I required a hotel for one night only in Torquay, and having previously had a less than perfect experience at The Imperial I thought I would try Hotel Gleneagles. The price seemed very reasonable: 60GBP B&B and one instantly forgot “if it seems to good to be true, then it is!”

To the front of the hotel is a small car park with perhaps enough spaces for just under half of the rooms the hotel offers. The building is clad with blue glass and steel balustrade, and some weatherboarding that seemed to have dropped off in parts. The first thing one notices on the reception desk is a deposit box for room keys (it is old fashioned in having room keys, but what makes it more inconvenient is that the doors do not lock when you close them i.e. you have to unlock it once and then lock it again once you are in the room) with a tub of alcohol hand cleanser with a laminated label in front of it urging guests to use this gel to aid hygiene. Whether or not the management are suggesting their customers have dirty hands or not I am unsure; the whole thing smacked of some ridiculous scheme dreamt up by Basil Fawlty. It was only a matter of time before his name crept into my review, after all this is his spiritual home!

The first room I was shown too is rather like the photoshopped one on the hotel’s web-site, what one sees closeup though is a filthy “balcony”, grubby carpet, cracked and dirty ceiling, television with a coat-hanger for an aerial, but worst of all is the bathroom (actually it was a shower, no bath) in Bahamas Beige circa 1973. There was mould on the mastic, dirt in the corners, a huge crack in the ceiling, discoloured plastic toothbrush holders, all in all it was disgusting. The bed – a double – had collapsed on one side so one could roll from one side to the other but not back the other way! I asked to change room, the next one was even smaller and the room was so narrow that the double bed was virtually wall-to-wall. This time the bathroom actually had a bath, but the floor was not tiled and instead had carpet. Carpet in a bathroom in the 21st century? Another room change… This time on the top floor, which is served by a lift which has a plethora of laminated notices on the walls, “two persons only” really adds to ones confidence. I broached this subject with the duty manager and he failed to appreciate that a weight is more definite than “two people” (“two people” is rather like putting “no heavy lorries” on bridges). Third room was larger, an acceptable size, however, had polystyrene ceiling tiles which were in a state of disrepair, a bed beyond the soft side of soft, a balcony with dead flowers and half-empty pot noodle cartons on it, bedside drawers with a previous guest’s cosmetics, and once again the bathroom was the showstopper: a “vision” in that limey yellowy green known as witchelm. After being told that this was all that was on offer I decided to take the first room, the best of a bad lot.

The public areas of the hotel are pleasant, a little more Changing rooms meets Ikea than Grand Designs meets David Linley. Nonetheless, they are most acceptable for any three star hotels. The manager seemed caught up on the public areas “we spent one and a half million on them, what other hotel in Torquay looks like this?”. I fail to believe that figure, as the work is largely cosmetic with little change to structure. The pool area is tiny and has a cracked concrete deck.

I had the most appalling night’s sleep and was woken up by a couple in the room directly upstairs talking at four in the morning. They were talking at normal volume and I could hear every word of their conversation, that is how thin the walls and ceilings are. Clanky central heating, and the broken bed added to the problem. Naturally I wasn’t in the best of humours at breakfast. Cooked breakfast was to order, and continental breakfast comprised cereals and tinned fruit. In fairness, most British hotels haven’t got breakfast right and this one was no exception, however, what was served was acceptable, but certainly no better than very average.

I am bemused as to how this hotel manages to get repeat guests. The service isn’t up to much, with the receptionist doubling as housekeeping/handyman, and a manager who doesn’t wish to discuss guests’ complaints and insisted that my room had a refurbished bathroom, by which he meant the ceiling had been painted… they seem to be rewriting the dictionary at Gleneagles. He went on the suggest that if I had wanted a better room I should’ve paid extra for a seaview. That should never ever be the answer if one is complaining about basic things such as hygiene, modern bathroom and comfortable bed.

I regretted not having booked The Imperial again for this stay. I thought things were a mess there, but the rooms are far more comfortable for very little extra money. Unless you are desperate for a room in Torquay and don’t mind a trip back to the 70s with revolting bathrooms, and poorly maintained and cleaned bedrooms then stay elsewhere. Perhaps the thing that best sums up the property is a plaque in the bar area boasting about the hotel being re-opened by Prunella Scales. This plaque has several holes drilled above it where the builders hadn’t positioned it correctly the first time… if they can’t get a thing as simple as this right then there is no point expecting them to fare better with anything else!

We stayed here for my 21st Birthday and we were so disapointed!

Looking at the pictures on the websire and in their brochures we expected alot more.

I can not fault the reception and Bar as downstairs was decorated to a very high stanadard - wish this had extended to the bedrooms.

I think we posibly had the worst room in the hotel. Our balcony was a helath and safetly issue! It slopped downwards and was help up by a rotting wooden joist! There was also water coming from the floor tiles,

The room its self was very cold and our heater did not work. The bathroom was filthy and the toilet was coming away from the wall.

Tea and coffe making facilities were a nice touch in the room if you chose to risk it! The kettle was full og dirt and the cups still had the previous occuupants lipstick marks on, if you battled through this you would have found the rather special electrical plug which was nicknamed the "death plug" as it had come away from the wall and been stuck back on with masking tape and polyfiller!!!

The bed was terrible, we had booked a double and were given two twins pushed together (which i know many hotels do) but this was not even fastened together with a zip or a metal bracket. On awakeing in the morning I found my fianace had fallen down the gap in between the beds! :)

Also please be aware that this hotel takes hen party/stag party booking although they denied that this was the case. We were sharing the hotel with 20 drunk women on the Saturday night to top off our stay!

The room smelt dirty and musty and was very drafty as the window sealant had all come away.

Breakfast was amazing though and all the staff were helpful and friendly. Apart from the manageress Sue who when we mentioned the room and also the fact that we had been situated in the middle of a hen party turned her back on us and walked away from the conversation!

All in all DO NOT STAY HERE! It is a discrace to the Best Western chain and my letter of complaint will making its way to Best Western and the HSE as this hotel is unafe and and should be shut down!

We have just returned from a 3 night break at The Gleneagles Hotel and quite honestly if it wasn't for the fact that Torquay is so amazing I would have left after the first night.

The hotel downstairs has obviously undergone refurbishment and to be fair to the hotel is very pleasant. This is more than can be said for the majority of the staff that work there with the exception of the night portman who was extremley friendly and helpful.

The room we had was a sea view and this was the best part of the hotel. The room itself is extremely dated and we had already asked to be moved from 1 room due to the lack of space and the smell in the bathroom. The bathroom in this room was no better, dirt, grime & mould around the bath and tiles. Toilet seat broken and the floor looked as if it had never been cleaned. I had no sleep on the last 2 nights because the walls are so thin you can hear everything from the rooms next to you - snoring and loud TVs.

To be honest I could go on and on but I think everyone reading this will get the gist - I only wished I had read these reviews prior to booking the hotel!!

Enjoy Torquay it truely is beatiful - oh 1 last thing I did complain on leaving but the Receptionist just said "oh dear" and handed me my bill!!

I have just come back from the Hotel Gleneagles. Thank the lord we had only booked one night. On first sight I wanted to turn around and leave, it looked rundown and unkempt. My partner went in to check it out before taking me in (I am in a wheelchair).
He came back and said "It looks quite nice inside".
We went in and I was pleasantly surprised. The public area is Very tastefully designed. Beautiful in fact.

Them we were given the key to our room. No help was offered with the cases. Told were the room was, not shown.
We went into the room and had the shock of our lives. It was so small, to get the wheelchair in and be able to manover around it, we had to put one of the chairs from the room out on the balcony. The state of the balcony was disgusting. There were two plastic chairs (no table) they had been left out in the weather all year by the look of them. They were filthy. A ladder was propped up against the wall. This room was facing the road and right on the car park.

The bed looked inviting lovely cover. I pulled back the cover to feel what the bed was like. It was so soft and worn-out and you could feel every spring.

After some persuasion we were given another room.
This room had a lot more room. (still facing the road and car park) The balcony was in the same condition as the first except only one chair and not white plastic.
The bathroom was tired and in need of a good spring clean. Nasty dirty ceiling, bath panel loose, one corner comming away.
The shower was good though.

The bed was in a better condition, but the pillows were stained.
Unfortunately I did not notice the state of the pillows untill the next morming(Yesterday) I always strip the bed when I leave and nearly died on the spot when I saw what I had been sleeping on. Blood spots and sweat stains. God knows when of if they had been washed.
Breakfast was very good. As soon as you walk in they ask you if you want tea or coffee and it was brought straight away. Choice of fruit juices and cereals. Food ordered was hot and very nice.

Chatted to another couple at the next table. They had booked untill Sunday but were not staying another night. One night is enough for anyone.

We have stayed at Best Western Hotels before and never had any bother. This hotel gives Best Western a bad name.