The Imperial Torquay in Torbay

Great Seaview and large room . A very relaxing break for me and wife .And a friendly Robin .

Lovely stay again. Good food. Excellent room.Basie looked after us brilliantly again. Bar had no Brandy for 3 nights stockchecking ?!!

Just came back from a 1 night stay away and have had a great stay and so appreciated that my request on arrival being granted re parking due to mobility as was not presuming staff very friendly ,room -shower was a bit random re temp and a little dated but with the view with the balcony a lovely addition and breakfast with the fabulous selection and view was a great end 100 %would recommend

Lovely hotel, great views from room. Car parking on site, fabulous location too!

The night manager was a pleasure and dealt with a last minute booking incredibly well. Attentive and personable. Bravo Beard team!

Beautiful hotel, much better inside than outside. The old grandeur is fantastic, like walking into The titanic..You could imagine people dancing in the ballroom in the 1920's. On a sunny day the outdoor swimming pool and gardens are fantastic. The bedrooms are very comfortable. Furniture is quite old so doesn't have a modern feel. However beds are super comfy and showers hot. Breakfast is fantastic .. Best deals are the short seasonal breaks direct from the hotel. They charge per room and include dinner and breakfast. Works out well between two people. What is not good is the bar menu and drinks prices..avoid them,far too expensive if you are on a budget. Evening meal is £30 for 2 courses. Absolutely love The Imperial and have never been disappointed only sad to leave..

Great place and service but the rooms need updating

I stayed a few months ago - had to change rooms 3 times due to the cleanliness and state of them. Dirty bed linen. Dirty carpets. Grimy bathroom to name a few. I eventually got a room that was acceptable. No apology. No offer of a drink for my inconvenience- I had to carry my bags to reception and back to the room every time without offer of help and some of the rooms are miles from the reception!!! The hotel is run down, shoddy and needs revamping. The staff are complacent and clearly use to the state of the hotel and the complaints. Parking was charged at £8.50 on top of an already over priced stay for the quality of the room. I would avoid - there has to be better options!

I came for the day as a local for a swim and lunch with my baby. The hotel is stunning and the staff were so accommodating. We had lunch and it was delicious and the views on a nice day are priceless.

I had the misfortune of paying to stay here for a night to attend a work event. This hotel used to respected and a desirable place to stay – not anymore. I can overlook the exhausted and shabby furniture and décor but I cannot accept the lack of cleanliness in the bedrooms. The rooms have not been properly cleaned for years and are a borderline health hazard at this point. I checked-in early evening and changed quickly to attend dinner. At first glance, the room appeared dated, tired and in need of redecoration and modernisation but appeared okay in the dim evening light. It was not until I returned to the room after dinner to sleep that the deeper issues here became apparent. My asthma was triggered during the night which was spent coughing, wheezing and struggling to breathe properly. This prompted me to look for what may be triggering this within the bedroom and I was shocked by what I found. Every surface was THICK with dust and has clearly not been wiped down in months. The top of the wardrobe was of most concern per my photo, however even easily accessible surfaces were covered in dust – such as the headboard and picture frames – I would expect that any hotel would be giving these a quick wipe down after every stay – but clearly not here. Most shocking was the state of the bathroom when I went to take a shower in the morning. Every corner and crevice is full of scum and black mould and again has clearly not been cleaned at all in months. Regular light cleaning between guests would maintain a shower and prevent this build-up and resulting mould but this has not taken place and the entire bathroom is now in desperate need of a deep clean and scrub – although at this point it would probably be prudent to simply rip-out and fit new fixtures. The black mould continued to the bathroom ceiling and also to corners of the windows, it was a feature throughout the room which seems to highlight a lack of any cleaning or maintenance. This hotel does not appear to complete any housekeeping other than changing the bedlinen and possibly a quick vacuum of the carpet in-between guests (I hope, although based on what I saw it is likely they take shortcuts wherever possible to avoid spending money). Upon check-out in the morning I was not asked how my stay was so I proceeded to explain the issues with my room. Unfortunately, the receptionist barely looked-up from her screen and did not seem surprised by my comments – they must have become accustomed to complaints about the dirt and mould – I received neither an apology nor any offer of reimbursement. I was told I should have asked to move rooms when I checked-in - despite as I explained, the lack of cleanliness not being immediately apparent. Regardless, having now seen other reviews it appears that the dirt and grime is a common theme throughout the hotel so a change room would probably not have made a difference. Further, as other guests have commented, the food and drink here is below average and overpriced, the service is nothing special, and the charge for car parking unnecessary – it should be factored into the room rate – we are in Torquay, not central London. The hotel charged £8.50 for parking yet my booking confirmation through Booking dot com stated it would be £7.00 so it is clear that the hotel has increased the price but forgotten to update this like they forget to clean and maintain the rooms. I cannot recommend this hotel based on the cleanliness alone – their standards are on par with a hostel and certainly not a 4 star hotel – avoid at all costs and book one of the many other options in Torquay instead.

Great place , £80 a night for a room with tea , coffee, bottled water included , good car park as well . We had a good stay .

Very slow service, disappointed, soup came without bread, is that normal? Had to wait a fair while, hot drinks came in dribs and drabs, saying that friendly staff member and lovely view.

Lovely views. Great facilities. Disappointed with the website photos that give the impression of a modern and stylish hotel. Reality is a little tired and dated in the flesh. You can't take away the stunning location and view from our deluxe family room.

Amazing room with great sea views, a big lounge and a luxury bathroom. The spa was clean and not too busy. Staff super kind and attentive, went above and beyond to cater for my dietary needs. Lush breakfast buffet, alongside the traditional cooked breakfast (which included hot waffles!), you could find freshly baked walnut bread, non dairy yogurt and milks, chia puddings, a variety of nuts and seeds and lots of fresh fruit and cold cuts. Dinner was excellent and well presented (service faster and much improved compared to previous stays). Can’t find faults. 5 stars well deserved.

The hotel was lovely absolutely fantastic views We only had one meal in the hotel on Xmas morning .... what a letdown. I think it was because of the number of people that they were catering for things were cold or overdone But that would not stop me from staying again

Its all about the view , wow, hotel lovley , needs a good paint and not 4 star , a good 3 , Clean room , good bed , food for me was underpar for a 4 star , very lack lusture burger and chips , thrown on plate , no salad or relish We went out for a sunday roast at a local carvery , the bar meal selection very poor at hotel and not worth the money. We were in room 28 , very noisy from pool heater outside , put earplugs in at night , would be awful in summer if you wanted to sit on the balcony relaxing . Over all very good value for money though and young waitress , only been there a week , an absolute star !!!!! She was as keen as hell with superb customer service skills , the others could take note and look happier to be there🤣

I didn't stay, it was a Christmas party. Food was good, service great and very nice luxurious hotel

We met with friends for coffee... perfect

Very pleasant stay. Room was larger with a sitting area, large balcony and a beautiful view. Room was dated (but to be expected with an older hotel) very charming property. Great location, easy walk to the harbour and close to shops, restaurants and bars. Hotel Parking available was reasonable. Hotel pool and sauna/hot tub was great. The hotel bar and restaurant were both very nice and decent quality.

Disappointing Christmas Dinner – Not Worth £125 Per Head I was expecting a premium experience for the £125 per head Christmas dinner, but unfortunately, it was anything but. From start to finish, it felt disorganized, underwhelming, and lacking in quality. Upon arrival, there was no greeting or guidance to the function room — just a confusing journey down a lift and through two corridors with no signage. The function room itself looked more like a makeshift setup, with chairs reminiscent of a school hall, barely disguised by stretched white chair covers. It was hard not to laugh at the lack of effort put into the presentation. The food, sadly, was equally disappointing. The crayfish and prawn starter tasted fine but was underwhelming, featuring small prawns instead of the more appropriate king prawns you’d expect for the price. The raspberry sorbet palate cleanser was served rock-hard, clearly pre-scooped into champagne flutes and poorly stored in the freezer. It was nearly impossible to eat. The main course was the biggest letdown. The roast potatoes were pale and flavorless, more akin to boiled potatoes, the turkey was dry, and the single floret of broccoli felt stingy. The entire dish lacked seasoning or festive flair. The Christmas pudding was similarly unimpressive, served with an unappealing dollop of melted butter on the side. Service was inconsistent and unprofessional. When I asked for a wine list, one server told me they didn’t have one, while another eventually provided it. Mid-meal, while halfway through a glass of Perrier-Jouët, we were abruptly handed a card machine to settle the drinks bill — a completely disruptive and inappropriate approach that added insult to an already poor experience. For £125 a head, I expected a flawless, high-quality dining experience, and this was far from it. The food, service, and ambiance were more reflective of a basic care home dinner than a festive, premium event. I cannot recommend this venue based on my experience, and I’d strongly advise them to reevaluate their pricing and standards.

Excellent value for money in a hotel with lots of history and magnificent decor , staff polite and curteyess and a lively stroll down to the town.

Incredible view. We had a great stay. Lovely breakfast, too!

Reception charged a high price for the first 2 nights The next 2 nights I booked on Agoda.com Was half the price Reception staff got very defensive once I announced I had rebooked With Agoda and told me that they are unreliable and don’t have a partnership with the hotel etc etc it was very negative and not what I would expect as a guest Book through the travel sites It’s cheaper Great location Rooms very basic Used to be 5 star Now 4 star Very clean But rooms are desperate for an upgrade I was charged for a sea facing room then it was given to someone else because of a problem then they downgraded to a sea view room that had sea peeps and trees blocking the view but still paying the higher priced room I’ve been staying at the imperial for over 15 years Was always good £35 a day for parking under cover !!! That is a rip off What’s happened guys ????? The dining room is still a great place to eat your breakfast but apart from that It’s all gone downhill I rarely leave a negative review But I would have to be persuaded to return Sorry but it’s really not a good Experience

Lovely weekend with old world charm and modern facilities.

Great hotel in an excellent location. Our room was very nice, with great views out to sea. The Imperial has very good parking and it's very easy to walk down into the town of Torquay. There are both indoor and outdoor pools and a beauty spa. The food was good too, with a breakfast buffet and the dinner menu In the evening had plenty of choice. I would certainly go there again

The best hotel. I have never stayed in such a beautiful hotel. I love it. Hugely recommended

Stayed here for the weekend. In their standard double room. Location was great !Dog friendly hotel.

Nice hotel lots history lovely views. Included swimming pool spa and gym

The Imperial at Torquay is as good as it was when I used to stay in the 1990s, although the 'special feel' has gone. Good value for money. Room is great (very comfy bed!), and meals superb. Think the staff could smile occasionally though !

The hotel location is amazing however the hotel is in need of serious renovation. Rooms are very dated and certainly it is not a 4 star hotel. The staff are doing their best to satisfy customers and the views are awesome.

Lovely old fashioned hotel. Beautiful decor and stunning views of the ocean. Dog friendly. Short walk to town centre. Nice pool and gardens. Never tried the spa but will do next time. It’s my second stay here because I love the atmosphere. Beds are comfortable and the room is spacious. We had a garden room with sea views and our own terrace. Manager Heidi goes out of her way to please her guests.

Great location and well appointed rooms. The restaurant staff and food were good but the bar staff need training!

Definitely the best hotel in Torbay. Amazing location and views, friendly staff, comfortable rooms and excellent breakfast. We will definitely stay again!

Go for the massage and nothing else. We paid £100+ per person for a spa day and were dissapointed for most of the day apart from our massages. Pictured is our 'main' for the day. the set menu is laughable, we actually laughed a lot. As you arrive the hotel looks great inside but so much of it needs refreshing, the chairs are tatty and when you get to the spa there is noticeable rust and cobwebs. The bar service was very poor and they hardly seemed to care or were able to accommodate a simple request of moving to another table due to the view, when there was only one other table there the whole time we sat there and had our 'lunch'. I complained at the time and the chap at the spa said that the price is reflective of what you get, essentially admitting it's terrible. I also spoke to a duty manager and was promised contact from an operations manager but that's yet to happen. It's a shame as the hotel is in a great location it just very clearly needs some money pumped in to it/ staff training. Not a great feeling left for our anniversary.

Had sea view room, wonderful view. Bed was very comfortable room clean, staff friendly. Breakfast is buffet, with plenty of vegetarian choices. Parking cost £8:50 a day, spaces are rather narrow if you have large car.Have a small indoor pool also a larger outdoor one which is open in the summer. Excellent location. Big difference between the rooms, so choose carefully. Don't usually have any trouble with the internet there but hotel very busy on the Saturday and couldn't connect.

I am an oap so a bit hilly for me

We had a thoroughly enjoyable night at The Imperial. A room with a wonderful sea-view with a lovely sight of Paignton in the distance. As some have remarked the rooms can feel a little dated, but personally I felt that added to the charm. Not everything needs to be modernised and I for one liked the character this hotel exhibited. We have a lovely evening drink in the Palm Court Lounge which had great views over the bay. The gym facilities which I used were also a welcome addition. All staff we encountered were friendly and offered a very good service. Overall a very pleasurable experience.

Absolutely perfect lovely big room with sea view I would honestly say I would live there love it

Great place to stay. Close to town. Good parking. Beautiful views. Indoor swimming, Seperate male and female sauna in changing rooms. Out door pool heated, should have been open, but staff forgot to remove the protective cover. Rooms would be smarter with a makeover, Still acceptable for the money spent on the accommodation. Will return...

This hotel has the opportunity to be really good, but falls short by attention to some details which could easily be improved. Some freshening up of décor and the welcome in restaurant. Breakfast items kept running out, even marmalade! Butter rationed out a pat at a time. Perhaps you might use a secret shopper to give you a report of stuff you might do. They would give you a number of quick and inexpensive wins.

A beautifully located hotel with a charming garden to stroll around. The restaurant overlooking the bay serves delicious breakfasts. The room is clean, with a beautiful view from the 4th floor. I will definitely come back

Great interior art deco hotel with fantastic rooms with optional sea views with balcony. Rooms are spacious clean and adequately supplied with built in wardrobes deco style furniture, tv, room safe and many other extras.....staff are amazingly helpful...breakfast is a choice of self service Continental, English breakfasts a good choose for everyone.. didnt use spa facilities ( maybe next time )but from what I have heard from other people it is highly recommended..

We have just returned from 3 nights at the Imperial Hotel. Our room was ready early the gentleman who checked us in was both very friendly/ professional. We had a delux room on the 4th floor, I must say the room was large with a good size balcony with amazing views but i would not say delux, the room was clean, however I would say the rooms are very tired and definitely could do with a freshen up to include new furniture. On 2 of the nights we had a drink at the bar, the service was very very slow and the cost of drinks we thought was expensive. Could not fault breakfast as there was so much choice for everyone. Having said the negatives we would return to the Imperial due to the views and the Close proximity to Torquay centre, we feel the hotel is priced appropriately.

Excellent night, all the comedians were on top form, laughing from start to finish. Really good venue, definitely be going again.

Had a fantastic three day stay, room was very good with a lovely view. Food was marvellous although could do with a little more choice breakfast choice was plentiful. The staff were very helpful and they even arranged a lovely bouquet of flowers for me to give to my wife as we were there to celebrate our anniversary. Definitely going back and can recommend it. Thank you for a fantastic time.

What can I say about this hotel…dirty,run down and noisy.kept awake all night due to noise from lift and curtains that don’t actually cover the windows so letting all the light in from the outside floodlights.room dated and in very poor condition with cupboard doors hanging off and the bathroom is a right mess even full of other guests hair. Tried using the pool etc but freezing cold and watched every other guest get straight out after finding out pool not heated and freezing.the steam room and hot tub were filthy with the whole place full of broken tiles.meant to be a nice night stay but feel like rubbish from no sleep.this is not a 4 star hotel by a long shot.

13 April update We are currently staying again at the hotel taking the Blooming Spring offer for 3 nights. Lovely room and housekeeping again is very good. But one thing that we were not aware of this time was that the £25 culinary allowance is per room per night and not per person. This caused some confusion last night with us and other guests who were having an evening meal; especially as on our last visit, we had the 2 courses per person per night as part of the offer. This made the evening meal quite expensive, especially if you had the 3 courses! Also, you are able to spend the £25 in the bar for food per night if you so wished, but you can't carry any amount over to the next day if not used. The indoor pool is now apparently in use. ...................................................... Lovely hotel. We had a balcony room which was of a good size, and was clean and quiet. It was nice to have robes and slippers. The Winter Escape package included breakfast, 2 course dinner, and a bottle of presseco. The evening meal was very good, especially the beef main course. The restaurant staff were very pleasant. The only downside of the 2 night break was the fact that the indoor pool was not in use due to a repair being needed. I felt that this should have been put on on the website or at least on the confirmation email so that we were aware of this prior to our visit even if the hotel expected the repair to have been completed. The sauna and gym were in use.

A lovely hotel would definitely recommend to friends and family what a view from room 225

This hotel should look carefully at the false image portrayed on its website. It is a tired, old, quite run-down (in places) hotel. On arrival you are greeted with a rather dirty and shabby facade. The main glass entrance was filthy. Inside is a beautiful, but poorly lit, musty smelling reception area. This leads to a bar, restaurant etc and is tastefully and beautifully decorated. It is comfortable and some of the views over the sea are fabulous. The reception was manned by a pleasant and helpful person. The room I had booked was a wheelchair accessible room (according to the hotel)with a private balcony. It looked beautiful in the hotel photos. However, I was told that room was quite unsuitable for our needs as it was only accessible by some stairs (my wife can't walk easily) so we were put in a garden room with a not so private balcony. That is were the disappointment set in. The room was huge but I would not describe it as wheelchair accessible. It was just an ordinary room - no accesible features at all. The turn into the room was a tight, quite narrow 90⁰ turn. The bathroom door left mm's clearance and the bathroom itself was not big enough for my wife to turn her wheelchair around in making it useless. The overall impression of the room was one of a dreary old care home with 2 very grubby looking winged chairs set overlooking an obscured sea view. It wasn't dirty but it looked it because of damaged and sad decor. The 'open' balcony was horrible. Even on a sunny day I wouldn't have used it. It was filthy! There were old cigarette ends scattered on the ground. It needed a thorough clean and spruce up. It really didn't look like it had ever been cleaned. The paved surface was awful and getting the wheelchair out there would have been very, very difficult. The public rooms are beautifully decorated and it gives a lovely, but false impression of the hotel. The breakfast was excellent- a massive choice of hot and cold food which was delicious. Fortunately we were only there 1 night. I would not have stayed another night. An extremely dissapointing stay for which I feel we were grossly overcharged.

Big room. Great view. Friendly staff. Great breakfast.

Great location and a really great view. The reception area and most of the public areas are beautiful and well maintained, but the same cannot be said for the rooms. Unfortunately, the bed is sagging, the shower curtain is not up to date and the cleanliness of the room and the balcony are not acceptable in my opinion.

The Imperial Hotel is a fabulous period hotel full of memorabilia throughout its life. Wonderful staff, food & amenities & outlook over the Bay & Harbour. Will be revisiting in the future. Many thanks for a wonderful stay!

Excellent restaurant and great breakfasts

Stayed here before very nice Hotel plus staff very friendly food nice too

The only thing good about this place is the location... I have to tell and let all hoilday markers know that the food here is mostly frozen and not cooked from fresh as a local I was shocked to discover this and they say like most establishments they cook food from frozen to make huge profits on food.. when I looked at the menu there was nothing there I thought was any different to what I could get in a pub and when I questioned the menu I was told by a sarcastic man you could always have a burger if I wanted one of them I'd of went to a pub... please before booking any hoilday or into sny hotel or B&B do what Gordon Ramsey would do and ask if there food cooked fresh on premises or from frozen... I suggest frozen food in a 4 star hotel is ridiculous and if I was the hotel inspector they'd lose a star right away.

Allways a pleasure to stay here could sit on the balcony with a bear all day long looking out on the bay

Location amazing, views superb, rooms tired an dated and not cleaned very well, hair in the bath, food fantastic, restaurant staff not very happy or friendly, spa dirty, bins full and dirty showers, sadly disappointing

Rooms are a bit dated but we only needed one night. Quiet room away from the main areas. Shame there's upgrades to the balconies as the doors were tethered shut.