Good Hotel Guide Review
For more than 40 years the Wharton family have welcomed guests to their bow-fronted, stuccoed, seafront hotel – and if little has changed over time, that’s fine with devotees. New carpets have been laid and the bedrooms refurbished, but they retain their quilted headboards, swags and pelmets, ‘sheets, blankets, no duvet nonsense’. ‘Lovely sea views from our room on the third floor,’ readers relate this year. ‘Well equipped and comfortable. Good public rooms with first-rate service.’ You don’t come here to be trendy, but to enjoy a Devonshire cream tea among the potted palms on the terrace, to be served by attentive, uniformed staff, to relax on the beach, to walk the South West Coast Path, and to listen to the brass band in Connaught Gardens on a summer Sunday evening. In the restaurant there is a sense of occasion, as diners tuck into chicken liver parfait, grilled Dover sole, or roast rack of lamb with thyme jus and ratatouille. The breakfast menu brings fresh orange or grapefruit juice, prunes, gammon, Loch Fyne smoked fish, along with the usual full English. (Tony and Shirley Hall, P and AD, IM, and others)
Hotel details
Address
The Esplanade
Sidmouth
Devon
EX10 8AY
England
Telephone
01395 515201
Bedrooms
26. None on ground floor.
Open
all year.
Facilities
small lift, foyer, lounge, bar, restaurant, function rooms, in-room TV (Freeview), terrace, parking (£8.50 a day), public rooms wheelchair accessible.
Background music
in bar and restaurant, occasional pianist in bar.
Children
all ages welcomed, under-3s free, extra bed 25%–75% of per-person adult rate.
Dogs
small dogs allowed in some bedrooms (£17.50 a night, by arrangement), not in public rooms.
Credit cards
Amex, MC, Visa.
Prices
B&B doubles from £272, singles from £136. Set-price dinner £50–£54 (3/5 courses), à la carte £60.
Other reviews
VisitEngland Four Star Hotel
AA Four Star Hotel with Two AA Rosettes
Good Hotel Guide articles about
Hotel Riviera
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- Visit South Devon: Five South Devon hotels for foodies
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