I have just returned from a 4 night stay with my 80 year old mother, who is disabled. Simon and Dianne went out of their way to make us welcome and comfortable, providing a room on the ground floor with a walk in shower. The awards for breakfasts are well deserved - a particularly favourite was the scrambled egg and smoked salmon, and the freshly picked figs!!

Their recommendations of places to eat were excellent, especially The Elephant, No. 7 and The Orange Tree!

Thank you both for making our stay so enjoyable - we will be back!!

Daylesford is a nice small hotel in Torquay.
Warm welcome
Fiendly hosts
Accomodation was lovely
Hearty breakfast
Well recommended

We have just returned home after a wonderful overnight stay at The Daylesford. Simon and Dianne are the most charming hosts, we received such a very warm welcome, which felt like they welcoming us as friends into their absolutely beautiful home. We cannot fault this place, from the very comfortable bed to the superb breakfast, a first class experience all round and we hope to make a return visit very soon. We highly recommend The Daylesford to anyone wishing a quiet, relaxing stay in beautiful surroundings.

My spouse and I were very, very fortunate to book 2 rooms (...he snores sometimes, hence the separate rooms) for 4 nights at the lovely Daylesford in Torquay from half a world away in Toronto (Whitby, Ontario), Canada, in September, 2010. The Daylesford certainly lived up to its professional website presentation and more. On arrival, we were greeted with a cheering and very welcome English tea and biscuits by friendly, but never intrusive, owners Dianne and Simon. Their genuine concern for tired and wilted guests like us was most thoughtful and sincere. They made us feel like we were the the first ever guests to cross the threshold yet they have been in business since at least 2001 (or more) as I surmised from the dates in their red guestbook. They obviously know what they are doing and do it well. A true gentleman, Simon took the time to give us wonderful relevant and necessary information on sightseeing, restaurants, and directions with pamphlets and maps as well and he answered all our questions with flair, knowledge and expertise. He even booked restaurants for us, made taxi arrangements which was appreciated and left confirmation emails under our doors so we would get the written information quickly upon return to our rooms. He has an excellent reciprocal working relationship with the better restaurants in Torquay and the owners were glad to hear us mention The Daylesford when we arrived. The home is spotless, scent-free and beautifully decorated from ground floor to attic in that lovely timeless and traditional English way that Canadians love (must be our Commonwealth English roots)....soaring high ceilings throughout--in the lounge, an Adam style fireplace and gi-normous mirror above it--2 big cozy leather wing chairs plus a hefty sofa to curl up in and a comfy welcoming armchair plus floor-to-ceiling windows big enough to walk through. Books to be read abounded in large pine bookcases along with a gamut of board games to play if so desired, plus a lovely antique clock that reassuringly rang the hours so that we wouldn't be late for breakfast. A large coffee table held an assortment of colourful magazines from 'Devon Life' to '25 Beautiful Homes' to 'Private Eye'. The Times newspaper was there for us to read every morning at breakfast. And what breakfasts they were too.........lovely hot cooked and generous full English breakfasts, creamy scrambled eggs with plenty of smoked salmon, for example, along with croissants, brioches, rounds of toast, plenty of cereals in the cereal 'bar', lots of assorted juices, fresh fruits, stewed fruits, jams, jellies marmalades, honey, Marmite, cheeses, cold meats, and yogurts--you name it........breakfast heaven! The Levers have won framed awards for their breakfasts, Rosettes too, 4 stars and other awards and recommendations and rightly so! The ample pine sideboard and shelves in the cheerful breakfast room displayed the owners' collection of cherished antique blue and white Staffordshire china, so cheerful to look at! We felt we were living inside the pages of Period Living and Traditional Homes Magazine or the English Homes Magazine--both of which are also sold in Canada because the entire home's decor is charming, tasteful and beautiful and so right for the substanial home which I was told was built in the 1880's. Our rooms were blissfully quiet and the beds sooooooooooooo comfortable (and I am 'manic' about quiet and good beds.) The bathrooms were immaculate, renovated, up-to-date and chic for their size. There is a pretty patio at the front with 3 green wrought iron Victorian tables and chairs and flowers in tubs and twining vines everywhere and the view of big trees and a beautiful park across the road. It is within walking distance of Torre Abbey, and the seafront and downtown Torquay. We did not need our car to go downtown or to the water. Having a few minutes to spare, I quietly perused their address book and was not surprised to discover that 100% of all the comments written by departing guests since 2001 are 'glowing', to put it mildly. The vacation is over but not our pleasant memories of a wonderful stay at The Daylesford. The owners obviously love what they do, do it very well and we would go back in a 'heartbeat' as I wrote in their red book. We enjoyed our vist--this slice of life and all that is great about England in a lovely home with charming owners, and quiet and pleasant fellow guests and, certainly, because of all this, we won't ever forget our stay in lovely Torquay at The Daylesford.