The Red Lion

Clovelly is a gem and deserves every bit of praise it gets. The food and wine were incredible, and the people were lovely, from the manager who welcomed us to everyone working behind the scenes. We’ll definitely be back. Thanks 👍🏻 Nick & Chriss. Glastonbury.

Cloveely is such a unique village, and the Red Lion is in a fantastic spot. Guests get a perfect harbour view and unlimited free access to several services, including the land rover ride to the top of the village and the main street.

The setting is beautiful, the village is charming, and there are walks in every direction if you don’t mind scrambling over pebbles and rocks. Our welcome was friendly, warm and funny, and our room was lovely, with a sea and harbour view, though the bathroom was tiny. Breakfast was excellent and beautifully served. I’m writing this constructively, because there’s plenty to like about the Red Lion, but there’s also a lot to improve. We had to choose our dinner venue in advance. The restaurant’s main dishes ran from £32 to £60, so we chose the bar, normally a good bet since it uses the same kitchen. But the upstairs restaurant felt like a Club Lounge, while the bar felt like Ryanair. We ate outside and were given a greasy gadget that buzzed when our food was ready. The £20 fish and chips came in a takeaway box with disposable cutlery, only the fish and chips, and unbranded sachets of sharp orange ketchup. There were wheelie bins for the boxes, perhaps because the tables aren’t cleaned often. That’s not what I expect from a £200 a night hotel. It seemed there were limits on when we could eat, which suggests the kitchen may be short-staffed. I understand the difficulty of finding staff in this location and catering to all the tourists, but a diligent manager should be concerned about both the bar experience and the quality of the food offering.

We weren’t staying at the hotel or going for fine dining, since the choices were either very expensive or very casual. We picked the casual option, and it was shocking. The food choice was basic and completely overpriced, and there clearly weren’t many staff. The place felt drunk, empty and sort of down in the cellars. Service was neglected. The waiter tried, but seemed tied up chatting with drunk customers or serving at the bar next door. There was cutlery left on tables everywhere, and we waited 40 minutes for a meal. The atmosphere was poor, and we felt so uncomfortable and unwelcome that we decided to leave. Our drink was served wrong too, probably because one person was trying to manage too much.