Gara Rock in South Hams

Had a lovely stay with my husband at Gara Rock. The staff were all friendly and welcoming and the hotel was modern and clean throughout. We ate dinner in the A la carte restaurant and the food was delicious. I booked in for a massage with the therapist Sophie and it was the best massage I have ever had! Highly recommend booking in for a treatment with her. They also don’t rush you out after checkout and guests are welcome to use the spa facilities until departure.

Update: We wanted to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary at Gara Rock's restaurant having had such a good experience there, 2 years before. We'd even relocated to the South Hams, partly because of our joyful experience of the region. However, on the evening before our booking, we were called to say our booking had been cancelled as they'd now booked a wedding and were closing the restaurant. Aside from offering us the bar, there was no apology or alternative offer for another date. We even told the person who called the significance of our dinner. Where else could we go at such short notice? Nowhere, it turned out. Very surprised and disappointed at the poor customer service. Surely not the Gara Rock service we raved about and which we remembered so well. We hope the wedding went well for them, anyway. The journey to Gara Rock may seem long but the destination is absolutely worth it; especially when the weather is sunny and hot! Stunning location and the hotel has been well designed, we think, with most rooms offering a sea view, especially those on the first floor. There's a spa, indoor pool, outdoor heated pool and beaches galore (via the coast path). As Gara Rock hotel sits on the coast path, the restaurant and bar gets good passing trade. The seating areas are v comfortable and with quality furnishings- which is a feature of the whole site. We used the spa and the massage service which was exceptional before cooling off on the outdoor pool, which overlooks the sea. The setting is remarkable from so many angles. The restaurant was well run and the views from most of it look over the sea and cliffs. The rooms? They have been creatively designed, I thought. We had a garden room which meant that we could walk straight onto a patio and then a lawn. It's not completely private (not least because the outside restaurant area overlooks the area) and dogs are relatively free to wander but just beyond the lawn is a gate to the beach (around 15' walk away). The room we had consisted of a living room/ bedroom area, a bath and shower room, a kitchenette with hob n oven + toilet by the front door. There's quite a large car park at the back, too.

We recently stayed at Gara Rock for four nights and were left disappointed by several aspects of our visit. While the hotel has potential, the issues we encountered overshadowed the positives. Firstly, there were two main boiler outages—one on the first morning and another on the final evening. During the first outage, we were asked to use the penthouse bathroom as an alternative, which was inconvenient since we weren’t offered a room change. The second outage was resolved within an hour, but this delay caused us to miss part of our dinner reservation. We were told the outages were due to cold weather and the hotel being at capacity, which felt unacceptable for a property of this standard. The cinema room was another disappointment. We were advised by a staff member earlier in the day to connect via Wi-Fi and use the Apple TV, but the system was outdated, with all apps requiring updates. No staff on duty in the evening could assist, and after 40 minutes of trying to make it work, we gave up and settled for an old DVD from their collection. Additionally, the cinema room lacked surround sound despite having speakers installed. The stereo sound was very limited and quieter than the air conditioning in the room. It took another 10 minutes to figure out how to raise the volume to a tolerable level. Overall not worth the fuss. Please update the system to match casting in hotel room. Our room was underwhelming and felt poorly maintained. There were noticeable scrapes on the walls, which detracted from the aesthetic. The wardrobe had no lighting, a single rail, and a shoe rack, leaving minimal space for clothes. Lighting in the room was poor, with one side of the bedroom completely unlit. The living room unit and shelves were bare, missing personal touches like books or décor that could have made the space feel more inviting. The TV in the living room stayed bright all night, repeatedly turning itself back on to a sign-in page after being switched off. The bathroom amenities provided included small bottles of shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and a bar of soap. However, the shower gel was used up on the first day and was never restocked, despite daily housekeeping. On a positive note, the restaurant and lounge areas were very welcoming. The food was excellent, with beautiful presentation and high quality. While the restaurant menu was somewhat limited, the lounge menu offered more variety. The bar area was cozy and relaxed, and the hotel’s dog-friendly atmosphere was a nice touch. TVs in the rooms had casting ability, which was good feature, allowing us to bring streaming services away with us. The staff were attentive in part; some were welcoming and helpful, but others were less so, particularly at key moments like our arrival and during the boiler issues. We were offered credit equivalent to one night’s stay as compensation for the boiler issues, which was appreciated but didn’t fully make up for the inconveniences. The hotel's marketing set high expectations, but the experience fell short. While we’d recommend the restaurant, the hotel rooms—at least the one we stayed in—need significant improvements to justify the price.

The roads are a nightmare to get there but it's worth it. We had a three bed apartment and brought the dog with us. We had a day walking to salcombe on the coastal path and took the ferry over to the town. Lost a star because of restaurant menu policy - Only downside is they won't let you mix the menus in the restaurant, if you want the tasting menu but the kids don't you'd have to sit in different places (apparently because they come from different kitchens - but they are next to each other so I just think you go all that way and it's something they could do but have a weird policy. Missed out on extra revenue because we ended up only having the bar menu instead of the tasting and wine)

Stunningly located hotel, with a very relaxed atmosphere. Perched on the cliff edge, with coastal walks into Salcombe. Small, intimate and exclusive. We stayed in the Secret Suite as a special treat which was just mind blowingly gorgeous. Just bear in mind when driving, you may have to do some reversing down the single width lanes, when meeting other vehicles.

Had lunch here, great options available. Beautiful place to be on a sunny day. Staff were all very welcoming and friendly. Had the Gara Club and a side of fries. Fantastic food, great tasting. The facilities were spotless.

I’m one of the local taxi drivers and once had the pleasure of been invited for coffee with my clients as I was collecting them from this outstanding hotel The coffee was excellent and the staff were very attentive , well presented and polite. I have had many many clients from here and they always say what a fabulous experience it is staying or eating there The views are simply mind blowing I often try to arrive a little early just so I can sit and take in the tranquility of it all Very well done to the Gara owners manager and all the staff working there It’s establishments such as these that bring millions of visitors to south Devon each year and in doing so generating business for many many people such as myself I love my little business and it always brings me great pleasure to drop and collect from here 🙏🌞🚕🚕🚕🚕🚕

What a view ! Go just for the views alone , chefs do a bang up job too

As a boy in the '60s &' 70s, I came here with my family every Easter for a fortnight, on occasion in summer hols. We stayed in a self-catering converted coastguard cottage, one of six. The place was owned and managed by the same Richards family, father & son, for at least forty years. I stayed in one of the coastguard cottages at Gara Rock with my then wife over Christmas in 1984. Returned on Saturday 14 April 2024. Lovely weather after weeks of rain. Courteous staff. I spent afternoon picking up flotsam, jetsam & litter from Gara Rock Beach, SW Coastal Path, stream at top of last section of beach path, both car parks. The litter at the mainroad entrance to the long, narrow grassed car park was terrible. I picked up what I could, shoved it into bags. The wooden hut at entrance has been vandalised, door ripped off. The carpark potholes were very bad. They need filling urgently. A sad look and first impression for what was once such beautiful place, with no litter, no potholes and no feckless grockles.

Amazing location and quality food

Perfect location to spend my birthday evening. Staff were lovely and friendly. Facilities were as you'd expect, great pool, Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. Amazing views from the rooms, pool and restaurant. Food was amazing.

Nice place, for a walk around the beach. Hidden gem 💎

This place couldn’t get any better, all the staff are wonderful, amazing rooms, excellent food. Such a relaxing stay with the best walking on the doorstep.