Burgh Island Hotel — Hotel in South Hams

Disappointed by the 5* price delivering an intermittent slow 3* service throughout stay, that made one feel ignored ( Agatha Christie & Hercole Poirot are spinning in thier graves!)

Add the crumbling & pealing external paintwork that I suppose the 967820 regard as character, but actually ruins the sumptuous ambiance we are paying for.

The flippant Management attitude to reviews, concerns & complaints. No acknowledgement was made of their most damaging and basic failure, to create a good impression upon our arrival. (To keep it shorter I have described the gross faux pas further on).

Its almost like they are trying to create a high class Faulty Towers!

Sadly I am forced to say, I cannot recommend this based upon our overall experience and seriously suggest you consider booking a suite at the Ritz for your bucket list for a real high class treat & save some money!

Part 2, (If you dare!) The evidence

Please read further if you wish to understand why we were so disappointed and now angry.

To do so, I have described a couple of the most notable examples amongst the very many are below! (and yes I do feel better letting it all go here!)

On Arrival,

We were forced to wait 1 hr 20 Min after ordering, our lunchtime sandwiches and cocktails for two. This is unacceptable anytime, but to squander the only chance to render a first class first impression, unforgivable, especially as the other newly arrived guests, that arrived & ordered after us were being served after an acceptable 15 to 20 mins.

Did they lose our order? Well staff offered no explanation or apologies upon asking, they were obviously so stressed & run off their feet, that they were unaware of a problem. Note this is supposed to be a high class establishment with accompanying sublime standards (if the high prices charged Indicate anything!)

Basic 101 of the service industry, initial good impressions vital, Burgh Island management take note! You failed, .

Then for us, the most notable that occurred before the expensive & exclusive black tie evening Dinner in the ball room.

We arrived at the appointed time given to us to be greeted at the Palm Court bar for our associated cocktails & canapés, but were again treated to another wait. After 20 plus mins, I decided they had again forgotten and had to go and search out a staff member.

We were not impressed by the quality of either of the seriously overpriced bottles of wine bought to accompany our dinner. Sad, as the cuisine was indeed superior (our compliments to their chef)

Credit must be given to the few staff when found or present, that their performance was highly professional, but again it has to be said, appeared overworked & stressed.

Response from the management to my Trip Advisor review, that I tried to delivered my concerns in a balanced constructive manner, was to only acknowledge my positive points, assume we were pampered appropriately, and go on to ignore the issues (a pattern here perhaps? similar to our experience at the Hotel!)

They have clearly failed to consider that we did'nt make a fuss at the time as we were on our honeymoon. So I am forced to conclude that continually ignoring guests booking their most expensive suites is acceptable.( So if their aim is to create a high class Faulty Towers, they are succeeding!)

Friendly advice from one manager to another, you clearly need more staff on duty to deliver what you charge for, if you want to stay in business long term! You appear complacent being a fully booked for many months ahead, this may not last.

Sorry but there response just rubbed salt In the wound.

So despite the sublime Art Deco decor and awesome situation, the opulent ambiance was spoiled by the third rate service delivered.

It goes without saying we will not return for our wedding...

Have stayed at the hotel five times over the past decade or so, and always enjoyed the experience, which is unique and very special. There were nice friendly people to drive you and your luggage across to the island. Since my last stay, there seem to be a lot of new staff, some who were not perhaps as experienced as they might be - our lunch order wasn't what we'd asked for although what we were given was nice anyway.

We had dinner in the main dining room, a great experience with live music and everyone in dinner suits. We'd booked for 6.30 but didn't get invited to our table until 7.45 and our starters didn't arrive until well after 8.00. Despite the late start, the food was excellent.

Of course, the hotel is famous for its Agatha Christie connection, as she based two of her novels, Evil Under the Sun, and And Then There Were None, on Burgh Island. In Evil Under the Sun, a particularly awful hotel guest is murdered. So it was a delight when we were treated to a pair of wonderfully obnoxious guests - they announced to anyone who'd listen that they were on their anniversary and intended to "celebrate" every night. It was hilarious to see their disgust when they were offered water with their meal. I don't think I saw them sober the whole time we were there, and their language got increasingly loud and sweary as the evening meal went on. It almost felt like they were actors, giving us an "immersive" Agatha Christie experience, and we were half-expecting them to be found "murdered" the next morning.

During our stay it rained, and on previous visits, there had a been a tv room with board games in (rooms don't have televisions in, which is ok - it's nice to feel like you're in the 1930s). However, the tv/games room seems to have been commandeered by staff, and bits of furniture from there moved into the snooker room. We tried a game of snooker but it was difficult to play as large pieces of furniture were too close to the snooker table. I wish they'd left things as they were.

Had a lovely swim in the Mermaid Cove, and a few beautiful walks to the top of the island and round the sides. We did get caught by the sea coming in to the causeway and had to wade across, holding our shoes, which was fun. It's worth having a meal in the Pilchard Inn if you are staying for more than one evening. The service there was exceptionally good and friendly, and the food was also delicious.

I hope to return to Burgh Island again and again. Hopefully, whoever buys it will not try to change what makes it so special. Please don't try to turn it into a luxury spa hotel or get rid of the art deco features, making it something bland and boring like everywhere else. Please don't put televisions in the bedrooms. Burgh Island Hotel is unique - and you don't want to upset the spirit of...

HUGELY disappointing stay at this grand old hotel which has seen much better days and is desperately in need of investment and a makeover. This was a bucket list trip which has made me realise what the saying "be careful what you wish for" means.

The exterior paintwork has rust marks running down from most of the metal window frames, some of which (including our bedroom one) are not able to be opened, presumably because they are unsafe. Inside the Ballroom shows a botched attempt at covering a water leak on the ceiling and much of the furniture has seen better days. The band who played on Saturday evening were not very inspiring and the piano was too loud for us to hear the singers, who did their very best to be heard.

The gardens are completely unimpressive - no colour or evidence of being cultivated in any way. The Mermaid Pool was closed due to cliff erosion and the entrance was blocked off with a bright red plastic gate such as you see on roadworks - very unattractive. Several of the garden chairs were broken and the cushions for the intact garden chairs were few and far between.

In the bathroom all the soap, shampoo and conditioner are in large containers fixed to the wall with such short nozzles it is very hard to get the contents out. At a charge of £950+ per night we expected complimentary toiletries. The furniture is definitely from the 1920's, and is all tired and old and the facilities are limited.

On departure we were presented with an extra £500 bill, despite being assured by the hotel that our rate was all inclusive, which we paid as we were under pressure to get on the tractor, and then to add insult injury were phoned 30 minutes later to say that a further £173 had been left off the bill. Be warned, a 5% service charge is added to the TOTAL bill, even if you tip the staff as you go along, which meant another £100 on the bill. We have been offered a "special stay" next time. Obviously we will not be returning, and I would recommend the Thurlestone Hotel just across the bay were we had a spa day. The gardens there were well attended and bursting with colour and variety - the staff there were wonderful and they have 2 open swimming pools!

On the plus side the food is excellent and the staff are generally very friendly, in particular Simon James the Head Concierge which is why we have given 2 stars rather than one. Of course the location is wonderful and the tractor is fun but the shabby exterior and run down feel of the hotel itself is somewhat depressing. At the price we paid I would sum up by saying, massively over charge, sadly...