The Grosvenor Hotel, Belgrave Road, Torquay

We had a three night stay in room 216 “an executive room” as advertised at extra cost. This was with the ATL conference. The room was tired. The cheap clock radio didn’t work properly and the furniture was old and tacky. The bathroom had old cracked tiles on the floor, mould on the wall tiles, poor painting and messy sealant around the bath. There was only one 13 amp socket available to use. There was no fridge in the room as there was in others. The bathroom courtesy basket held just one flannel, one shower soap sachet, two small soaps, two shower caps and one shampoo. These were not replaced after the first night, meaning that there were none for the rest of the stay. The public stairs up to the rooms were dirty and had not been vacuumed for some time, nor had the carpet in our room. In fact we didn’t observe any carpet cleaning being done at all in the three days we stayed there.

The general manager Gemma Balham, was very unhelpful to the point of extreme rudeness. We reported a faulty bath tap because you could not get hot water out of it. It had seized up completely, so the bath tap and shower if you wanted hot water, weren’t going to work. The hot/cold indicator from the top of the hot water tap was missing, so it had been a problem in the past one would think. Two of the staff looked at this and both agreed it was a plumber’s problem and would be looked at the next day. This is 5.30 on the first night now. As we had paid extra to have this “executive room” it seemed unreasonable that we were offered another room on the other side of the hotel which was much smaller but with no refund. After complaining that we should not be downgraded but upgraded as it was no fault of ours, she called me various names and it would seem that it was my fault. Finally, calling me aggressive, perhaps because I said I would talk to my credit card company and how would she feel about that, she said “if it is your intention then perhaps I should ask you to leave now”. We refused this of course at this late hour. We had paid prior to seeing the room. Even though she refunded us £15, this Gemma Balham seems to have no idea of how to treat people. I could and would quote exactly what she did say if required, but I think you would be shocked! By now it was six o’clock at night! Is this any way to treat guests that are paying over £100 a night for a room?

Clearly in her book the customer is never right! The other members of staff were very nice and helpful, but refused to comment on their manager. Perhaps we could understand that. However, they would not give us an address we could write to, other than the hotel management and what good would that be? Surely there must be owners and directors who would not like this form of bad publicity given by their very young general manager. We felt this was a case of closing ranks. This large hotel was not 3-star in quality as it had no guest mentality. We have photographs of the faults we found to back up these statements should they be required. We think you would be quite appalled by these. For a three-star AA hotel the only thing is that it had an indoor swimming pool and a ballroom that gave it this grading. Is that what AA star-rating gives to this standard of hotel and are they not interested in the quality of the rooms or public areas? We have decided therefore to send this to the AA and wait to see what response we will get. As guests of this hotel we will never go to there again and would not recommend it to anyone on a three-star basis. We would list the Grosvenor Hotel in Torquay as a large hotel that should have no more than one star, being run as it is by such a rude young general manager who has no idea of how to treat customers. She may have qualifications, ie Gemma Balham MIH as shown on her business card, but does this allow for such poor treatment of the public? We think not.

Ccs The Herald Express
The AA
Conference Torquay Booking Service
The Independent Hotels Association
Trip Advisor LLC
General Manager Grosvenor Hotel, Gemma Balham

I was worried about booking having seen previous reviews so I phoned the hotel and was assured the car park was fine and although there had been a problem with a musty smell all was fine now. I booked two nights and on arrival was met by lovely smiling people at reception who couldn't do enough to welcome me. There was a problem with the room that could not be sorted so we were immediately moved to a better room with no fuss, they even offered to repack and move our belongings. The indoor pool is very nice and the spa pool hot enough to boil potatoes in, lovely on a wet afternoon. Everything was spotlessly clean and the staff on reception and in the restaurant couldn't do enough to make us welcome. On the downside, the outside could do with a lick of paint and the rooms could do with a little updating (particularly the plumbing fixtures ). Some of the furniture was lovely, just right for the place, if you want modern go to a Travelodge. The silk flowers need putting in a skip, particularly by the indoor pool - they've died. Also some of the pictures need binning - but in no way did anything spoil my weekend. The hotel is in a great location with parking (we never had a problem), a very nice indoor and outdoor pool with staff that are a credit to the place I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again - I can live with a bit of peeling paint.

My husband said this hotel was like a shipwreck on the land.

The first thing you notice as you drive up to the hotel is its shabby look, it is overgrown with ivy & in dire need of a make over

The car park is very small an if like us you are sent around the rear of the building, be very carefull when you leave the entrance is on a main road & you can't see the oncoming traffic.

The rear of the hotel is like a builing site, wood, rubble & cig buts all over.

The inside is drab & smells musky. the rooms although clean were like stepping back in time, the widows in our room rattled as buses went by.

Most of the staff are friendly & the food was passable (although my husband sent his back on the second night)

If your looking for a nice plesant stay in Torquay then give this one a miss.

I stayed at the Grosvenor for one night only at the end of June '07.
It was a business trip and the accomodation was booked by my company via a travel agent.
On arrival my initial impression was that the hotel buildings looked tired an in need of painting.

At reception the staff were very friendly and chatty, and my colleague and I were directed to our rooms located on the left side of the building. As I approached my room there was an unpleasant damp / musty smell which was there for the duration of my stay. My room was a single with ensuite bathroom. I cannot fault the cleanliness of the room, and the linen was nice and crisp - however again the room was in need of modernisation. (I see from the Management repsonse to one feedback stated that a number of rooms had been renovated, they obviously hadn't got around to this one) It was very twee, and my grandmother probably would have thought it was lovely)

The room was close to the road, and keeping the window open was impossible because of the traffic noise.

The bathroom was of a decent size and clean, but again in need of a refurbishment - bath taps were almost impossible to turn off completely.

The location of the Hotel is good as it is only a 5 minute walk to the beach and a 15 -20 minute walk to the harbour.

Breakfast was a buffet with plenty of it, and very tasty, again the staff were very pleasant.

Overall, it's a pleasant hotel but in need of updating, If it hadn't been booked for me via a travel agent I'm sorry to say that I wouldn't have chosen it from its external appearance, the Website photographs make it look somewhat better than it is in the flesh.