24 May Royal Britannia Hotel – Decent stay in Ilfracombe
Third accommodation in my UK trip came by a quick decision.
I was supposed to go from Weymouth to Rye and sleep there so I could see and photograph the cliffs of Dover but I just found it too tiresome.
I looked at the map, i calculated how many hours i will spend driving there, driving to the cliffs then returning to The Cotswolds where I had my next booking and decided to modify my route.
It was a 600 kilometers detour and frankly I was a bit tired and my bank account was emptying fast with each passing day so I cancelled my booking in Rye and looked on the map and picked Ilfracombe as my next destination.
I really wanted to see Clovelly and I did as you know already and found that Ilfracombe was also doable in the same day, being not far away from Clovelly.
Now, when I booked my accommodation I was hoping for a special kind of room because I wanted to take some pictures at night and I thought that kind of room would be perfect.
I will explain shortly what I had in mind but before that I must tell you that the place I chose for sleeping in that night is the Royal Britannia Hotel and below you can find my opinions on it.
About 100 meters from the hotel there is a paid parking lot where you can leave your car overnight.
The payment is pay and display here also so never forget to leave that small card in your window.
The hotel is not a large one but it is normal considering the area and the number of tourists it must serve each year.
20 rooms in all and I think they have some big rooms also(for more than 4 persons) if you’re wandering in with a group of friends.
The hotel is beautifully located a few meters away from the Ilfracombe harbor.
A little warning here. This is a real, operating harbor so it implies fish, fishermen, some noise, seagulls, etc.
The main reason why I wanted a room here was that some rooms are facing the harbor and I wanted to frame some shots at night.
Besides that when picking a room facing a street and a room facing water and boats I know what I’ll always choose.
Unfortunately for me I got the room facing the street and I can’t say I was too impressed with it.
Since we talked a bit about location and I told you that is very central, right near the harbor it is time to speak a bit about the staff, the room, bathroom and more.
I did not have much interaction with the staff. When I got there the reception desk was closed and I left my baggage next door at the pub and I only talked with the staff a bit when checking in later.
Due to this little interaction I will not grade the hotel on this aspect.
When it comes to my room I must say that it was OK. Nothing special and I will try to explain below what I mean by this.
Big enough bedroom
I booked my entire trip in the UK 3 weeks earlier so i can say that i think i got some deals on some places. Here I booked this place from one day to the next and got a special offer kind of thing due to booking.com so I might be a bit wrong when comparing prices for all my accommodation but here goes nothing.
I had an amazing stay in St Ives where I had paid the same amount per night when comparing to this place. That room felt great, felt luxurious somehow and I totally understood the price.
I got a really small room in Weymouth but with a room facing the sea and that costed me 20 pounds less that the price I paid here per night.
While I had a bigger room here I didn’t have the sea.
And later on I paid 20 pounds more for a fantastic place where I slept in The Cotswolds.
When drawing the line I couldn’t be impressed with the room. It wasn’t luxurious, it wasn’t themed and it wasn’t facing the sea or something special.
I just found it a bit bland with no personalty and that’s a shame because the Royal Britannia Hotel is a really interesting building.
Other than that I found the room to be clean and spacious enough to arrange my luggage.
The bathroom was very small but clean and hot water was instant so I was satisfied with this aspect.
But a tiny bathroom
I guess my main minus is that after two great accommodations I looked at this place and found it a bit bland.
I’m sure that if you catch a sea view room things can change so before booking see if there is an option to book one room with a sea view because, i’m sure, you will enjoy it more.
As a small tip I highly recommend seeing Wildersmouth beach, about 300 meters away from the hotel. It is impressive and I’m sure many of you will enjoy it.
Lady in red