Braddon Hall Hotel — Hotel in Great Britain

We arrived 2 hours early to Torquay & as with all hotels we stay in, we thought we’d see about checking in early, or at the very least, parking up & leaving our bags until checkout opened.||||As we approached the property, we were warned by other early guests that they had tried to check in, but that they were very abruptly told that it opens at 3pm & to find parking elsewhere (despite there being spaces on the incredibly steep and probably not worth making the effort “drive”).||||As parking was clearly advertised on the booking, we decided to park up on the drive (we almost broke our rear axis getting up). If we were going to drive off, we’d have parked in the local carpark 5 mins away rather than risk a 2nd parking attempt! We parked up & thought it courteous to let the guest house know we’d parked, however we were apprehensive based on the other new guest’s warning.||We went to try and speak to someone at the guesthouse but they didn’t seem to be around and there was a note on the locked from door stating check-in opened at 3pm. I phoned the hotel and advised the gentleman I spoke to that I was also a bit concerned as we had left all our bags in the car (as hidden as possible) and someone was very closely watching us when we arrived and took some items out the boot, however I was told he wasn’t around for another half hour & “what was he supposed to do about it…”||||When we were hovering around the car, waiting to make a decision on what to do regarding our luggage, another guest told us that the owner was about and directed us to a room next to the main entrance that he was in. Again, thinking it would be courteous and we’d be reassured re leaving our car on the drive, all we got was a blanks stare, a shrug of the shoulders, some choice words telling us it wasn’t his problem & a very foul feeling in our stomachs. It was made quite clear that check-in was 3o’clock and he had zero intention to engage with us in any capacity before then.||||After much deliberation we decided to head out to our booked meal (we were now quite late) and decided to leave the car and bags where they were and enjoy it as best we can. To be honest though, I was quite shocked and very confused as I’ve never been spoken to like that before, never mind by a guesthouse owner or similar that I’m paying to stay at. We just wanted some reassurance/advice…||||It was also made quite clear to us that we had to check-in BEFORE 6pm, so we hurried back from our meal before we were ready to avoid not having somewhere to stay and being chastised for “inconveniencing” the proprietor again.||||When we returned I also decided it was best to avoid the owner/manager as I couldn’t bare to be made to feel so anxious or dreadful. Luckily it was not a problem as when we arrived to “check in”, the door was still locked so we called up again. We were provided with the code for the front door lock and our keys were left on the reception desk, along with a list of our names and room numbers.||||There was also a note on the desk asking for our breakfast orders. We decided not to have anything as it was a Saturday morning and finishing the breakfast slot at 9am on a weekend day is not our idea of a relaxing stay or holiday.||||It was also a real shame that the lounge area was completely locked up for our duration, and whilst there does appear to be a bar, this certainly wasn’t opened as it was locked in the lounge room.||||Looking through other reviews, it’s clear to me that the hotel was bought out sometime late last year and since then it seems that the new proprietor seems to run the guesthouse very leanly. Whilst this may work if it’s done correctly, I have never in all my years met anyone who lacks customer service skills as much as this gentleman. He has rules and ideas of how he thinks the guest house should be done (“check in is 3-6pm ONLY”, “write your orders on this paper”, “don’t ask me questions before 3pm”) and his incredibly bad attitude need some real work if he intends to make this a success.||||Oh - our room had a great view and was quite spacious. Only 2 pillows though and I daren't ask for any more.||||If you fancy being spoken to like absolute dirt, or you are okay to absolutely obey his ridiculous rules, then it’s probably not a bad stay.||We however, will not be recommending this guesthouse to anyone we know, or on here and would recommend you steer clear until the proprietor engages in some customer service training or it’s taken over by...

Stayed here for 1 night. When booking it asked us what time we were arriving so we chose 11am thinking that must have been check in time, we were gravely wrong. When arriving at the hotel we were greeted by a ‘wish’ version of stone cold Steve Austin, he barked at us that check in was not until 3pm. however, after we showed him the booking error, he allowed us to place our bags securely inside, while we explored Torquay for the day. ||||When we came back at 3pm, he was most courteous, almost like he had a bollocking from the wife to do so. He was most helpful explaining entering and exiting the building. His temper only boiling over when we asked if he needed to know how we liked our eggs to which he replied “you get them fried and if you don’t like it don’t eat it”||||In the bedroom the room was great value for money barring the water pressure on the shower not being great and a mishap where the tap fell off. Not very spacious though, you couldn’t swing a cat around, but our fault because we could have booked a bigger room. Bed was comfortable and had a great nights sleep. ||||After spending the night in Torquay, and having dinner and cocktails we arrived back at the hotel around 11pm-12am, used the passcode on the door to enter which was very straight forward. There was no one on reception as expected. As we walked through the hallway to the stairs we noticed that the owner was in the bar area with the tv on, asleep on the sofa with a beer in his hand, after the lounge being locked all day. ||||Then breakfast arrived, it was plentiful, good sausages and bacon, cooked very well, and also a good tasting cuppa to go with. Would just have liked more choice of cereals and maybe some fruit juices, however we were full after eating breakfast. Unfortunately, some poor lady and her husband didn’t get the memo about having set seats and sat at the wrong table. Whilst the hostess kindly explained why the seating was important due to matching room numbers to breakfast orders she made amendments to the seating due to the honest mistake. However when the owner got whiff of this all hell broke loose. He started bellowing from the kitchen about how people need to follow the rules to which the room went silent, followed by a Charge into the room at which he began to berate the couple for their mistake before picking up their items from the table and manually moving it to where they were supposed to be sat whilst continuing to repeat about they need to follow the rules. He returned to the kitchen at which point he shouted to the hostess that they can now only have one slice of toast. Made the atmosphere most awkward and left everyone else either leaving their breakfast or eating as quickly as possible to get out of the firing range.||||To summarise, it felt as if we were guests in the owners home, but if to wish to enjoy your stay know the rules keep on the owners good side and maybe try addressing any problems you have yourself first aka avoid...

We recently stayed in Maycliffe Hotel in Torquay and wanted to stay another night so we spontaneously booked this hotel for our last night as it was the cheapest. We got there early as we were hoping to leave the car there while we had a day in Torquay, we found a note on the door to call this number, so I called it and explained that we are here early and asked if we can leave the car there etc, i had an aggressive response on the phone by the man (Henry) who said that check in is at 3pm and that leaving our car was unfair on other guests but he didn’t mind us leaving it there. I ended the call feeling a bit odd due to the response. We came back at 3pm to check in, again, nobody was in the hotel so i rang the number again. This time, Henry was much more polite and told us the code for the door and instructions of where the room key was and to write down our breakfast order on a slip of paper in reception. We got into our room and it was very vintage and old fashioned, but beautiful. Room key was an old fashioned big key rather than the usual hotel card etc. Lovely windows and spacious room. Bathroom was decent, although, it stunk. We couldn’t put our finger on the smell, but the only way i could describe it is a very strong scent of women’s sanitary products (which is fine but the bathroom reeked of it). The bathroom had a fan as there wasn’t a window in there, this fan was on constantly and was noisy so we kept the door closed. The shower head didn’t fit in the holder, so as you turn the shower on, from the force of the water, the shower head would fall off. So we had to hold the shower head. Bed was comfy, only given 1 pillow each person whereas our other hotel provided 2 pillows (win!) Very hot room, had to open windows wide, which hardly helped at night time. Around midnight/1am, a drain worker was cleaning the drains with a very loud machine right outside the hotel, which woke us and we ended up shutting the windows, making it uncomfortable to sleep with the heat, and the constant noise. Breakfast in the morning was okay, tables were laid out with table numbers on. As we assumed you had to sit on the table that has your room number on, other guests didn’t and were soon told off by Henry who came into the quiet dining room who shouted at them for sitting in the wrong space and said “what room number are you? right, that’s not that hard is it” which i found very rude. Breakfast was free so i guess i can’t complain. Only offered hot drinks, and as i’m not a lover of these, i brought my own orange juice. Parking was a nightmare, into the drive you go up this hill and park on the hill. very tight spaces and hardly any room to turn around or manoeuvre. Wasn’t nice sleeping in the constant fear of the car rolling down the hill😂. Very close to center/beach front. 15min walk. Up a big hill so wear walking shoes! Wouldn’t come here again but it...