Firstly a plus-the seaview-fantastic.
Now for the downsides. Appalling cleaner, inedible food, no toilet rolls, occasional towels, a manager who kept getting my name wrong and staff informality verging on the rude.
let's start with the cleaning or lack of!Our bed was not changed in the whole stay. the toilet rolls were never replaced, we had to ask downstairs. In fact one day Ray the manager came to see if we'd been given any, as quote "They were having problems with the toilet roll". The teapot was never washed and the bed was usually made the wrong way around.
The food-oh god-what horror. The evening meal was at best inedible and at worst disgusting. Let me create a picture-our first night-Starter Tuna and Peach. Odd I thought, but expecting a fresh tuna and peach salad, perhaps in balsamic dressing-stupid me-Tinned tuna and tinned peach on the same plate.The chef is called John I think.well John this just doesn't work. The kitchen can not prepare veg-stewing it to death, they can not drain anything and that includes eggs, poached fried whatever. In a town next to one of the countrys best fishing ports it is a travesty that we given farmed trout or even worst-frozen battered cod pieces.The only pleasureable meal was eaten out. The towels rarely got repalced and it was apparently due to a problem with their people-well change them!
My wife asked for a salad, minus lettuce-not only did it come with lettuce, but most salads came dressed with half a pound of fruit.the next day-get this-The waitress said that she had noticed the lettuce and thought the chef was hiding it!!She took the darn order and never thought to change it!!Another waitress used to sit down at your table when she took orders-and call you mate-This didn't impress anyone. The puddings were disgusting too and well john-cabinet pudding it wasn't and never will be-Please go for cooking lessons, better still, don't-change job.
The management get your names wrong, make obvious jokes and seem to get bills wrong on a regular basis. Mine host spends the day in the tattiest tshirt and shorts and dresses for the evening.
Pluses are -I will say that people here are friendly including the stafff. The rooms need a little love and the roof is a bit precarious. The seaview is fantastic though.
overall though I think the Preston sands isn't worth the money and the food -well they should pay you to be experimented on in this way.
Basil Fawlty-Welcome home-Fawlty towers is alive and kicking.

What a fantastic hotel!having travelled to Paignton and stayed at
various hotels on several occasions it was refreshing to stumble
across this little gem.Having realised the hotel was under new
ownership and management what a first class job they are all doing,food was excellent and accomodation clean and comfortable.Will deffinately return and stay again well done all
round.

having stayed at the hotel a few years ago and being very impressed then, we arrived to find that it had new owners. The bedrooms were ok, we had balcony room but the dust on the skirting boards, doors and by the patio door was, to say the least, very off putting. The tv worked but when switched on there was so much interference on the screen that you could see no picture at all. On our second nite the owners went out for the evening without telling us they would be absent from the hotel and without leaving us any telephone numbers in case of emergencies and there were no staff working. My sister and i discovered we were the only people in the hotel and because of this the bar was closed and the hotel in darkness. Hence we went out for the evening. The owner also entered our room without knocking and apologised for getting the wrong room. Good job neither of us were undressed. The breakfast was awful, full of excess grease so we wrapped it in a napkin and threw it away when we left on our day out. When we payed the bill we discovered that the hotel prices had been increased and we had not been told, having checked on the internet when we got home, the prices there are the ones we expected to pay. We go to torquay about 4 times a year but will definately be finding somewhere else to stay.

We have been staying at this hotel for over 15 years and a couple of years ago it changed hands, sadly this was to be the downfall of this lovely positioned small hotel. The owners have now decided to have coach parties at their hotel, which has ruined the "friendly family run" atmosphere which once made this hotel. We were out numbered in the Lounge in the evenings as there was "entertainment" laid on (which could be quite noisey) so "us" other guests either had to stay in our room or go to a local pub for our evening entertainment! The owners need some training in "customer care" they're so cold in personality that we felt uncomfortable asking them for anything (their son who is a friendly guy is usually around but was away on holiday sadly ) - they proprieters monopolized the hotel's residents tv in the lounge - my husband asked if he could look at something on the tv briefly at around 6:30pm one evening only to find the owners sat in front of the "guest's" tv in the lounge eating their tea on trays and watching the news....The owner said "no we could not have a quick look as he was watching the evening news" !!!! Sorry we are only the PAYING guests!!!!!!!
Having said all this the hotel is quite well presented (although a bit "flowery") and the food is of average standard.
Needless to say we are staying somewhere else next year where the owners will look after us ...... as are quite a few of the other guests who stayed here at the same time as us.