Exmouth, The Royal Beacon Hotel

On the whole the stay was pleasant at The Royal Beacon Hotel, the Staff were very friendly and the food was good. Unfortunately I was let down by the jaded room. It was not what I would have expected given that the lobby and the ground floor of the Hotel seem to imply luxurious surroundings throughout. It is a shame that the grand entrance does not follow through to the rooms. I do not think that the room was worth £120 of anyone's money. They need to clean the carpet and varnish the woodwork before charging those prices.

Maybe I was unlucky but I would not wish to return to the The Royal Beacon Hotel. I thought it was quite an expensive visit which for me was spoiled by the attitude of the dining room staff and other problems.

The best thing about this hotel was that all the staff were extremely hospitable and friendly. The rooms were like brand new and very clean and the service in general was very good. If your planning to go out in Exmouth for the night, the location is good too. Friendly people, good food and very nice staff. We were there on Easter Sunday and the owner even brought everyone/guests mini Easter eggs.

We stayed at The Royal Beacon Hotel in Exmouth for our second Honeymoon in July. Although it is not far from where we now live, I wanted to see Exmouth (I was born and grew up there) as I had never seen it before.

Absolute luxury! Panoramic views all around the sea-front and estuary from an elevated position, just a short walk from the sea-front itself.

We had dined in the Restaurant there before, which is open to non-residents, and the meals are superb. They have an excellent chef and very efficient staff.

We booked one of the Executive Suites at the Hotel, and the views from the window were breathtakingly beautiful. I had never seen Exmouth like this before. There was a large TV in the room (which we did not use!), a trouser press was available (which we had no reason to use) and a huge beautifully furnished bed (which we DID use!), with those wonderfully comfy pressed white cotton sheets inside! The bathroom was lovely, with shower and bath, obviously toilet and wash basin, and complimentary shampoo, soap, shower gel and bath foam. And of course fresh white towels. As we had booked at one of the hottest times of the year, they provided us with electric fans in the room, which was a nice touch! There was also tea and coffee making facilities.

On arrival at the Hotel, we booked in at Reception then went into the bar to wait until our evening meal was ready. We were handed a menu of mouth-watering gourmet dishes to choose from, so we sat down to try and make the hard decision of what delights to eat. One of the staff came over and said "Anne would like to buy you both a drink, what would you like?"

Anne is the very well known DJ Anne Nightingale (Old Grey Whistle Test, Radio 1), who along with her husband run this hotel. What a lovely lady she is! We had a chat with her later on that evening. They both really care for their guests.

We chose our drink and decided on our choice of food from the menu.

My husband had his usual Fillet Steak and I had Rack of Lamb, and we both chose a Prawn Cocktail starter. On finishing our drinks, we were told our meals were ready to be served and were escorted to the dining room. As always, superb. We were too full to order desert! After such a lovely meal we decided to take a walk along the sea-front which was just a short walk down a hill.

The sea-front at Exmouth is all level, and very beautiful. It is not spoiled with trinket shops; there are just a couple of pubs and cafes, the rest is all sea and sand; lovely fine sand, and of course the sun-set is fantastic. There is much more life in the town if you want it, and lots of pubs and night clubs, but we didn't want that! We were happy with the tranquility of the sea and surroundings.

Afterwards we sat in the gardens of the Royal Beacon Hotel, which are private and overlooked the sea. Anne was walking past us with her two lovely little dogs and asked if we had enjoyed our drinks and meal. Of course we had, and we went on to chat a little more with her before we retired to bed. I had to stand at the window again for some time and take in the wonderful view we had of Exmouth from the best possible position.

In the morning our breakfast was again very nice. Full English, or whatever else you wanted from the breakfast menu. Along with tea or coffee.

We loved our stay at The Royal Beacon Hotel, even though it was a short one. We were very well looked after, and everything about it was perfect. We will most certainly stay there again, and would recommend it to anyone. We paid £140 a night for Dinner Bed and Breakfast for both of us in the Executive Suite at peak time, and for the treatment and service we received, it was well worth every penny. Other rooms will cost less!