Atlantis

The welcome was lovely, but my stay at Atlantis ended on a very different note. On my last day, I expected Steph or Simon to come up, or at least leave a note about checking out and where to leave the key. There was no communication at all, which felt like a stark contrast to my arrival. After the incident the day before, I didn’t see Steph again, though I heard her chatting with my neighbour. She never asked how I was getting on. Torquay has hotels all over the place, and I wondered whether a guest who chose yours would even get a thank you for staying. I’d booked four nights. Before arriving, Steph was friendly on the phone, and Simon replied quickly whenever I emailed about the booking. They own the guest house and live below it. Steph greeted me with a huge smile, gave me lots of leaflets and a guide to Torquay, explained which buses to catch and suggested places to eat. I thought that was fantastic service. The house is cosy and clean, about a 10 minute walk from the seafront, with shops, cafes, pubs and takeaways nearby. A cooked breakfast is available for an extra cost, but I chose to eat at the cafes around there and recommend @cafedelmar. My room was spacious and the TV had plenty of channels. The Wi-Fi worked well, and there was a hairdryer and fan in the cupboard. Tea and coffee facilities were in the room, though no biscuits. There’s an iron and ironing board on the floor above. I appreciated having an ensuite, but it was extremely small. You could barely move around: one step in to sit on the toilet, then another to get into the shower cubicle. I’m very slim and still struggled with the space. My first evening went well. The next morning I got up around 7:00am and was getting ready. At about 7:30am I went to iron my clothes, though I wasn’t planning to leave until about 8:00am. The iron didn’t work. Since hotels serving cooked breakfast usually start at 7:30am, I assumed Steph would be awake and rang her doorbell. When she came up, she looked furious. I explained about the iron, and she seemed completely distressed. I apologised, and she said, “I wanted a lie in today.” She checked the iron, saw it was broken, and I said not to worry, I’d sort something out. Then she looked at the top I planned to wear and said, “that doesn’t even need ironing, I’m going back to bed.” Looking back, I found Steph rude and unprofessional. I was a paying customer and thought the facilities provided would be available. If I couldn’t use an iron at 7:30am, was I supposed to wait for her Ladyship to finish her lie in? If I ran a guest house and a customer told me an appliance I’d provided had failed, I’d feel bad and offer my own iron so they could get on with their day. I wouldn’t make them feel bad for asking, that’s part of a hotel manager or owner’s job. I’ll definitely visit Torquay again, but I won’t stay at Atlantis again.

We had a lovely stay in this quiet, comfortable room. It was clean, with pubs nearby and a shop just up the road, which was really handy. Steph was a lovely host and did everything she could to help us enjoy our visit. She suggested the best places to see and even showed us a road where we could park for free. Torquay is only a 10 minute walk away, so getting into town was easy.

We had a fantastic two days in Torquay and will definitely stay at Atlantis again, even though it rained the whole time. Simon and Steph were friendly, helpful hosts, and Steph knew loads about the area. She suggested places to visit and how to get there by public transport. We took the local bus and bought a £7 day rider each, which was well worth it: you can hop on and off Stagecoach buses across a wide area. We travelled from Torquay to Paignton and then Brixham for a lovely day out. Our room was clean, with tea and coffee making facilities and a TV, and the bed was comfortable. We booked bed and breakfast, and the full English was fantastic: bacon, sausage, eggs, beans, hash browns, mushrooms and tomatoes. There was toast, cereal and orange juice too. Thank you, Simon and Steph 😃

The proprietor was cheerful and pleasant, and helped with our bags. I was upgraded to a first floor room so I didn’t have to climb too many stairs, and felt very welcome in this homely place. There are plenty of takeaways and shops nearby, including an off-licence, and it’s handy for buses to the town centre and train station. I’ll definitely return.