Live Love Eat Awards at the Deer Park Hotel, Honiton, Devon

I have just been to the inaugural 2014 LiveLoveEat Food and Drink awards ceremony at the fabulous Deer Park Hotel, set within 80 acres near Honiton, Devon.  It was raining so I didn’t get to explore the 80 acres of land – but it looked good.  I met some lovely people (‘Hi’ to Choclette and the Pig and Whistle!) and had some delicious food.

The food was great and all sourced in the West country.

It was a lovely venue and can really imagine having a wedding there.

Susan from Devon Life said that she really enjoyed staying at the hotel overnight – and so had her dog!  They are a very dog-friendly hotel. They are welcome to stay in rooms and there is even a pooch pamper area.

There was much excitement about the new treehouse suite which will soon be a feature of the hotel – a great idea for a special anniversary or the first night of wedded life!  The ground floor communal areas looked well-maintained and attractive.

 Overall, a great place for a celebration, a function or a special place to stay.  The location is quiet and beautiful and the hotel owner seems ebullient and fun.

Hotel Review: The Toorak Hotel, Torquay, Devon

I visited the Toorak Hotel in Torquay this week.  It is part of the TLH group.  I was at Oak House at the weekend, Bovey Castle last week and Dartington Hall a few weeks earlier so I had to look at this with new eyes as it was an entirely different experience and probably in an entirely different price range.  It was boiling hot and had no aircon (but what hotel in UK does?!)  The bedroom was OK.  It was not modern and the bright blue stripe around the ceiling was bizarre.  Why was it not white?  It was just me staying there and the room slept three people so it was spacious and ample.  The room was clean and tidy but at one point I did get a cobweb in my face so it might not have been used for a while.  I have just looked up the prices and discovered that the room costs about £133 for B and B.  I thought it would have been more reasonable.

The view from my room was pretty bad, and I was a little worried about security as there was a flat roof beneath my open windows.

I spent a few hours by the outdoor pool (included in the room price) which made me feel like I was in Europe.  I have to admit that I swam in the indoor Aztec Spa pool as the outdoor pool felt too chilly and was filled with children.  There are two very nice pools within the Aztec facility - both open for free to residents.  One was cooler, rectangular and larger, the other was warmer and not so much for doing lengths - more of a leisure pool.  There were other leisure facilities that children would love and if I had been there longer, I would have used them.

As the sun went down, the outside terrace was perfect.  Overlooking the tennis court here, safely in a chair of course!  The bed was comfortable overnight and the wake up call was efficient and on time.  The bathroom was clean.

I was a guest at The Toorak Hotel but I was allowed to write what I chose.

Review: A Day at Bovey Castle in the Sunshine

Bovey Castle is a stunning place (or resort as they call it) nr North Bovey in the middle of Dartmoor National Park, Devon.  It is a hotel, golf course, spa plus bistro and restaurant.

We visited on a stunningly hot July day and made the most of it.  You can just see the edge of the Boules pit in the foreground of the photo above.  We spent a lot of the day on those two sun loungers that are almost out of the picture.  And yes, I did get sunburnt....! Grrrrr.

There are many public rooms where you can slurp a cuppa or read a magazine but we were really impressed with the bistro lunch.  There is a beautiful terrace where you can sit in the sun or shade and admire the stunning views.   Above you can see the Lemon Sole that I ordered and the homemade fishcakes that my partner devoured.

Thanks to the generosity of my Australian friend, I had a Spa Experience which meant my first time getting a Hot Stone Massage (this was fairly firm on my back and was preceded by a blissful foot scrub) and a Mini Facial which was exquisite.  The beautician was very skilled and made me feel lovely.  My partner used the gym and then we had the indoor pool and sauna to ourselves as we made the most of them.  There was also a steam room but I am  not a fan of them.  My only quibble was that the Ladies changing rooms had a rack of lockers but they were all locked and had no keys.  I would have liked to use one and the changing room was consequently rather cluttered with everyone's clothes and bags.

Day membership (which my partner used) was £25 which includes all activities and towels excl lunch and golf.  There are some good Groupon deals for the golf at the moment (July 15).  Overall I would highly recommend it.  They say that children are very welcome too - it was during the week and we saw none although we did see the Falconer heading out with his dog and birds.