This hotel was really nice. I stayed here with 5 other friends for a weekend. Me and the person i shared room with had the biggest room. It was clean, tidy and we had a outside area where we could go to one of our friends rooms. When we arrived they said that the rooms where not ready but we were fine by that, the lady said to go look around, we did and thought it was really nice with looks of nice things that made it look posh. :P You could easily get lost in this place.. we stayed for £55 a room per night which was a good price. We had access to the indoor swimming pool (which was perfect for our group 2 of friends are swimmers) it was small but nice at the same time, we went it the pool when no one else was in. There is a jazzi aswell which was lush, they also had a sauna but this was out of order we where gutted!! There was also a gym which i loved, i have never been to one before so this was good. !! :) With the price we paid we got breakfast to, this was full english (well almost) cereal, milk, orange juice the normal stuff also they served you with toast and tea and coffee..

I will be going back to this hotel, they offer many spa treatments which looked interesting, so i will want to go back for that. Also we all injoyed our time at this hotel. It was an adventure for us!!

P.s It is abit of a way out. Our satnav took us around in circles till we finally got there. I think it was confused!!

Okay this hotel without doubt needs some money spending on it.  But for £40 a night, that's £20 a night each! we had a brilliant weekend in Torquay.  The building is beautiful but in need of some TLC,  we were shown to a double room first of all I rang reception and explained we were two ladies on a weekend away and had requested a Twin room.  The girl on reception was delightful, very nice, smiley and helpful.  She said no problem and asked us to go from the 3rd floor and meet her on the first floor where she would give us a twin bedded room. The room was great.  Really large, 2 large single beds, plenty of room between them and a curtained off sofa area leading to French doors out onto the upper terrace. Yes the room needs up dating but it was very very clean.  The beds were clean, the sheets nice and crisp and white. The walls are just painted wood chip, but clean.  The Bathroom was a bit of a mis match sink and bath different colour, where tiles have fallen off they have been replaced with tiles of a different colour. But the bathroom was very clean indeed, with shower gel and shampoo and lots of towels, all nicely folded and beautfully clean. I keep repeating clean because of all the reviews I read before. Yes the building is tired, yes its needs money spending on it but for £40 a night it's clean the rooms are large and the grounds although overgrown very pretty and the view excellent. The indoor pool has tiles missing and is shabby but I had it to myself at 10 am Sunday morning, it was nice and warm so I had a very pleasant peaceful half an hour swim.  The walk into Torquay is incredibly steep and if you have trouble walking you will need a taxi. We are both fit and walk alot and on the way back (after a bottle of wine!) in the afternoon we were huffing and puffing its a very tiring walk. The Hotel is not like it is portrayed in the website, the photos of the pool and the room are how they look but imagine them 10 years later when they need decorating. The staff were all lovely reallly pleasant.  The beds were comforatable, the television had freeview, there was plenty of coffee and tea bags and milk in the room. Excellent value for Money, don't be put off by the reviews. I wouldn't hold a wedding here, I wouldn't go on honeymoon here, but if you are looking to spend time in Torquay cheaply go for this hotel and ignore the other reviews. Yes if I was paying £80 plus I'd be cross but for 40 quid go for it and enjoy it and remember it's not costing you an arm and a leg.!!! August 22-24th 2009....

Difficult to find. I was looking for The Garden House Hotel, this sign was no where to be seen on the road outside. It was Bishops Court that was displayed. Why the change of name without any sign to indicate this. Agatha Christie help us.
Enormous house where it took a while to get used to what seems corridors and stairs and ups and down turnings to get to the Sonning Room.
This room had a leaking shower that made the bathroom into skater's paradise. The low hanging light fittings I kept bumping into with my head. The TV set wass having a nervous breakdown and was unreliable. I could only see half an inch of sea in between the trees. The dining room kitchen entrance was piled up with chairs and tables in a disorderly manner. Every thing was very worn and a patche of plaster had come off on the stairs.
This could do with major investment to make it a place worth going to. The website is soft and honey like, nothing like the reality. By experience half of this country's hotels are probably in this state. If you pay budget you get budget most of the time.
Get some improvements done on this hotel and make the holiday makers and staff smile.

I just can not explain how bad this place is STAY AWAY. We were left to make our own way to our room but it's not a simple numbered room system they are name suites (ha ha ha suites!!) in a big house so we couldn't find our room for a start and the staff did little to help. The reception workers really made it clear they hated working there and couldn't wait for their shift to end. TV didn't work, shower was hanging off, carpet was worn through, bed was filthy, coffee shop and bar were shut the whole time we were there and I could go on and on and on. All this for £78 a night!!!.... Simply just look and stay somewhere else.