Hartland Quay Hotel

It’s the most beautiful of costal walks, great staff and service. Food constant good fair quality. However you get charged £3 to park your car down on the car park. Which is fine. But they say they are pet friendly- they are in the hotel and restaurant. What they fail to clearly state while taking you £3 that the beach is “strictly no dogs from may 1st -1st November I was told.

There was scaffolding outside our room obscuring the view, but the hotel offered us a discount in lieu of this without us asking. The room was lovely - light and spacious with excellent beds and pillows etc and a good shower and we slept well. The food in the adjoining pub was very ordinary and not cheap, and breakfast was fine but not exceptional. Most guests were walkers like us yet despite this breakfast didn't open till 8.15 meaning an early start was difficult. It's a beautiful spot.

We usually visit out of season, where the place is very quiet. Today, we visited and the place was full, no seats available inside. No problem, we said, we'll sit outside. As it was sunny, but blowing a gale, we decided not to have a meal, but husband went inside to get a couple of drinks and 2 bags of crisps. He went to the Bar to order. No one came. Eventually, he caught someone's eye, who asked if he was ordering food. No he said, just drinks. Well, she said, you'll have to get in the queue over there, because we don't serve at the Bar. Eh? It's a pub. There was a queue of about 4 people, waiting to order food at at till by the door, but also a load of orders to process, I guess from the table servers. My husband said the staff didn't seem very friendly and pulling 1 pint and a glass of water should have been easier at the Bar. It's a nice place, stunning views from outside and nice coastal walks. BUT, it's a bit of a difficult drive down the lanes, busy today and we had to reverse several times for on-coming traffic. We won't be going back. Shame really, as I'm guessing our trade would be welcome in the winter months, when we usually visit. Note to staff: treat people a bit better with long term custom on mind. We are around all the time, not just in the summer holidays. Suggest allowing drinks only orders at the Bar. Would reduce queue for folks ordering food too.