The Harbour Lights

Cheap, clean, short walk to local wedding venue

Lovely clean modern room, very good food. Staff very friendly.

On arrival, my wife went to use the toilet and discovered faeces on the seat and pan. We checked the bedding to find the mattress protector with blood and other bodily fluid stains. The lady who then deep cleaned the room did a great job, but explained that she couldn't change the mattress protector, it was changed weekly. I believe that company policy should state that in the event of it being soiled, it should be changed immediately. On our last night, the fire alarm sounded at about 1:30 am. Our biggest concern was that nobody else seemed to be aware of it. The receptionist/night manager was oblivious, despite visible screens to monitor the accommodation. He didn't know how to operate the buildings control panel. It would appear to have been an electrical fault, but we had a very uneasy nights sleep and were keen to depart at dawn. The barmaid who was subsequently tasked with performing a deep clean of the room was very helpful and did her very best under the circumstances. The receptionist/night manager could do with incident training to manage what could have been a very serious incident. Do not think there is free parking available. Parking is £15 for 24 hours. We used the Larkstone Lane car park at £7 for 24 hours, which took us past the excellent Lime Kiln Cafe. There is some free street parking if you can find it, but good luck finding it near the hotel. Ilfracombe is a lovely place with excellent walks and hiking opportunities and surprisingly quiet for mid July.

This is a good, reliable, clean, budget place to stay. We used it when walking Stage 4 of the SW Coast Path - very convenient. Easy to park round the corner at Ropery Road car park. Hearty breakfast available (actually at sister hotel, The Royal Britannia Hotel opposite) overlooking the harbour. We had a fantastic meal at 'Giovanni and Luca' Italian restaurant nearby (booking essential in summer).

Great location but very basic facilities and pretty dirty especially the outside of the toilet bowl which clearly hadnt been cleaned for weeks or months. Clear retraining clearly necessary. Bar are in The Britannia (where you go for brealfast) opposite was grubby.