We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser. The Tripadvisor website may not display properly.We support the following browsers:
Windows: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome. Mac: Safari.
Booking.com
Hotels.com
eDreams
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
Payments made by partners impact the order of prices displayed. Room types may vary.
Nearby Hotels
Reviews (264)
Filter reviews
264 results
Traveller rating
126
59
33
18
28
Traveller type
Time of year
LanguageAll languages
Traveller rating
126
59
33
18
28
Show reviews that mention
All reviews games room self catering water wheel swimming pool north devon owners and staff poster bed woolacombe beach within easy reach a lovely place to stay emus menagerie chickens accommodation sauna teas barnstaple
Selected filters
Filter
Updating list...
89 - 94 of 264 reviews
Reviewed 10 September 2018

When reviewing its important to remember the price v rating. This is a 3 star accommodation and is advertised as such . I stayed one night as a business stop audit was fine . The room was outdated but as a 3 star it had what I needed . Bed was comfortable and I had great nights sleep . Room was fairly warm though and couldn't get the wind to stay open . The bathroom is old and at first glance a bit lacking , however the shower was wonderfully powerful and puts many Prem Inns to shame .Not sure the notices above the toilet stuck up using drawing pins help the quality feel .
The building in wonderful , its old so dont expect a straight line anywhere as you won't find it which is the character that so many places would cry out for.
The lounge is comfy but the furniture tired, the team very friendly and helpful.
I realise that my business is not the target audience so if you are on business there is no food mid week and breakfast is not until 8 am . This proved to late in the day for me and I am disappointed I did stay to try , perhaps another time.
Ilfracombe is a short hop and no end of restaurants .

My only disappointment was that I did not get enough time to explore the grounds and try the pool .
My hat goes off to the owners for keeping an old and probably expensive building running , thank you .

Date of stay: September 2018
  • Trip type: Travelled on business
    • Rooms
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
2  Thank peter S
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
QualityControlNDevon, Owner at Trimstone Manor Country House Hotel, responded to this reviewResponded 10 September 2018

Dear Sammy509

Thank you very much for your kind review. Thank you for the notes you have made too - we can look into some of them!

Sorry about breakfast - we are always happy to consider an early breakfast but just need to know in advance for staffing, that's all.

Glad you had a good night's rest in our characterful and homely property. You are right though - it is a constant job of work maintaining and upgrading as we go but not to detract from the feel of the place.

And we are very happy to welcome business guests any time of the year and soon we'll have the fastest guest Wifi in the whole area.

We shall very much look forwrad to seeing you again and perhpas we shall be able to upgrade you to a Double room as well then for more space and amenities.

All good wishes

Philip J Milton - Owner

Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Reviewed 24 August 2018 via mobile

This place is run down. It is isolated and private. The gardens need attention and the outdoor furniture was in poor repair, dirty and unusable. The main building has dated decor, although the staff were friendly and helpful.

There is a pervasive smell of damp on entry to a self catering block. The beds are lumpy and springy, although the bed linen was very nice. The living area is small and the easy chair/sofas were stained. Equipment such as crockery and pans was good although frying pans were burned.

There is an indoor swimming pool which afforded fun and we used three times. There is plenty of land so a drying area for wet towels etc would be of benefit, especially as it is so close to one of the country’s best beaches at Woolacombe.

If Trimstone Manor was refurbished and modernised and the gardens upgraded it would be a good venue for weddings and parties as it is so private. It would also benefit from a restaurant with an accomplished chef, rather than the Friday and Saturday dinner only option they offer now.

In its present condition I would not recommend it, especially as the cost of renting self-catering is very high at £1500 a week during peak season.

Date of stay: August 2018
Trip type: Travelled with family
15  Thank myraboyle
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
QualityControlNDevon, Owner at Trimstone Manor Country House Hotel, responded to this reviewResponded 5 September 2018

We are sorry "MyraBoyle of Blackpool" felt as she did. At £1300 for a 6-berth cottage at the peak coast (Woolacombe), peak season it is not dear. We are 3 stars not 5 stars. We are clear what we offer & it seemed they enjoyed the facilities & the pool - everything is inclusive & they went home a day early, reducing value to them. We spend an inordinate amount of time on maintenance & improvement (over £1million since we moved here).

We are a characterful property with roots back before the Domesday Book & we feel privileged to live here as custodians. We live on site & employ 2 full-time property men & to respond when anything goes awry (as it will) - we only have 6 cottages. If they had mentioned anything which was not good, (often of which we are not aware until a guest tells us) we should have attended to it instantly. I can't imagine these being shy on coming forward but instead it seems they preferred to keep a list to use to post a negative review as that is quite sad when they were here to enjoy themselves.

If they want brand new, Ikea-style, why come? The cottage, after the hottest and driest summers since 1976 is not 'damp'. 'Very cold' on 11 August? We put the central heating-on for them too so they could have whatever temperature wanted. She describes the Cottage facilities but booked it based on the description and the pictures on the website. If she wanted a bigger one, she could have booked one. The garden furniture is mainly wooden benches - they don't tend to rust.

We are only 1/3rd of a mile from the main A361 artery into N Devon but you come here to enjoy the quiet, safety and seclusion we love. If you are party animals don't come as we don't cater for you. We are registered for weddings and have large parties here as well and the occasional group booking which takes the whole Place. We want the sort of people who come who like what we are doing and trying to do and for the fair prices we charge for a robust & dependable service and not 5 stars at premium cost. The guests who left the same Cottage on these guests' arrival day have been many times and are coming back after having loved it. Their lovely comments in the Cottage Guest book on the day of your arrival noting how clean and tidy in was and what a lovely time they have had must have rankled! It is still a shame that any guests don't enjoy their family time whilst here.

Yours faithfully

Trimstone Manor Cottages

Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Reviewed 22 August 2018

my husband and i had cream tea at trimstone manor
we were way to early .the young lady that served us was really helpful and polite.
she sorted every think out for us with no problem
even the chief came out to make sure every think was perfect
It was a lovely afternoon and myself and my husband really enjoyed it
your staff were brilliant and the cream tea was fantastic thank you for a lovely afternoon
sharon ken se london sunday 18th august 2018

Room tip: we didnt stay here but i wished id book it .so pretty
Date of stay: August 2018
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Sleep Quality
    • Rooms
    • Service
Thank Sharon S
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
QualityControlNDevon, Owner at Trimstone Manor Country House Hotel, responded to this reviewResponded 1 September 2018

Dear Sharon S

Just a short note to thank you so much for your very kind comments. I have circulated them around the Staff so they have been able to see and appreciate them.

We are so pleased that you had a lovely time with us when you visited.

Please do free welcome to come again and we shall very much look forward to serving you once more!

It is always lovely to receive such comment and especially to appreciate the hard efforts of the staff - none of us is perfect but sometimes in hospitality people come with a negatively critical spirit and it is always harder then to please them and they are more likely to not have such a lovely time - which is always a shame.

Thank you again and looking forward to that return visit to stay!

All good wihses

Philip J Milton - Owner

Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Reviewed 18 August 2018

Not great, strange ambiance. Stayed in family room for 5. Hotel manager lovely, friendly and over worked. Got an email from owner (who i think I saw once) on the day I arrived about his finance business. People in 'office' 'set-up', sat outside out our room in hall all day with files all over the place/unlocked. Friendly, but weird they were there. Had to ask for toilet rolls, friendly when did so, but just weird had to ask. Wet towels left on bathroom floor (the shower was so powerful and not attached to fitting that it kept flooding bathroom) Left a day early as raining and the hotel was not nice enough to stay for. The area near is great, but road out from hotel overgrown, so always turn right when leaving, would have been nice to have been warned. Pool great and made it ok, games room good but very grotty. Overall nice enough as the surfing and beaches made the holiday and the pool too was nice, but don't feel it was good value for money. Fridge in room was helpful. Supermarket 10mins drive (Ilfracombe) Bare foot surf school awesome and love the beaches. A very strange hotel, felt like it was running another business first and the hotel was on the side- not sure if this is true.

Date of stay: August 2018
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
13  Thank jengafer
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
QualityControlNDevon, Owner at Trimstone Manor Country House Hotel, responded to this reviewResponded 1 September 2018

Dear Jengafer

Thank you for your review though naturally we were very disappointed to receive it. We realise that we shall never please all the people all the time but how did we and the staff fail so miserably in your case so that you thought we were worth only a 'poor' - 2 out of 5? I fear you chose the wrong sort of Place to spend your Family's peak season, August Bank Holiday few days' vacation.That said, on the booking system you rated things either 4 or 3 - not poor and even here you have said 'overall nice enough'..

Last night I checked-in a young doctor and his wife. Without solicitation and more than once they exclaimed instantly 'what a wonderful Place you have here'.

It's such a shame that you then criticise simple things like the Staff's secondary Reception area which would not have interfered with your stay at all but as you acknowledge gave you instant service upon demand if or when you needed it during the working day.

I am afraid that the problem seems to be that you wanted to have a break in the peak season when space is at a premium, didn't like paying the peak school holiday prices and then were dissatisfied because of that - I don't mean to be rude but that is not our fault but yours either to choose an establishment which will meet your budget or to travel at a cheaper time. You even sacrificed the last night's accommodation for which you paid - which was silly and there are lots of lovely places to visit in the evenings around here too and for the children to have enjoyed the Pool so why come all that way from Southampton for four nights and disappear after just three? Why not ask for guidance as well as happily we could have directed you?

I am sorry that for your family of five the toilet paper did not last as long as the staff had allowed but pleased to learn that upon request that was instantly rectified. I apologise if any of the daily room-tidying was not done to your satisfaction - I don't quite understand with the towels as we should have happily changed those and for the Pool too. As for the staff, they work hard yes but in the peak period it is the nature of the beast though looking after guests' usual needs is not a challenge!

Thank you for your comment on the shower - we have not had any comments that it was too powerful before. We shall have a look at that. There is a screen around it of course. The bathroom was fully refurbished to a high standard not all that long ago.

The Road - it is a Devon County Council road and we use it all the time and I suppose are used to it as a typical Devon Lane! The hedges are cut when nature has done its stuff - in the autumn. As I write we are entertaining a family who arrived in their Bentley so I suppose it is subjective but articulated lorries, big coaches and fire tenders have been down here recently too. Personally I do advise people that if they are not used to narrow roads and have trouble reversing to avoid going 'left' out the Hotel - it is not much greater distance to go 'around' regardless.

I should add that for us too Trimstone is our Family home as well and we love living here and enjoying the unique and beautiful setting and great location, as you appreciated. We have spent over seven figures on the Property since we arrived eleven years ago and whilst there is always something to do and which needs doing as it is an older property with roots in the Domesday Book and before, we feel we are a characterful property with the ambiance of a homely and comfortable place for guests to stay. If you want Ikea minimalism, then we are not it.

I am sorry that we did not meet your expectations but respectfully, aside from my apology over the shower and the toilet rolls, we weren't really for you at all so I do encourage you to ensure your research beforehand in future provides a more suitable place to stay for the Family but regrettably, we are not 'it'.

Yours faithfully

Philip J Milton - Owner

Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Reviewed 14 August 2018 via mobile

My wife and I have had the privilege of staying at Trimstone Manor on several occasions. It is a gem tucked away from noise, pollution, dissonance and the complexity of life.
Located between Braunton and Ilfracombe in North Devon, the lane to the Manor is marked by a Union Jack flag that flies proudly, marking a wonderful lane of woodland beauty that opens up to an extraordinary structure of history and peace.
Peacocks and turkeys (that the owner Philip communicated with whilst we were there!) were only a tiny part of the natural beauty that Trimstone affords.
Overlooking rolling hills, ancient trees and a two-tiered garden of exquisite taste, the main grounds front a spectacular ancient structure, complete with the old wheel house (where the heated pool is) nestled between an entire mini village of cottages and the main Manor house with the most beautiful,spacious rooms imaginable.
The interior of the Manor is an eclectic mix of tradition and history as Philip's taste and penchant for antiques will attest to.
The Wheel House is authentic with an ancient water wheel and tools, complete with a stream running through it, only adding to the ambiance of a time gone by.
Philip Milton and his lovely wife Helen are the most generous and welcoming hosts, far exceeding our expectations with kindness afforded only from the highest caliber of human beings.
Honoured and privileged to have discovered Trimstone Manor and look forward to many more visits in the future.

Date of stay: August 2018
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Thank sfro67
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
View more reviews