Best Western Exeter Lord Haldon Country Hotel

Haldon Hall is set in some wonderful countryside. A grand House which is well run giving excellent accommodation large well kept rooms, excellent breakfast and evening meals,with staff helpful and polite and enjoyable experience would be happy to return. less

Last night, shortly after we arrived, I was ready to write a terrible 1 star review of this hotel. However in fairness the hotel itself is really pretty good, the staff are helpful and friendly and on balance I think the 3 star rating is fair given the problem we had getting food once we arrived. Our room was spacious and comfortable however the shower wasn’t up to much, a little weak! There was a great big TV in the room and generally we had everything we needed. However the hotels location is fairly remote (which is exactly what we were looking for, not a complaint) and after a long drive we were looking forward to some hot food. We arrived just before 9pm only to discover that the restaurant closes at 9pm and last orders were 8:45pm. No matter - we can just order room service. However unlike any other large hotel I’ve ever stayed in, there were absolutely no hot food options available 24/7. The only options were cold sandwiches - no soup, not even a bowl of chips let alone pizzas or burgers or other simple things. Nothing, no other options. Now this is a large hotel, on a Friday night in a remote location as previously mentioned. There are no other options and despite calling Dominos and begging them they wouldn’t come and deliver here. I should probably also mention that my wife is pregnant and needed hot food! On top of that we’d been in the car for many hours and as a result, I had to get back into the car and complete the 40min round trip to the nearest Dominos so that my pregnant wife could eat something - despite the fact we’d booked into a hotel which we believed would have all the facilities we needed. This isn’t a travel lodge or premier inn etc and given the beautiful rural location right on the gateway to the south west, they hotel must know that many of their guests will arrive fairly late? Anyone traveling from north or Birmingham or East of Reading leaving after work on a Friday simply isn’t going to arrive in time for dinner! So whilst the staff were very friendly and the room was very nice and the breakfast (which was hot!) was also very good - I can’t in good consciousness rate any higher than three stars. They completely failed in their responsibility to provide a comfortable stay. I see that there are many reviews mentioning narrow lanes and country lanes. Yes - however this is Devon and it’s in a beautiful location... that’s what you get. As it happens, the roads are not narrow at all, single track yes but we drive a large car and there is plenty of room, you’re not dragging your wing mirrors along bushes. There are plenty of passing spaces and good visibility. The roads in both directions (yes I had to use both!) are absolutely fine. less

We were not prepared for the long drive to reach the hotel through the small and narrow paths. At some point we wonder if we were on the correct route to the hotel or the GPS did not register the correct address. What was worse we were coming in in the dark of the night around 9pm. Once we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by a very friendly front desk staff who was expecting us and we chatted for a very long while as she had been to and worked in Asia. Once we got into the room on the top floor it was so big with a Queen and 2 singles that we could each have our own space and the toilet was big with a very high ceiling. In the morning one side of the room overlooks the hotel main entrance and the other the back door to the hotel. The hotel has a bar, restaurant, a big premise with a very homely feel. The drive out the same dark narrow route we took the night before was so much more pleasant in the day and we appreciate the remoteness as the fresh air and pleasant countryside ambience makes us want to stay longer. I'm sure we will be back and this will be our home away from home. less

We stayed here as it was the venue for our friends wedding. We had a family room that overlooked the courtyard. The room it's self was modern and large with enough room for the extra bed. There was not air conditioning in the room so we had to have the window open. The wedding was nice and the food was nice. Our 2 issues with the hotel was we have a 5 year old and as you can imagine he was tired about 9pm so I took him to bed. The wedding reception over looked the courtyard and some of the guests used the courtyard to talk, therefore when we went to bed our room was overlooking the same courtyard and we could therefore hear the music blaring with the windows open and clearly hear people talking, only option was to close the window. This did make the room very warm. Friends had one of the back room as said there was quieter. It would have been nice if the hotel had considered this and put the families with the younger children at the back. Breakfast the next morning wasn't great, the milk was off, It was changed quickly when we mentioned it. The fruit salad looked days old too. Shame really. less

I've stayed here many times & love the remoteness of this hotel. We stayed in an executive room with views to the countryside. Room was clean, bed was comfortable. Staff are friendly. We stayed dinner, bed & breakfast & the food was slightly lacking this time. I ordered sea bass with mash. It came in a bowl with more butter than mash. Disappointing, as when I stayed many times between September & March, the food was always excellent. Nevertheless, we will be back & the price is stillgood value for money. less