My partner and I stayed at this hotel for the weekend, as part of the 'Winter breaks' promotion. Overall we were very pleased. The package was well worth the money. The food was exquisite, our room was lovely and the staff were wonderful. Particularly Julia Beilista, who really is a credit to the hotel.

The only negative aspect which I am still rather annoyed about is the £60 that the hotel still owes me.
I had paid in advance for the room and so I wasnt expecting to have to pay for anything further except for the £8 per day car park charge.

However, we were told at the desk that we would need to provide card details for room service charges 'should we require them'. They told us that a fee of £30 per night would be pre-authorised for this, but 'don't worry madam, we won't actually take any money from your account'. They did. This was last Friday. Its now Tuesday and Im still £60 out of pocket because its being 'held' by the hotel. I don't care whether they say its in a holding account or not (or they 'have their hands on it' as I was told on checking out). The fact remains, there is £60 of my own money that I cannot access, therefore, they DO take it. Its unecessary. Do they really not trust people to pay their bills? My bank have assured me that it will be returned to my account sometime this week. Ridiculous.

I was the father of the bride and the wedding was in the hotel. I had specifically asked for a really nice room for my wife and I and this we were given. However, it was on the 5th floor up some very narrow stairs. Also the safe was broken. There was a kettle, but only 2 of each beverage so when we had drunk our cup of tea upon arrival, we had to seek out a maid to get further supplies. There was no bathmat so we had to use a face towel on the floor. The bed was very comfortable and plenty of hot water for the shower. We went to the bar for 2 glasses of house wine and were charged £15.00. Rather excessive we thought.
The honeymoon suite is just above the disco/ballroom so my daughter got no rest when she went to bed on the night before her wedding. She had to phone reception ant 11.30 pm and was eventually given a very small room for the night. She had asked for a bathrobe so that she could go to the other room, but after 30 minutes without one arriving, had to get dressed to transfer. We had thought that at the very least the hotel should have provided some fruit and a bottle of water in her room (perhaps even a small bottle of champagne), but there was nothing there. There wasn't even a safe in which to put her jewellery that she intended to wear for the marriage ceremony.
Breakfast was dreadful on both the days that we stayed. On the first morning the hot food was very cool and the coffee was weak, and on the second morning they ran out of all food and there was a long queue waiting for more to arrive from the kitchen. There was no dining room manager to supervise and the waiters were left to fend for themselves.
The good things. The decor of the hotel and the food and service at the wedding breakfast.

If this was a 2 star hotel I could overlook some of the faults and would give it a 4* rating. But it is a 4* hotel and these faults are not acceptable. Clearly the fault lies with the management as the staff were generally friendly and as helpful as they could be.

One final thing, we thought that the lady who performed the wedding ceremony was very scruffy. She looked like she might have just come back from a trip at Tesco.

If you are thinking of having your wedding there, do think again.

We stayed on a Saturday night, and on arrival saw that there was a wedding party on. We were concerned about noise levels, having seen some other reviews, but had an excellent night's sleep and were not disturbed at all. Our room was towards the back, and had a massive, really comfortable bed. The room was large, very clean, nicely decorated, and had all the useful facilities you would hope for, such as kettle, hairdryer and iron.

The location is excellent - just two minutes walk to the centre of town. A massive added bonus in Exeter is that they have parking on site (on a first come first served basis) and their rate for 24 hours parking is very reasonable compared to the city car parks. We did not have breakfast included in our package but went to the Boston Tea Party just down the road, which I remembered from my student days in Exeter, and found that they still have the most tempting selection of cakes I've ever seen! All in all, a very enjoyable stay.

On arrival all looks good. The entrance hall is clean and well furnished, and there is an impresive stair case and stained glass window which both add style. There was just one member of staff on reception, which could be a problem at busy times, or if they were called away - which happned once when I was there.
We had a room on the first floor of the hotel, at the back of the building. It had a king sized bed and a single, which resulted in it being hard to move around the room. It would have been better if there had been a double and single, or if the single had been a pull out. The room was stylish with a throw and cushions on the bed. Unfortunately the three cushions all smelt unpleasant - as if people with dirty hair/sweaty heads had been leaning on them. The floor looked clean, but had not been hoovered properly as we found a couple of peanuts under a chair. There was a kettle but just three tea bags, four coffee sachets - 2 decaf - and four little pots of UHT milk. A trip to reception resulted in 5 more t bags and a small jug of fresh milk. The bathroom was clean and there was a bath and shower - really powerful and a pleasure to use. The water ran very hot in the sink, but when I had a bath, using just the hot water tap to fill it, it was tepid. One of the bedside lights was not working, and the other was too bright. It would not be possible for one person to use their light without it being disruptive to the other as the light fittings were high above the bed with very bright bulbs, and no dimmer facility.
When we first got into bed we were hopeful of a good night's sleep, but it was probably one of the worst that I have expereinced in a hotel. There was a wedding reception and the disco music could be heard in our room. Once this finished the staff must have been rearranging the furniture and there was about an hour of scraping noises and extremely loud banging. When this finished it was time for the night clubs to close, and the street at the back of the hotel was filled with young noisy drunks. Possibly our room was noisier than others as it was above the wedding reception venue.
Breakfast was average. The room was a bit crowded, so you felt that you were distubing people when you went to the hot and cold buffets and toaster.
We will definitely return to Exteter, but will try another hotel next time. The Thistle is not a low budget end hotel, but certain aspects - little plastic pots of jam, quality of towels and £8 charge for car parking - make it feel like a cheaper hotel. For the money we spent on a night at the Thistle we will be able to find another - hopefully quieter - hotel.