The Headland Hotel & Spa

We had a complimentary room upgrade, and the view as soon as we walked in was incredible. It's a wonderful hotel in a lovely location. My partner and I may not have been the target audience, but the staff, especially the waiting team, went above and beyond. They suggested drinks and brought extra dinner rolls, and one woman, whose name we didn't catch, remembered us from our first night through to the end of our four night stay. We had breakfast and dinner included, and the food was excellent. On our final evening at the Romanoff restaurant, I had the best dinner of my life. The chefs kindly gave us the recipe. The pumpkin and sage ravioli is just the best thing ever. The hotel's green policy lets you skip room service and get 10% off drinks, which we thought was a nice touch. The spa facilities are immaculate, and £10 per person per use is a great deal for what's included. I'd love to stay again.

We didn't stay at the hotel, we came as locals to use the spa, and the experience was awful. The reception staff and manager treated us horribly. There was mould on some pool chairs and some things were broken. The smaller hot tub had floating yuk in it, which we only saw after using the larger tubs, where there was quite a bit of hair. We tried to stick to the cleaner one. I went straight to reception to report it and ask for a refund. My friend has a tumour in her back, which we had explained to the hotel beforehand because she needed a warm pool for pain relief. We stayed and used the sauna and steam room. A maintenance man came in, looked and said the problem was people not showering before getting in and fake tan. We hadn't used the worst pool or worn fake tan. We tried to make the best of it and assumed we'd get a refund in good faith. The changing rooms had broken bits and there was corrosion in the toilets. When we came out, we were told the manager was on the phone and would find us after food. The restaurant staff were lovely and the food was nice. But when we returned, the manager was extremely rude and didn't seem to care. He was poorly dressed, as were the reception staff, and I didn't even know he was the manager. He cut us off, didn't apologise, blamed other customers for the dirt and didn't want to see the other problems I offered to show him. He reluctantly offered a spa refund, then had reception staff process it while he stood there. The refund wasn't done, we were recharged, and told they'd sort it out. My friend was charged further too. We then had days of rude exchanges with the reception staff and no apology. Eventually Caroline was the first person to apologise, and the refund was sorted, but only then. Zero stars all round. The manager should be sacked, and reception staff should wear proper uniforms like the restaurant team. It wasn't a good look. We were rude to and treated as if we were in the wrong, even though we explained it from the start and showed our bank statements. None of us will ever return.

The restaurant team, especially Abbie and James, made my elderly parents feel listened to and well cared for. They were travelling with a coach company after Cowes week on the Imperial yacht Standard, but still had a spacious room, and the food was beyond reproach. They also enjoyed learning that the hotel had once been a Romanov residence.

We only used the spa once, but it was pleasant and very clean, with both hot and cool plunge pools. I also had a wonderfully relaxing full massage from Mel. The room was comfortable and cleaned daily, and both breakfast and dinner were excellent, with superb service from the staff. It's well placed for exploring Torquay. We had a great three-night stay and would consider coming back for longer.