My husband and I spent five nights at the Coppice Hotel in September this year. We booked our stay on the strength of other reviews on TripAdvisor and, on the whole, were not disappointed. We have broken our review down into sections for ease of reading.
Car Parking
The hotel has car parking spaces within its grounds which means that you don't have to walk far to enter the hotel and in theory, it should be a more secure car park than a public one. We were lucky enough to get a space at the front of the hotel on all but one day but the hotel was not very busy when we stayed. If you cannot get a space at the front of the hotel there are more around the back, although you will have a bit further to walk with your bags. It's not a great distance though. If the hotel was full I am not sure how the car parking situation would be - my personal opinion is that you would struggle to park in the hotel car park and may have to find parking elsewhere.
Cleanliness
Cleanliness is very important to us when staying in a hotel, having previously stayed in some less than hygienic places! We could not fault the Coppice Hotel on its cleanliness and in fact the first thing that we commented on when we entered the room was how clean it looked. The room was serviced each day, even though one day we didn't leave until 10:30. We only saw one of the room attendants on and this was on the last day but she seemed very pleasant and cheerful and wished us a safe journey home, even though we had held her up a little by not checking out on time!
Food
We stayed on a bed and breakfast basis and did not dine at the hotel in the evening so we only have experience of the breakfast. We found it substantial and tasty and quickly served, which is good when you are in a rush to leave the hotel in the morning. The juices and cereals are self-serve while the coffee and full English/continental breakfasts are brought to your table for you. We heard many guests around us asking for variations on the standard serving (e.g. no baked beans, sausage instead of fried bread, etc.) and each request met with no complaint. There is plenty of choice on the breakfast menu. Get there early though, as the freshness of the toast seemed to decline the later we went down to breakfast.
Facilities
The hotel has en-suite rooms, some with bigger bathrooms than others. We had booked a double room but were put in a family room with a double bed and a single bed, which was nice as it meant we had somewhere to put our things and we had quite a spacious room. I think that we paid for this with the bathroom as it was quite small, but perfectly useable and with only one person needing to use it at one time, it suited our needs. The room was very clean and spacious and had nice modern furnishings. My husband, who likes a hard bed, found the bed very comfortable. The pillows were nice and soft and nothing like the two hard pieces of cardboard that you usually find in hotels!
The hotel has a swimming pool and Jacuzzi which is open from 09:30-18:00 daily. The pool is not open during meal times as the restaurant has a big glass window which looks directly into the pool. The opening hours were a bit too restrictive for us as we liked to leave the hotel by 09:30 in the morning and go sightseeing all day. We enquired one night whether it would be possible for us to use the pool after 18:00 and were told, quite bluntly, no, as they did not want people from the restaurant seeing into the pool or vice versa. It begs the question then why they built the pool complex in this location or why they could not simply draw the blinds across the window, as they had been drawn for most, if not all of our stay.
We managed one swim during our stay here and the pool temperature is good. Not too cold like some hotel pools we have been in before. The Jacuzzi is disappointing - quite hard to get in and out of due to a lack of proper steps or seats once you are in. The pool steps were also not 100% secure and require some care when using them. The two individual changing cubicles are at the poolside and have a curtain for privacy. They are tiny and we preferred to return to our room to dry off and change, as did another guest we spoke to. There is also a steam room in the pool area, a mini gym and a sauna in a separate part of the hotel. We did not use any of these facilities so cannot comment on them.
There is an outdoor pool at the front of the hotel which, as it looked decidedly green and unusable, we did not swim in. The pool is surrounded by a sun terrace with plenty of loungers available and a small garden area up some steps.
The hotel has WiFi but this is only available in the public areas such as the restaurant or bar and not in the individual guest rooms.
Apparently the hotel provides entertainment but there was nothing on during our stay (Monday-Friday). This may only happen during the summer season or at weekends. Check before you go if this is important to you.
The bar is a good size with plenty of choice and lots of tables and chairs. There is a small dance floor in the bar area. There is also a pool table and some fruit machines.
Location
The hotel is within walking distance of the town centre but far enough away not to be bothered by any noise or traffic. It is situated in a pleasant leafy area and on a quiet road. We didn't use the buses as we had our own car but apparently there is a regular bus into town which can be caught from outside the hotel. The hotel is in a good central location to enjoy most of Torquay's attractions, most of which are less than 5-10 minutes drive away.
Staff
Having read so many positive comments about the hotel owners on TripAdvisor, we were very disappointed with how we actually found them. On arrival we checked in at Reception and were told where our room was but did not feel that we received a very warm welcome. Things didn't improve much during our stay and we felt that we were treated like second class citizens in comparison with the older residents (we are in our 30's and 40's). The only time that one of the owners showed any interest in us or where we came from was when we checked out and they were taking our money! I think that this is a shame as it lets an otherwise good hotel down. Customer service is the most important aspect of any business and unless you make all of your guests feel welcome, regardless of age, background or how many times they have stayed at your hotel previously, your business will not be a successful one.
TIP: There was only one double plug socket in our room. If, like us, you have several phones and cameras that you need to charge up at the end of the day, take a trailing socket with you as you will need it!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
