The North Devon coast is, for me, one of the most fantastic places in the UK. There are lots of activities to do in the area including surfing, hiking, cycling, horse-riding, scuba diving, wildlife-watching, fishing, and exploring.
My wife and I have just enjoyed a stay at the Towers Hotel in Ilfracombe, which is an ideal location for visiting north Devon. The hotel is a spectacular Victorian-style building with the slightly-over-the-top architecture which could only work in a building of this era.
The interior is kept in-style with the overall building and is exceptionally clean and tidy. Even the Victorian features such as the high ceilings, covings and high skirting boards were in clean, good condition which must take a lot of work by the owners.
There is ample car-parking for all guests, and also a small bar and lounge area for the guests to use (although a TV and tea and coffee making facilities are availble in all of the rooms).
The centre of Ilfracombe is only 15 minutes walk away and offers a number of good places to eat (particularly "Smugglers" sea-food restaurant), as well as a theatre and a dramatically located chapel which is now a small (free to enter) museum.
Our room faced out across the Bristol Channel (on a clear day we could see across to South Wales) overlooking Ilfracombe harbour. As the Hotel was on the side of a hill above Ilfracombe, the view across the harbour was great (especially when it was all lit up at night).
The owners of the hotel were extremely friendly and helpful, from taking our bags to our room, to looking after our surfing equipment in their own part of the hotel, to making breakfast early for us before our day trip to Lundy - we couldn't have asked for better hosts.
Breakfasts were good and included a variety of cereals, freshly made fruit salad, and full english breakfasts which were all of a high quality.
The only downside (and it is the only one) was the low water pressure in the en-suite shower. There again this is probably down more to the location rather than anything that the owners could actually fix.
Overall, an excellent hotel with great views and even better hosts. We will definitely be returning to the Towers in the future!
Just to add the price, our stay was July 2007 and cost £60 per night for a double room (we stayed for a long weekend which cost a total of £180).
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The Towers guest house is a landmark Victorian building in a superb position with ... more
beautiful sea views, overlooking Hillsborough nature reserve on the South West Coast path and Ilfracombe’s picturesque harbour. A 10-minute stroll will take you to the hu...
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Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
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