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4.0
#15 of 24 hotels in Exeter
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
The White Hart is one of the most atmospheric historic hotels in Exeter, dating right back to circa the 1400s. Once upon a time we were an ale house. That tradition is alive and well today. We are proud to serve fresh real ales and guest beers, and we have 55 charming en-suite rooms, decorated in the modern vintage style. Each room has a flatscreen TV, complimentary WiFi, and tea and coffee making facilities. We are a perfect base for exploring historic Exeter, and discovering the wild beauty of Dartmoor National Park. Drop by for lunch or dinner. Enjoy a quiet pint in one of our peaceful nooks. Bring the family for lunch. We are child-friendly and have a great kids' menu. Food is served all day from an impressively varied menu that includes grills, burgers, curries, fish dishes, vegetarian options, global flavours and tastes of Britain. Looking for pubs with function rooms? We have two. Wood panelled walls give ours character and charm.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Historic Hotel
Charming
Languages Spoken
English
Location
66 South Street, Exeter EX1 1EE England
White Hart
1,394 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
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The White Hart Hotel stands out for its historic charm and prime location, which guests frequently praise for its convenience to city attractions and dining. While the hotel's atmosphere is generally described as pleasant, opinions on value and amenities are mixed; some travelers find the pricing reasonable, whereas others are disappointed by additional charges for breakfast and parking.
Reviewers commend the cleanliness of the rooms but suggest they could benefit from an update, as they sometimes appear dated and prone to noise. Service experiences also vary, with reports of slow and disorganized service contrasted by mentions of friendly staff.
Location
Central
Atmosphere
Charming
Rooms
Dated
Value
Reasonable
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Satisfactory
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I stayed here for three nights whilst in Exeter on business. On arrival at the property i was greeted by a lady at reception who was warm and welcoming, on check in i didn't spend much time at the hotel as I was due in at work. After running a busy restaurant for the day I headed back to the hotel. I popped into the bar and was served by Jack and Aidan and a lady who's name i didn't catch. All were equally as welcoming and knowledgeable about things to do and see in Exeter. Breakfast is very reasonably priced and the portions on the cooked breakfast very generous.
There is also a gentleman (Again didn't catch his name) who i think works mornings only and does the breakfast service - Such a lovely bloke! I am not a morning person in the slightest, however, after being served by him and a two minute conversation i left the hotel on the second day with a smile on my face, chuckling to myself.
On the second day i left the hotel room quite late in the morning around 10:45am, and had put the 'do not disturb sign' on the door the night before. As i left i removed the sign. When I returned to the hotel at 9pm, i was astonished to find that my room had been cleaned and my bed made for me - they do a late turn down service!
in conclusion i really enjoyed my stay here and i'll definitely be booking again when i'm back in Exeter, Thank you to the entire team for such an enjoyable stay.
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Date of stay: March 2022
Rooms
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Marston's Inns, Revenue Management at White Hart
Responded 15 Mar 2022
Thank you for your lovely review, We are so glad that you enjoyed your stay with us. We will be sure to pass your comments on to the whole team. We pride ourselves on our customer service and love when our guests comment on this. We look forward to welcoming you back soon
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We actually rung hotel about free car parking as could only see a pay and display at back of hotel on google maps. Turns out reception enters car reg onto terminal in reception which gives free parking up to 4pm next day. Checked in very thoroughly, all Covid 19 precautions explained and given brown paper bag with tea, coffee, milk, biscuits to take to room. Room and bathroom very clean, nice towels and crisp white linens. But room so depressing! Dark brown feature wall wallpaper, brown curtains and huge dark brown mock leather headboard. Plus polystrene tiles on the ceiling which I have not seen for years. Needs bringing up to date and redecorating badly. The window which overhung the car park had horrible gunge in both bottom corners plus middle of carpet seemed to have damp underneath. Booked dinner with 20% off as residents but reduced menu and heavy on the chips. Host rigid about standing on the correct spot at bar! Did'nt sleep at all well as pillows too flat and hard. Had continental breakfast the next morning which was pretty bad. Included 1 slice of very burnt toast and cold chewy croissant. Had to ask for butter and jam. Nice staff who were willing to bring replenishments if requested. Very quirky old hotel but due to very strict Covid precautions felt unable to explore. Mentioned pillows on checking out but was told they were not that old. This was only a cheap overnight stay but hotel seemed popular with travellers checking in as reception was quite busy. Location was great as only minutes from quay, cathedral and shopping centres but not the hotel for us.
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Date of stay: September 2020
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Whitehart exeter, Other at White Hart
Responded 1 Oct 2020
Thank you for your review, we are sorry your stay wasn't as you expected. We use all reviews to improve future stays, and hope you will visit again one day. Many Thanks Richard Reception
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The website description of this historical Hotel unfortunately did not meet with my expectations. On arrival for my two night stay I was informed there would be a £10 parking fee. Not a good start. The room was fine, and cleaned each day, however the shower temperature fluctuated from hot to cold. The 2foot square stall meant I could not get out of the way. The next morning at the desk, I asked what I thought was a common and simple question of where to find the nearest place to buy a newspaper. The person on duty directed me to a convenience store that had never sold papers. The nearest place was a walk of 15minutes each way. The most unpleasant experience however was the cooked breakfast. All items that could be 'grilled' had burnt, carcinogenic horizontal lines on the food, thus having to scrape it all off, by which time the food was cold. I ordered poached egg and was given fried, the toast came 20 minutes before anything, hence cold by the time I wanted to eat it with my food. I ordered yoghurt with honey, and was given berries, and the coffee was stewed. The staff in the pub were very pleasant and helpful however. I hope this review might also be helpful. The Hotel would be good value if these comments could be addressed.
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Date of stay: May 2021
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We booked 9 months before visiting and could check in at 2pm and cancel up to 2 days in advance. Which we had no intention of doing of course. We’d planned to drop the car, check in and the head out to Exmouth for the afternoon. 1 day before (when we could no longer cancel), they contacted us moving the check in to 4pm, using the excuse of cleaning for Covid. Fair enough, but I’m surprised thus was done once all restrictions had been removed, what was not being done before when restriction were in place?
This annoyed us, we could drop the car, but had to then come back to check in to the hotel, we’d had no intentions of coming back and staying out in Exmouth, instead, we came back to Exeter to check in instead. That is was done 1 day before when we had no options available to us (and within hours) of us being able to cancel doesn’t bode well for what else they would be happy to change.
Pros
Location Friendly Nice size
Cons Incredibly hot room, no air con, small fan provided, but nowhere to plug it in of much use Shower pulses extremes of hot and cold Toilet takes forever to refill (could be quite the issues if early in a relationship eh!) Water pressure is clearly an issue for the shower and the toilet, other guests were complaining at reception when were there too
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Date of stay: September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Used this hotel/pub as a last minute one-night stay. It is an easy find and walk from Exeter St. Davids (or Central) station. I was welcomed by a friendly receptionist who got me sorted for the stay and was full of information and helpful when booking a taxi to the airport the next morning. The room itself was fairly small (single occupancy with single bed), but enough for that short stay. Everything was clean enough, there were a couple long hairs in the bath-tub, but all towel and linens were spotless. However, the room was quite noisy at night; I could hear the next doors conversation word for word, someone throwing-up and bath lights on/off sounded like it was mine. The window were also single glazed and even though I had them shut people smoking either outside or in the room next to me (*even though you are not allowed) could be smelt in my room over a period. That being said I had a comfortable night's sleep and would stay again for a one stop.
I also ate in the pub downstairs, which was great. Good beers and gins on the menu and food was decent pub grub. I had the gammon steak and chip, which as it was a Thursday, was on a special deal of "steak and a pint" for under £10. Portions were decent and tasted good too! Very fun and classic little pub!
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Date of stay: September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Marston's Inns, Revenue Management at White Hart
Responded 7 Oct 2022
Hi Jamieohalloran, thank you for taking the time to leave a review for us at White Hart - Hotel. We're happy we could meet your expectations! we appreciate you taking the time to leave us this feedback.
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It was my mother’s birthday so we took my parents here on Thursday night for steaks, they have a great deal of two steaks for £12 rump or sirloin so we had 4 steaks , two with fried eggs which was a extra £1. The food was delicious and the service excellent, really good value and drinks were fairly priced. If I was to say anything that could be improved then the choice of deserts were quite limited but that’s personal taste. Overall excellent meal and I’ll go again.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Whitehartexeter, Reception at White Hart
Responded 7 Feb 2020
Thank you for your very kind review, we always like to keep very high standards We hope to see you again in the near future. Many Thanks Richard
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Well what can I say rooms are poor and tired frade carpet,mould around window frames and in bathroom. Flat tv is a bit small,I could go on and on, yes it had a make over in 2015 but it needs another one. Richard on reception is brilliant and helpful but managers in bar and restaurant are very rude and a jobs worth. So don't bother go across road to witherspoons breakfast is cheaper and service more polite.
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Date of stay: September 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Whitehart exeter, Other at White Hart
Responded 1 Oct 2020
Thank you for your review, we are sorry your stay wasn't as you expected. We use all reviews to improve future stays, and hope you will visit again one day. Many Thanks Richard Reception
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We stayed over for 1 night as a getaway from our home town. Didn't really know what to expect. We got the train up to Exeter Central and this hotel is literally 10 minute walk from there. Using Google maps we found our way there well. Looks old from the outside, but is well decorated inside. Car parking available. Staff were pleasant and expecting us. We were an hour early but our room was clean and allowed us in which was brilliant. Room easy to find upstairs. Slightly small to enter the room but room itself was a twin, and perfect for my friend and I. Had all the bits we needed for over night. Was warm and bed were comfy. Bathroom was clean to use. Shower was a bit slow but no problems washing overall. Towels in the room. Some noise outside but minimal for what you would expect in the city. We didn't eat at the hotel so unable to comment, but breakfast was available at extra price as we paid for room only. I would return if I plan to stay in Exeter again.
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Date of stay: December 2019Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Whitehartexeter, Reception at White Hart
Responded 7 Feb 2020
Thank you for your very kind review. Every comment is reviewed to help improve for the next customer. Many Thanks Richard
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Quite a difference from the last time I stayed. The building has been completely refurbished, and sympathetically done too, the building is listed so the uneven floors and stairs, could not be touched, and the quirkiness was still there. The main thing that was missing was the awful smell of damp and mustiness, that smell had permitted throughout the building, and it had not been masked quite obviously the underlying issue had been discovered and destroyed. The room was at the front of the hotel overlooking the main road through Okehampton, I was a bit worried that the traffic noise, along with people leaving Wetherspoons would be noisy, as it happens, we didn’t hear any noise whatsoever secondary double glazing had been fitted. The staff were all very friendly, and I know from pre refurbishment, that some staff had been employed during and we’re still at this hotel, these were local members of staff.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Value
Rooms
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Whitehart exeter, General Manager at White Hart
Responded 15 Jul 2020
Thank you for your very kind review, we have had some work done and we would never change the elegance of this grand hotel which has been around for a very long time. We are always on hand if you need help or have any questions. Thank you once again Richard Reception
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For the price - we paid 120 per night, not including breakfast or parking - it's a very poor hotel. We try to support independent hotels over cheap chains, but when the only pro is the bed it's a little hard to justify it.
Aside from one nice guy behind the bar, every staff member we encountered was abrupt, with two being outright hostile.
We had mould in the shower, dirt in the corners of the bathroom, a window so dirty we couldn't tell if it was raining outside or not, and a room that had a strange smell reminiscent of stale smoke (not helped by being unable to open the window).
We were told the day before our arrival the check in time had been pushed back to 4pm because of a need for deep cleaning relating to covid. There was absolutely not a deep clean in this room.
Our window was broken, with the heavy interior piece of glass slamming down the moment you lifted it up. The loo seat was broken.
To describe this decor as "modern vintage style" is a falsity. It's dated brown fabrics, carpets and dark wood furniture. The carpet was patchy, and the room was dark thanks for frosted glass on the windows and the aforementioned dark interior style that I suspect hasn't been updated in 15 years.
If they were marketing this hotel as a budget option I'd still have complaints, but could make some allowances for the dated decor and basic facilities, but they aren't. There's much nice places to stay in Exeter for the same price or less.
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Date of stay: August 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Exeter area.
PRICE RANGE
£56 - £107 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
white hart exeter, hotel white hart
LOCATION
United KingdomEnglandDevonExeter
NUMBER OF ROOMS
55
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Are there any historical sites close to White Hart?
Many travellers enjoy visiting Haldon Belvedere (Lawrence Castle) (4.8 miles), The House that Moved (0.3 miles), and St Catherine's Chapel and Almshouses (0.2 miles).
