Best Western Duke of Cornwall Hotel, Plymouth

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Best Western Duke of Cornwall Hotel - Plymouth Devon

The Best Western Duke of Cornwall Hotel is set in the heart of Plymouth city centre directly opposite the Plymouth Pavilions where a lot of concerts and shows are held.
The hotel is also a ten minute (max) walk from Plymouth Ferry port or 5 minutes (max) to drive. Plymouth airport is only 5 miles away. It is also well positioned for city centre shopping ...
...be explained in full later.

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The Hotel:-

The hotel proudly holds 3 Stars and 1 Rosette for the restaurant.

It is an exceptionally unusual looking hotel in Victorian Gothic style. And from what I am aware it is 5 stories high so thankfully there is a lift!!

The hotel has 71 Bedrooms 27 of which are doubles, 11 are singles, 28 twin rooms and 1 family room. Every room ... more

Before I start, the 'Sound' bit is from the Plymouth Sound. the water between Plymouth docks and the break water.

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Best Western Duke of Cornwall Hotel - Plymouth Devon

The Best Western Duke of Cornwall Hotel is set in the heart of Plymouth city centre directly opposite the Plymouth Pavilions where a lot of concerts and shows are held.
The hotel is also a ten minute (max) walk from Plymouth Ferry port or 5 minutes (max) to drive. Plymouth airport is only 5 miles away. It is also well positioned for city centre shopping and the well renowned Union Street, all of which will be explained in full later.

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The Hotel:-

The hotel proudly holds 3 Stars and 1 Rosette for the restaurant.

It is an exceptionally unusual looking hotel in Victorian Gothic style. And from what I am aware it is 5 stories high so thankfully there is a lift!!

The hotel has 71 Bedrooms 27 of which are doubles, 11 are singles, 28 twin rooms and 1 family room. Every room has a television, internet access, hairdryer, trouser press and have 24 hour room service. There is also access for disabled people and a lift. They also allow pets in all rooms.

The restaurant:- Holding 1 rosette, is informal and elegant with fine food served daily.

The rooms:- are all individually designed and decorated. A single room costs from £89 up to £115 and a double room costs from £105 up to £125.

There is free parking for 50 cars in their car park and there is parking in nearby streets (if your car is not very valuable to you!!!!)

Functions:- All their function rooms are newly refurbished. The upstairs function rooms boast views right across the city and Plymouth Sound and ferry port. The Ballroom is fully air conditioned and has a stage with an optional bar if you so wish.

There are 6 function rooms including the Ballroom. The Ballroom can hold from 100 up to 300 people. And therefore the biggest function room they have.
The other rooms are:- the Writing Room, depending on the layout you choose, holds from 16 to 50 people. the Fleur De Lys room holds from 32 to 50 people. The Hayward room holds from 30 to 80 people. The Millbay Suite holds from 25 to 80 and the Whiteford room holds from 10 to 18 people. Again, all depending on the layout you choose to have in the room. Details can be found on the website at the bottom of this review.
Their meeting and conference facilities are:- Business Lounge, Secretarial Services, Staging, Screen, LCD Projector, Over Head Projector, Slide Projector, Whiteboard, Blackboard, Flip Chart, Television, Audio, Video, Video Conferencing, Internet, Modem, ISDN, Fax, Photocopier, Phase Power, CCTV. (of course, all at a charge)
There is also a little pub opposite the hotel if you don't want to eat at the hotel or bar of the hotel but this is on the roundabout, so be careful if you have had one tipple to many!!!
**A word of warning if you are thinking of bringing a family to the hotel, especially younger ones, the hotel is situated on the corner of the road that is that start of the red-light district of the city and therefore the hotel is used to such.
The hotel is generally used by reps and is therefore quite an 'adult' hotel even though they cater for kids.
If you are considering staying in the hotel for a holiday, this may be a point worth taking into consideration.**

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Personal experience of the hotel:-

I have visited the hotel about 3 times now to sit Insurance exams, and with the above in mind and being a young female, I found it slightly daunting to say the least to be surrounded by such people and men asking you into their rooms. I presume the hotel is aware of this so I did not report it but as a single female, beware!
I would also imagine this to be slightly daunting even for men with women hanging around the stairways and outside the front door all day.
However, another word of warning, if you are alone and a single female, do not, and I really mean do not, take the lift. I am sure this is general knowledge for most females but it is especially important for this hotel.

I have never stayed in the hotel for more than a couple hours for exams and they were in the function rooms. But the function rooms are mixed up with the hotel rooms and the décor of the hotel is tired to say the least.
The floor boards creek and groan and the hotel appears to be subsiding slightly!!

To be honest, I would not recommend this hotel to anyone due to these factors but I am sure it is nice if you are aware of these or used to it.

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Some about the area..

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Plymouth Pavilions:-

They have staged shows and concerts by many including, Jack Dee, G4, Premier League Darts, Kings of Leon, the Streets, Girls Aloud, Joss Stone, Athlete, Jamie Cullen, Michael Bolton, Katherin Jenkins, Motorhead, Live Boxing and Snooker and many many more world renowned artists.

At the Plymouth Pavilions there is an Ice Rink and swimming pool.
The Swimming Pool (known as the Atlantis) provides fun for all the family with two water slides and a jacuzzi. It also has 2 flumes and a wave machine to add to the fun!
There is also a sloping beach area that allows babies and non-swimmers to gain confidence in the water and has full disabled access and facilities.

It costs £3.20 for adults and £2.70 for children with many different options available such as, family tickets, groups, fun pool, concessions for students, unwaged, over 60's and disabled.
They also hold special sessions for Young at Heart, Parents and toddlers, Aqua Aerobics and swimming lessons.
More details can be found at http://www.plymouthpavilions.com/rinkpool_poolinfo.asp

The Ice Rink at the Plymouth Pavilions is the only Permanente ice rink in the whole of the south west. The rink is fitted with state-of-the-art lighting and disco system and therefore holds many ice discos on a regular basis. The rink also has full disabled access and there are various different types of sled available for use on the ice.

The ticket office for both the ice rink and swimming pool is located centrally between the two venues and is open Monday to Saturday 9:15am to as late as 8:30pm and on Sundays from 10am through to 6:30pm.

The ice rink costs £3.90 for adults and (16+) and £3.60 for Children (15-) a family ticket costs 10.80. for full details and prices, visit their website http://www.plymouthpavilions.com/rinkpool_rinkinfo.asp

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Plymouth Ferry Port:-

Currently the only major ferry company to go from Plymouth is Brittany Ferries. They have their flagship the Pont-Aven on both the Roscoff crossing and the Santander crossing. There are 2 crossing a week to Santander and of course there are 2 crossing a week from Santander to Plymouth also on the Pont Aven. which take 20 an a half hours. A long time but an awesome ferry, or should I say Cruise Liner?!, to be on for that amount of time.

The Plymouth to Roscoff crossing is either on the Pont Aven or the also new ferry the Pont L'Abbe (which I have not been on yet).
There are up to 3 crossings a day to Roscoff and also from Roscoff to Plymouth.

Once in Roscoff you can either drive down through France or you can then get a ferry (also Brittany Ferries) up to Cork in Ireland, but you can not go direct from Plymouth.

For more information visit www.brittanyferries.co.uk

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Plymouth Airport:-

The airport is situated out of the city toward to moors, but not on the moors by any means!
There are daily flights to London Gatwick, (personally sampled!) along with flights to Manchester, Leeds Bradford, Newcastle, Jersey, Cork, Dublin, Cardiff and Bristol.

There is only two airlines that go in and out of Plymouth airport which are Air South West (http://www.airsouthwest.com) and Air Wales (www.airwales.com) you can also hire a car from the airport, although only one rental company I am aware of, that being Avis. (www.Avis.co.uk)

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Shopping in Plymouth:-

There is a good array of shops for all pockets in Plymouth City Centre. Some are:- Dingles (House of Fraser group) Debenhams, Marks and Spence, Next, Dorothy Perkins, Principles, New Look, Clarks Shoes, Barrets Shoes, Quiksilver. And many more but to many to list!

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Union Street:-

Or…..the home of Clubs!!

If you are over 25 and are not the biggest raver on the planet, or you don't want to get in a fight by 10pm, Don't go to Union Street!! The street is basiclly nightclub after nightclub with the odd bar chucked in between for good measure!
Union Street is literally a 5 minute walk from the hotel from door (to the right). Although a on the corner of Union Street and The Crescent (the road to the right of the hotel) there is a Weatherspoons bar which I believe is very good.
Non of the nightclubs have been personally tried and tested so I cant say which are good or not! There is a larger nightclub out of town slightly, you will need to use your car, which is next door to a cinema and a pub opposite. It is possible the biggest club in town…you have been warned!!

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The low-down.

An interesting hotel with many different things to see and do, for all interests, in the city and in a good central location. There is also the Plymouth Registry Office a couple streets away so is well situated for weddings.

The hotel address is :- Millbay Road, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 3LG
Telephone:- (01752) 275850
Fax:- (01752) 275854
Web: www.bestwestern.co.uk/dukeofcornwall
Email: enquiries@TheDukeOfCornwallHotel.com

How to find it:- if you are on the M5, follow the road to the right at Halden Hill for the A38 and follow the signs to the Plymouth Pavilions which will take you right past the hotel. I know people say this and it doesn't mean it, but, you can't miss it!!!!

I hope the above has helped you if you are considering staying in the hotel or visiting Plymouth.
If there is something you consider I have missed out, then please let me know and will be happy to add it.

Thanks for reading this far and please remember to rate it so I know whether it needs more detail.

Naomi.
 

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