. We don’t recommend this hotel unless you’re a dog owner and therefore wouldn’t return here.
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Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 3 Sept 2020
Dear guest, Thank you very much for taking the time to leave your feedback. I am disappointed to read your reviews on the Reading room, which was newly refurbished recently into our Tea room, with all new furniture and regularly receives positive feedback. The flooring has recently been updated in your bedroom to a hard wearing Laminate flooring, Not a cheap laminate flooring at all. I am sorry that this was not to your taste. I am glad that on your brining this to our attention we were able to move you to a bedroom with a carpet and an updated en suite bathroom. We do advertise that we are dog friendly in some rooms and have strict terms in place for guests bringing Dogs to the hotel. Dogs are not to be left alone in the bedrooms or unattended at any time and should you have made us aware of the noise we would have been happy to contact the surrounding bedrooms for you to remedy this. We are currently running the same menu across both our Bar and restaurant. The Free kids box is given to children when ordering on the children’s menu. We did change all of the sweets in the child’s boxes after lockdown and can only apologise if one was missed. Sorry if this was missed at any point however should you have made us aware we would have been happy to get you one. I can confirm we do not take reservations in the Bar area, as this is on a first come first served basis, however this is also a dog friendly dining area at present and dogs are not allowed in the restaurant. You would have been more then welcome to dine in the bar area at dinner time should there have been a table available. We do offer 10% off for during your stay if you book your accommodation direct through the hotel and do not feel that this offer is in anyway misleading. Meal bookings can only be made directly with the hotel so do not feel this is open for confusion. We did initially participate in the ‘eat out to help out’ scheme, which was designed to help out small businesses at this time, and feel this was a fantastic idea. However unfortunately at such a busy time of year for us, this put additional strain on our staff and we were not able to offer a high standard of service and ensure the safety and wellbeing of our staff and guests whilst running this scheme so took the decision to opt out. Regarding the comments on the service, we have been working extremely hard to adapt to the new way of living/working and have implemented new procedures and have had to change the way we do our breakfast and dinner service. I apologise if there was any confusion or if you feel the service you received suffered as a result of this, we will of course take this feedback on board as this is a learning curve for us all and we are continuously looking for ways to improve our service further. I do hope you had a good time away in the beautiful area. Kind Regards, Durrant House Hotel
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Please please avoid. Disgusting place. £185 a night Travelodge is so much nicer
We arrived Friday 28th May late afternoon looking forward to our luxury stay in the Jacuzzi room. We got to our room 59 and first thought well this is definitely not luxurious and tried to forget the dank not cleaned room but to carry on and try to enjoy our stay but as the evening went on we couldn’t take anymore. There were toe nails on the floor, paint falling off the wall, the window sills full of spiders and cobwebs and dead wasps. The jacuzzi was all cracked and when we filled it up it was filling up with black bits and scum. We then found a tub of sudo cream under the bed and random receipts and sweet wrappers. This was £185 a night! We emailed reception and they come up and said we can change rooms as this one had obviously not been cleaned for 12 months. So at 10pm we had to pack all our bits and move to room 58. The 2 young members of staff assured us we would be compensated for this awful room.We jumped straight into bed only the next morning to realise this room didn’t have a shower! This room was tiny and luxurious was an joke! We decided to leave a day early but they would only refund us for one night! I emailed them which took them a week to reply. With this! Full of lies and expected us to move a third time. An utter joke of a place!
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Date of stay: May 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 15 Jun 2021
Good afternoon, Thanks for your review, following this being dealt with during your stay. I'm saddened that you were still unhappy after moving accommodation and that you did not tell us when moving rooms that you required a walk in shower, as this could have been arranged also on your room change. I can see we received only one email from you and I can see our office team did pick up your email the next day when they were back in the office after working over the extremely busy bank holiday weekend and we responded to let you know your email was received. We were in no way ignoring your email, we picked this up as soon as we were back in the office and have in line with our complaints procedure have conducted a full investigation since, and responded again within the 7 working days. I can see that you were refunded for your second night after discussing this with management. Again, should you have told our staff members that you were not happy on viewing the new room, we would have offered you to view an alternative before moving you, to ensure that you were happy with your accommodation. As if we are not made aware of an issue we are not able to have the chance to rectify this. Again, we apologised for any issues encountered during your stay with us, however do hope that you had a good time in the local area. Kind Regards
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First off I would like to start by saying, I’m not usually one to write reviews, unless I’m blown away! I don’t think I have ever taken the time to write a bad review BUT I had to just add my opinion here…
Now I’m a very understanding person that generally sympathises with the difficulties for hospitality in the current climate. With covid aside this hotel is 100% falsely advertised.
Me and my partner have just returned from a stay at this hotel. We are both 25 and never expect much when we stay away from the comfort of home. The room we stayed in cost us £130 per night and we stayed for 2 nights, this is a lot more than we usually spend on a hotel, but we thought we deserved a bit of luxury after a terrible year. As you arrive at the hotel you can tell that it’s slightly outdated and run down but that is just cosmetic and we can deal with that. Check in was all fine and the staff were relatively friendly.
When we got to our room I was fighting back tears, it was terrible. It is basically a bed, a lamp and a VERY outdated TV. Like I said this was all cosmetic and something I could deal with, what I couldn’t deal with was how dirty and poorly maintained this room was. The room was covered in dust, I tired to tell myself it was because the ceilings were high and they are likely short staffed due to covid. In the bathroom the plumbing was on full show and the bath handle and clearly snapped off, instead of replacing it they just filled the holes with gritt fill. I decided to run myself a bath (don’t bother the plug is universal and doesn’t hold the water in) as I looked around the bathroom I could see old water/shower soap mark’s all over the tiles, it clearly hadn’t even been wiped over. As we had previously been camping I happened to have antibacterial wipes with me to wipe everything. It worry’s me that this hotel attracts people of an older age and with the current pandemic the rooms arnt even cleaned to a suitable standard.
Now the staff were relatively nice. There is a clear hierarchy between the older staff and the younger staff. During our stay we encountered a lot of the younger staff, from our obersvations it was either their first week or they just had not been trained. This is not me complaining about the young staff, it is just me saying they need support and training.
I could go on and on and on, but I won’t. Like I said I am not one to usually write reviews but I am absolutely heart broken that we spent a huge amount of money (for us anyway) for a very poor hotel. As mentioned before we are 25 and usually stay in an ibis or go camping, and honestly both of those options seem luxury compared to the hotel.
I did not complain to reception about any of the above issues, as I watched two other individuals complaining about the same thing and nothing being done.
Some positives: not far from the seaside, locals are nice, near some very lovely restaurants (The Yard- Appledore and Morans- Westward Ho!).
Apologies for the negativity but if it saves someone £200+ I feel it necessary
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Date of stay: August 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 6 Oct 2021
Thank you for your constructive feedback, I'm sorry we fell short of your expectations during your stay with us. I'm sorry if you found the price a little steep, the price is also reflective of the local area and the time of year visited to the hotel. Our prices do fluctuate throughout the year. Your feedback is extremely important to us and has been fully investigated with further training implemented where required. Its lovely to read you had a nice time in the local area.
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On arriving at the Durrant House, a 3 star hotel the building looks quite impressive, with plenty of parking . Unfortunately that's where the positive experience ends.
At reception we were told our rooms weren't ready even though we arrived at check in time. It was a beautiful day and after a long drive we just wanted to get to our rooms and then head out. We were told to wait in the bar where not even a free drink offered to compensate us. It was an 1hr 1/2 before we finally got the keys and even then when we went up to the rooms one was still being cleaned. The delay was blamed on the current situation and giving the rooms a thorough clean, but I don't buy this as no daily house keeping is being done once you are in the room, other than changing towels.
Which brings me onto the room! Firstly the room was spacious with good storage. The towels once white maybe are an interesting cream colour , frayed and the thinnest I have ever seen. The bathroom has seen better days, mouldy round the bath. We paid extra for rooms with a seating area...which was not used other than to place bags on due to the state of the sofa. We were very lucky with warm weather but this poses a problem as the windows only open a couple of inches so it's very hot at night. Considering the room is so large there is only a double bed, but it was adequately comfortable.
Breakfast was included in our room rate. To be fair the food wasn't too bad, although the service a bit slow and items coming out in the wrong order but it was kind of entertaining. The coffee cups were mostly stained and/or chipped. More staff are needed to cope with all food having to be ordered rather than helping yourself.
It's a real shame as the location is great for getting to many beaches but the hotel is run down and dated. There's a particularly interesting smell on the staircase and we were glad to be wearing masks! The price paid per room was definitely expensive for the standard of accommodation. All in all unless this hotel was completely renovated we wouldn't stay here again.
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Date of stay: August 2020
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Stay somewhere else
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Response from Durrant House, Guest Services / Front Office at Durrant House
Responded 19 Aug 2020
Dear Guest, Thank you very much for your review and feedback on your recent stay with us. I’m saddened to read your comments and would like to assure you that your review will be investigated thoroughly and any concerns remedied immediately. I also must apologise for any delay in your room being ready for you. We have added new procedures and sanitization in the rooms and areas surrounding the rooms and this does take further time for our housekeeping team. I can but apologies profusely for any delay in your room being ready for you. We would always offer you to visit our Bar area for food or drink during your wait, or you are also welcome to come back to the hotel a little later, I’m sorry if you felt this wasn’t an option. I’m glad the weather was warm during your stay, I hope you made the most of this while exploring what the beautiful area has to offer. We do have keys at reception to open the windows further for you, should you have mentioned this to us we would have been happy to assist with this. We can also offer Fans for bedrooms, as we keep these at reception sanitized. Again all of your points will be looked into thoroughly. And we thank you for bringing them to our attention. We hope that you had an enjoyable time in the area. Kind Regards, Durrant House Hotel
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Cardigan, United Kingdom18 contributions10 helpful votes
We always have the car and would say that the hotel is around one and a half to two miles from Bideford, more likely two. It is a downhill and level walk there but uphill at the end on return. There is a bus stop right outside the hotel with a very regular service. Reception will know times etc. They are very helpful indeed with everything. It is a great hotel in every way and we love going there.
Yes it has a ramp to reception and a lift although rather small big enough for a wheelchair and a person to accompany, dependant on where you eat , there are bars and a place to eat on the same floor as the reception.
Hope this helps
There are more places to choose from in the Bideford area.
PRICE RANGE
S$154 - S$209 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
durrant house hotel bideford
LOCATION
United KingdomEnglandDevonTorridgeBideford
NUMBER OF ROOMS
125
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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