Reviews for Bovey Castle, Dartmoor National Park, Devon, TQ13 8RE

So much went wrong! We were not told the hotel is being refurbished and we were allocated room 47 with its window covered in scaffolding, from where workers outside could wave to us in the room. The valet parking put our new car right beside a skip into which builders' rubbish was being thrown from the extensive scaffolding above. Our 'replacement' room 28 had no heating, the continental quilt was far too small for the bed, and we were then provided with an inadequate electric heater - so a cold night indeed! For £498 (including half board) it was awful value and disappointing - partly because the duty and general managers were relatively unhelpful about the succession of problems we had!

Very poor customer service particularly with the valet parking and in reception.

We booked via the Sunday Telegraph offer and thought it sounded pretty good value. However, by the time we left after three days, it cost double. Our first room was so noisy that we had to be moved. The second room was at the back and rather gloomy with no view at all, but the size was OK. The second and third night we did not get fudge in our room or sloe gin and it felt like we were forgotten at the end of a long corridor. The wine in the fine dining room was so expensive that we only had one glass. And we did not know that our dinner allowance was so low that it barely covered the cost of the main course. Plus service charges on top of everything.

This was a four day stay at what was the end of a holiday in the UK.

Well the location is perfect, quiet location and wonderful views with a great looking golf course. The staff were extremely helpful and the hotel itself had a great ambience. Now for the bad news... Our first dinner was held in the main restaurant and the food was just amazing but extremely expensive... So for the remaining 3 nights of our stay we decided to use the brasserie. WRONG ! The food was dreadful ! There isn't enough space here to describe the food and the attitude of the chef was as if he really couldn't care if you asked for something a little bit different from the menu. On our last night the food was so poor we asked to speak to the the head of the restaurant who in fairness to him gave us our whole meal for free. If you have drinks with your meal expect to pay over £100 per meal for 2. They have a captured audience as there are no other restaurants close by for you to go to. For what it costs unfortunately I wouldn't go there again. The restaurant manager did explain the brasserie had only just opened and the staff were new! As a few examples, the meat fishers were very dry, fish was undercooked and had to be returned, the prawn cocktail was a joke huge amount swimming in its juices. We NEVER complain but the food was so bad we had no choice especially as the meals were very expensive.