The Darnley Hotel

United Kingdom , Devon
Ilfracombe, 3 Belmont Road
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13 reviews shown

6/10

Pleasant

09 Jul 2025

Verified traveler

Reasonable stay in an old house with character

The hotel was easy to find but through a narrow gateway, in a larger car it might have been difficult.The room was clean, and money had been spent, but the finish was poor. Outside needed a tidy up.The bar did not open as scheduled, seemed a bit disorganised. Breakfast small but otherwise alright. Acceptable for the price.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

10 Sep 2024

Chelsea

Owner is so lovely and very helpful, almost like a personal tour guide for us with plenty of suggestions for things for us to see and do. Very friendly!! Breakfast was beautiful! Room was clean, walking distance to beaches shops and restaurants. I’d stay again if visiting ilfracombe again.

Leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

13 Aug 2024

Stephen

Lovely hotel run by a really friendly couple.

Business

2/10

Poor

29 Jun 2023

Wendy

bathroom toilet not screwed to the floor when you sat on it the toilet tilted, broken tiles on the floor ,tiles replaced with white sealant the rest of the floor had beige sealant. The blinds were broken and let in the light ,right through the night , spoke to owner was told it gets light early in the morning. dog in dining room owner petted dog and continued serving, requested well done toast was told cannot serve you well done toast as against health and hygiene ? Very miserable couple once try to say any thing is wrong, just reminds me of faulty towers , I can safely say it has been the worst hotel we have stayed in

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

29 Sep 2021

Alan

Great stay

Very friendly and attentive owners, lovely breakfast and nice room.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

25 Jul 2021

Stephen

Comfortable stay

Sadley no one was there when i arrived. I return laster still no one there. But soon someone came to check me in. The room was on top floor. Was told best views but trees obscured the view. The room was very comfortable. The breakfast service was very slow. But enjoyably. There was a separate private bathroom not so good when a few visits needed. Was able to leave my car after check out so i could enjoy coastal walk.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

20 Oct 2019

Ian Paul

Bags of character comfy and friendly hosts

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

14 Nov 2018

Stuart

Autumn break

Clean. Great shower and breakfast. Nothing too much trouble for owners.

Partner

2/10

Poor

01 Sep 2018

Verified traveler

Awful and argumentative

I’m writing this review in the hope others can avoid the experience we had.

The room initially looked ok. The decor was very dated but not necessarily concerning. However, the bed was very uncomfortable - the mattress was so old and tired that it drooped ever which way. Perhaps, if just one person stayed they could droop into the middle of the mattress and get some sleep but if there are two of you, sleep becomes very difficult. The shower shifts rapidly and unpredictably between scolding and freezing. You can lessen this somewhat if you turn it to the eco setting.

Whilst the room was not conducive to sleep, this pales into comparison with the attitude and treatment by the staff. We politely asked when the wifi login details did not appear to work. We were immediately told off that they were old login details (they didn’t seem to think it was a good idea to update the guest folder in the room?!) and more so when we said that the wifi did not work at all in our room, even with the new login details. This began a very long and deeply uncomfortable process with both the man and woman staff (perhaps owners). They criticised us, blamed us, patronised us and did their best to make us feel as uncomfortable as possible. To name the highlights - entering & lingering in our bedroom when we were two females in our PJs and a barely veiled threat of him having been ‘MOD internal security’ in the past.

Breakfast: only 8:30-9:30am ad greasy & gross.

6/10

Pleasant

21 Jul 2018

Alan

Nice hotel, slow breakfast

Nice big hotel and we got our room upgraded at no extra cost. Room was comfortable and enormous. Easy access down to the town and harbour area.
Seagulls were noisy!
Breakfasts were terribly slow. We were out walking each day and like to make an early start. On our final day when we had a long drive home we ordered beans on toast as we thought it would be quick and it still took 35 minutes to arrive. As the earliest they start breakfast is at 8.30am we ended up leaving a fair but later than we would have liked.

2/10

Poor

07 Aug 2017

Tim

Early breakfast request

Not very good service for breakfast it states in there information pack breakfast 8 till 9.30 but were told its 8.30 till 9.30 If you want earlier let know I did and was told come down at 8.15 which we did as we were going to Lundy for the day had to leave at 8.55 breakfast arrived at 8.45

Partner

8/10

Excellent

03 Jul 2017

Terry

Dated but comfortable and good location

When we arrived room was cold and no lights on in hotel made it feel slightly unwelcoming. We had breakfast no radio first morning so little atmosphere better next day with other guests. Used path down to high St you need to be careful where you walk and no lights when you come back in dark so next night walked up road. All said very comfortable stay and very helpful owners. Hotel very dated but spotless. I didn't have full breakfast but had small portion of what I wanted poached egg and bacon on toast. egg was lovely and runny. Coffee needs to be hotter and fresh as had bits in. Would have been nice to have fresh tomatoes and brown toast and top up of toast. I needed extra blanket which was there in room thankfully but would've been nice to have a little heat from radiator but they were turned off. We put lights on in hallways as very dark. Bathroom door handle needs attention as doesn't stay closed. Will stay again and ask for the above if not offered next time though. Its close to everything and owners are very friendly and helpful.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

23 Jul 2016

John

3 hot days

The proprietor was very good working to put the customer first. Nothing was too much trouble.
The wifi reception was almost non existent though perhaps that's a good thing when on holiday!
Lovely secluded garden path leading down into town.

Partner