We’d just cycled into Tavistock and noticed that there was a brown tourist road sign indicating where Brown’s was. A hotel with its own road sign does lend a bit of status to a place and with this in mind, we were expecting something special. On arrival, first impressions were good; from the outside the place had a very distinctive look with its yellow exterior. A member of staff came out straightway and assisted us with storing our bikes in a lock up in the car park at the back, she was very friendly and helpful. This all boded well.
However, after speaking to the receptionist once we’d got into the hotel, it was clear that not everything was right. We booked our room a month in advance after reading about Browns in various places including here on tripadvisor. Some suggested booking a room at the back to avoid the noise at the front of the building, which we did not only a month in advance but also paying up front as well.
What transpired is that the room we had booked had now been given to somebody else. Our original booking had been crossed out on the booking form and we now had to take one of the rooms at the front. This wasn’t ideal. We settled for a smaller room only because this had a bath in it which we wanted following a hard days cycling. I’ll have to say at that I wasn’t particularly impressed with this room. It wasn’t because of the booking problems that we’d encountered; it was that the room was just as ordinary as any other hotel room that we’d stayed in. I was expecting something a little bit special and was certainly underwhelmed by this first offering.
We were told that we would be moved the following day and although we didn’t really want this inconvenience, we agreed to do it so that at least we could enjoy one of the larger mews rooms at the back (which we should have had anyway).
The breakfast the next day had all the usual fruit, cereals, tea, coffee and toast. However, for the full English breakfast you have to pay an additional £9. There was also the option of having a bowl of porridge but again, this was an additional £7 which I personally thought was a little expensive given that the hotel is already quite dear. The room mix up also caused problems with the breakfast as each room has a designated table to sit at. Our table was only set for one despite there being two of us. The waiter’s attitude was a little surly when we asked for an additional cup for the tea and extra side plate for the toast which I didn’t think was fair.
On the plus side one of the expensive rooms was arranged for us the next day to make up for the mix up with the bookings. We were told this was a £200 a night room and whilst being a nicely furnished large room in a quiet part of the hotel, I think the price was still a bit on the expensive side.
In hindsight I don’t think I would stay here again. I think better value for money could be had elsewhere. Beer is also over £4 a bottle at the bar downstairs. I would say this is a slightly overrated hotel that has an air of emperor’s new clothes about it.
We ate out at Robertsons Organic Cafe and Pizzeria at 4 – 8 Pepper Street (tel [--]) whilst we were in Tavistock. I thought the food was very good, service excellent and it also had a good choice of beers and wines. Would definitely recommend.
