Coming from the land-locked Midlands, we've always valued England's coastline, and rate Devon/Cornwall's as the best of all. Trouble is, we've never really been sure if to stay on the north or south coast. So, for this trip we opted to stay between the two and picked an area as central as we could find. Based on the one recent review that this hotel has we decided to stay at The Lifton Hall Hotel.

And what a good decision it was!

Lifton seems a sleepy village but it's just off the A30. This makes it easy to get to and, importantly, easy to get from to all the area's attractions. The Eden Project, for example, is less than an hour away.

The hotel is charming, Grade II listed I think. It has only 10 bedrooms (I believe) and plenty of car parking space. For a small hotel, it's easy to get lost until the layout becomes familiar - told you it was charming. The sitting room is delighthful.

There's a large enough restaurant at which you'd never need to wait to be seated. Food is well cooked, well presented, in generous portions and delicious! Breakfast is served to you at your table - a refreshing change from the do-it-yourself establishments.

The hotel's bar is warm and welcoming, with its open log fire. I believe the previous owners had closed the bar to non-residents. The new owners have reopened it to the locals, who have returned with relish - always a good sign I think, especially as the village has a second hotel bar. Food is available in the bar, cooked by the same chefs responsible for the restaurant.

From what I could gather, each bedroom is uniquely decorated/furnished. All rooms are very spacious and well equipped. All are to be redecorated soon and perhaps redesigned, as some of the bathrooms are small. Our room was comfortable, clean and tidy, and a relaxing place to come back to each evening.

I've saved the best bit about the hotel until last - the owners: Richard, Robert, John and Sarah. Nothing is too much trouble for them. They may have been at the hotel for only nine weeks or so, but already they've made the place their own. Stay at this hotel and you're not a guest, you're their friend. They have plans to update the decor and improve the layout of some of the rooms but they don't want to rush and risk affecting the charm of the place.

As I said before, this place is a real find and we'll certainly return.

OK, this is the first review I have ever written on Tripadisor, which is saying something as I travel quite a lot and always check feedback on Tripadvisor before I book a hotel.........but I'd never felt compelled to write a review myself.

Four of us stayed in the Lifton House Hotel for a weekend in November whilst visiting a friend in Launceston. From the moment we arrived we couldnt have been made to feel more welcome. The hotel was taken over by new owners only a few weeks before our arrival and so you would expect them to be keen to please, but by the end of our stay we came to realise that the hoteliers genuinely care about their guests and want them to go home feeling well cared for, well fed and a litle spoilt.

The hotel is quite an old hotel and being November we were a tad cold at first, but no sooner did we mention it, the heating was turned up full blast. The bar area is typical of a village inn with flag stone floors and a big open fire. The new owners are attempting to entice the locals into to the bar area, which I dont think is a bad idea as it gave the bar quite a warm, buzzy atmosphere, especially on the Saturday night. One of the owners is a chef, and persuaded us to eat in the hotel on the first night. The menu provides good honest pub grub, at very reasonable prices, including bar snacks. Being four ladies, we were particularly impressed with the desert menu as it included four "chocolate themed" deserts! I can also highly recommend the stilton mushrooms as a starter. The food was so good we ended up eating there both nights and weren't disappointed.

The breakfast was delicious, with the traditional english breakfast being served to your table on a plate, not the usual tedious buffet style you often find in the bigger hotels. There are also healthy options like smoothes and porridge if you preferred and the chef tries to use as much local and organic produce as possible.

My only one niggle if I had to think of one was my bedroom, which was a little dated and very pink and floral. However, the owners are in the process of redecorating the hotel, room by room. My sister's room was beautiful (the downstairs twin) with a sofa area, roll top beds and a few other antiques and the dining room has also recently been redecorated and is bright and airy. Most importantly, the whole hotel was spotlessly clean with plenty of hot water.

The owners of this hotel had only been there for just under three weeks before our stay and have already placed their stamp on the hotel. This hotel really is a little gem and great value for money. We were made to feel totally at home there and intend to return with an even bigger crowd in March 2007. The hospitality is second to none, so If you are in the area, do yourselves a favour and give it a try, you wont regret it.

We took a long weekend break at Lifton Hall on a half board basis. The rooms was clean and fairly average in quality but did have everything you needed such as tea/coffee making facilities, tv, shower, alarm and fan which we really needed on the very hot weekend that we stayed.

The staff were friendly and fairly attentive. The evenings in the bar could be somewhat spoilt by a couple of local drunks who seemed to be regulars there. They did not cause any trouble particularly, it just depends on whether you are the type of person which is really bothered by this or not. They were quite harmless really.

The meals were of a good standard for the price but the menu was not very extensive. Personally I thought the portions could have been bigger but maybe I am just greedy!

Generally I would say this hotel is quite a good base from which to explore the area although the village itself is not of any particular interest and there is only one small shop.

Would probably choose hotel in Launceston itself if I had known the area before travelling.