The Duke of Cornwall Hotel

There is absolutely no wifi, completely unacceptable in 2026!! The hotel is old but perfectly comfortable, with spacious rooms, a comfortable bed and lots of hot water. The staff on Reception are very nice indeed, but without wifi this is not a hotel to stay in. The hotel needs to state this upfront and make sure guests know beforehand - I suspect they do not do this as most people would choose to go elsewhere.

My stay was wholly unsatisfactory and deeply concerning, particularly regarding accessibility, health and safety, and service standards. Despite advertising itself as accessible, this hotel is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments. Accessibility & Safety Before arrival, I was assured by phone that the car park and access routes were safe and suitable for wheelchair users and those with limited mobility. This was completely inaccurate. The car park was uneven, full of potholes, loose gravel, rubble, and blocked vehicles. Access to the hotel required crossing narrow steel walkways with slopes on either side, extremely slippery in wet conditions, bordered by scaffolding and an unprotected drop — with no warning signage. A wheelchair could not safely use these walkways at all (mine physically would not fit). The entrance involved wet, slippery steps. I required physical assistance from my partner and son to enter and exit safely. This was distressing, dangerous, and observed by management without alternative access being offered. Internally, the passenger lift is too small for wheelchair use, and the wheelchair lift was out of service throughout my stay. Room & Facilities I was promised an accessible ground-floor room with a disability-friendly bathroom. Instead, I was allocated a room on the fourth floor, with no suitable facilities. The bathroom was not accessible; the shower had a raised lip, making it unsafe for anyone with mobility issues. I specifically raised concerns about emergency evacuation before and during my stay. I was told lifts could be used in a fire and reassured that I would be “alright” because the hotel had “never had one.” This response demonstrates a serious lack of understanding of fire safety and disabled evacuation planning. No Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) could be provided. Condition of the Hotel The property is in a clear state of disrepair: dirty carpets, stains from leaking showers, cracked window panes, doors that do not fit properly (a serious fire safety concern), unbearably hot rooms with no thermostat, broken fans, and extensive scaffolding. The condition bears little resemblance to online images, which materially misrepresent the current state of the hotel. Service & Food Hygiene Wi-Fi did not work at all, and attempts to contact reception by phone were diverted to a full voicemail. Service was inconsistent and ineffective. A complimentary breakfast was offered following my complaint, but the cooked food from the bain-marie was cold. Sausages were removed from service only after being checked — after some had already been eaten. This resulted in upset stomachs later that day and raises serious food hygiene and temperature-control concerns. Financial & Emotional Impact Because parking was unsafe and unreliable, we were forced to use Uber transport to attend a Plymouth Argyle match, incurring unexpected additional costs. Combined with the physical risk, distress, and lack of reasonable adjustments, this significantly compounded the experience. Final Thoughts Despite being advertised online (and often appearing in searches) as a Best Western, the hotel is no longer owned by the brand, and the standards fall far below what would reasonably be expected. Management was unable or unwilling to provide clear ownership or contact details, and attempts to contact those responsible have gone unanswered. In summary: This hotel is not accessible, not safe for disabled guests, and is seriously misrepresented online. The cumulative failures — unsafe access, lack of reasonable adjustments, inadequate fire safety planning, poor maintenance, food hygiene concerns, and service failures — make this a place I strongly advise mobility-impaired travellers to avoid. Ironically the head office appears to be in Torquay - home of Fawlty Towers …

Understaffed and dirty hotel. We stayed here a whole week over Christmas with my mum and partner. Our double room nr.209 was disgusting. There was an old sweatty smell hanging in the room that stayed the whole week. Everything, including chairs smelled of it. There was a dirty smell coming from the bathroom you could smell even with the door closed. We slept with the windows open and the heating on full the whole week. The mattrass was so hard that it hurt, I ordered another duvet so I could lay on top of that. Curtain had a big rip in it. My mum's room was a single and only better because it didn't smell. Her carpet was stained all over, the bedframe and chair had a layer of dust on them, didn't get cleaned. Cleaners asked every morning if the room needed cleaning. Wonder what they actually do then. We asked for cleaning and it looked like they had been because the toilet seat was down. My mum spilled water on bathroom floor and wiped this up with the white bathmat, the mat was dark brown afterwards. My mum had booked the hotel online from the Netherlands to spend Christmas with us. We live in Plymouth. Looking at the pictures she loved it. Together me and my mum looked at a lot of hotels, but she wanted to stay in this one because of the history and the beautiful pictures on their website. What a disappointment. I wanted to complain, but was afraid another room would be no better. Also my mum didn't want us to complain. I know that we should have. The breakfast was disappointing too. Watery coffee, the baked beans, mushrooms were cold. We weren't told we could order fried eggs, but the second morning we noticed another guest doing this. The toast was soft( self-service) if you wanted to toast it again it would set on fire. No help here, just staff saying it does that all the time. Fresh fruit was pre-peeled grapefruit or a berry mixture that looked the frozen ones. The jam was in a dispenser you could put on saucers, only this was set up at the buffet on the other side of the room than the continental. So we didn't know this was even available. In the evening at the bar you could wait forever for someone to turn up, we had to get someone every time. They would all stand together talking at reception, knowing there were people in the lounge. I can go on and on. Don't bother with this hotel, go anywhere else.

We were looking forward to our new year's eve party here and totally disappointed, the room was abysmal, the windows were screwed shut but were open so couldn't shut them anymore, infested with ladybirds that crawled over us at night, cobwebs everywhere, lights not working or missing the light bulb but was wired directly into the live wiring so on permanent live so don't put your fingers by it, and this was in a family room so keep an eye on your kids incase they put there fingers in it, rotten windows just hanging in for dear life, bad nights sleep on both nights due to rock hard bed and woken up at 7 in the morning by emptying of the bottle bins by the collector then banging on the door at 8 wanting to know if we needed anything, dirty cups that had been used before we even got chance to use them, asked for them to be replaced but never was, had to get some ourselves from the breakfast room, now the breakfast was buffet style the first morning and was a disaster, took 20 minutes just to get scrambled eggs, lots of people just walked out, even the waiter said this was bad, breakfast made me feel ill something was not right and only one chef on tryingtocook everything, party night was great though and the food was good that night, don't stay in room 207 that's all I can say as we asked more than 4 times for the ladybirds to be cleaned up and towels were wet as well,would I stay here again, this is a definitely no

From the moment you arrive you realise you are stepping into a historic landmark. The Duke’s historic guest list has welcomed stars of screen and stage, daring world adventurers and some of the few survivors from the Titanic. The staff are warm, helpful and genuinely friendly and the rooms are individual, spacious, immaculate and the best value for money in Plymouth. Can’t wait to return!

we have been coming to this hotel for the past 15 years. I love its history and it’s faded grandeur - i never minded the slightly old fashioned bathrooms or rackety windows because of the great staff and amazing breakfasts- you used to be able to order poached haddock, kippers and eggs made to order- it was all linen table cloths and toast in toast racks and cafetières. So i was appalled at what we experienced this morning - cheap coffee in large vats, congealed, cold scrambled eggs, cheap orange juice, cheap jams in dispensers- honestly, a Wetherspoons breakfast is better. what is going on?? People will start to vote with their feet and stop booking and that round be a travesty. Fortunately ( for us) all was not lost as we were served by a lovely waiter called Kristian who made us a cafetière, heated up milk and made me some vegetarian sausages. That’s ‘service’ not that pathetic offering that the management company, RBH, think is acceptable. Shame on you. The staff remain lovely, the hotel remains history-laden but the penny-pinching attitude of the management will kill this beautiful hotel -sir john betjemin stayed here FFS! Unless they up their game, i suggest you stay somewhere else when coming to Plymouth

Very many thanks to Melanie and all the staff who made our Christmas Luncheon on Wednesday such an excellent occasion. We all enjoyed a fantastic meal, compliments to Chef and all the galley staff, the service, as always was top notch. Christmas Greetings to you all and wishing you a very happy New Year.

We were bought a gift deal combining a show at the pavilions with a meal at the Duke of Cornwall hotel which is directly opposite the Pavilions. After the show we decided to have a drink in the bar before our meal. What a soulless cold place the bar was…..a fire in the large hearth would have made such a difference. On moving to the dining room we were quickly shown to a table but were then left for 25 minutes before our order was taken….we felt rather invisible! The meal was quite good…..starters of prawn cocktail and leek tartlet, which were nice, then roast lamb dinner and gammon and chips. The roast lamb was quite tender but the meal was let down by the dry tough potatoes. The room was also very cold….other customers were also moaning about it. There was no heating on and the gritters were out on the roads! Service was non existent really but the staff were pleasant when they did appear at the table. We didn’t stay long as we needed to get warm!

I bought a friend for a special birthday celebration after a performance at the Pavillions. Ive lived in the surrounding area for 12 years but have never been to this venue so was a bit curious to see what it was like. I had bought a theatre pre/post theatre performance package as a surprise and did not know what to expect at all. So …….. reception staff were lovely. Friendly and welcoming. We then went to the bar for pre meal drink. No one working on the bar so we waited. After a while i went to reception and was told someone would be there soon and a few minutes later a somewhat grumpy man arrived and i asked what gin they had. Behind the bar was only beefeater and gordons but he said he would check in the other bar to see what was available and then came back with Plymouth gin. I opted for plymouth (like to do local) and ordered two g n t s. There was not really any choice of tonics so had one we are not used to (generally prefer fever tree or shwepps but this was london essence i think). As inwas treating my friend i just took it and we t back to our seats but it honestly tasted very weak and almost watered down. I didnt want to complain as it was a birthday treat and i did not want to spoil the ambience. So we sipped and i felt there was no effect from drinking a double gin on an empty stomach but mot a big deal. We then went in for our dinner which had been booked. The guy at the restaurant desk seemed stress and it seemed obvious there was not enough staff as there was no table laid for service. We had to wait for this (no big deal in the scheme of things as they seemed to be doing their best) Once seated we waited quite while with no one coming to us for a drinks order nor a food order.It became clear that there was only 3 people who seemed to be doing the nob of waiting tables, the bar and also helping on reception so seemingly short staffed. We ordered food and they had run out of my first choice for mains so i had to order from 3 other things that were not really to my liking but Hey-ho! Still no one asked us for drinks orders to go with dinner so i lost interest and my friend was not wanting another drink anyway. When the first course came it was a throw back from a 1970s menu. A small prawn cocktail in a timy metal “coupe” dish with something called a “bread ribbon” which was basically 3 layers of rubbish brown bread and butter in a finger formation. The sauce was over sharp without the usual richness of mayonnaise, tomato puree, worcester sauce, ketchup etc. it was sharp and not very nice but we ate it. (again we were having fun talking and i dis not want to spoil the evening by complaining) The main course (hake in “lobster” sauce) was underwhelming and somewhat dry. The vegetables were ok but it was altogether not very nice. When we then asked for coffee we were advised to go to the bar but when we did there was (again) bo bar staff there. When the rather grumpy bar man came, there was no proper decaff and he held up a sad looking sachet. I declined this but my birthday friend said yes and then lived to regret it !!!! We laughed a bit throughout the whole thing and felt it was a bit “faulty towers” but we felt sorry for three staff who seemed to be trying to do the job of six or more. The place is great in an architectural way but very sad, run down, dated and understaffed.Have only given it three stars as we felt sorry for the dwindling staff members. Needs a total face lift and rethink re surroundings and food offerings. I will not be returning When we

We booked to stay here ahead of seeing The Fast Show at Plymouth Pavilions. Check in was easy with a very friendly member of staff. Our room was great apart from being incredibly hot. We went out for dinner & came back for a couple of pre show drinks. The bar was buzzing with people attending the pavilion as well as many people there for a Christmas party. Suddenly a bus turned up full of children on a charity evening who came in to decorate baubles & have mince pies with Santa. It was lovely - however, doing this right in the middle of where everyone was sat having a drink was chaotic. As a guest of the hotel, I was made to feel like I was in the way with many people draping their coats over the back on the sofa we were sat on. Surely there was a more suitable room in the hotel to have done this rather than in the middle of the bar/lounge area. As a result of this we left early, which was a shame. I have no issue with the wonderful event that they were hosting - just the location within the hotel. This hasn't put us off from staying at the hotel again in the future but would possibly go elsewhere for drinks before a show.