The Royal Hotel 
Barnstaple Street (Bideford) EX39 4AE
This historic hotel has first-class food, friendly service and a great location for North Devon's sights, including Clovelly village and the picturesque Tarka Trail for walkers and cyclists.
The Royal Hotel is at the eastern end of ancient Bideford Bridge and close to public transport. It is easy to explore the centre of Bideford and the quayside, where you can catch a boat to Lundy Island.
The hotel is associated with the 17th-century Court of Assize and the author, Sir Charles Kingsley, who wrote some of 'The Water Babies' and 'Westward Ho!' whilst staying here.
At The Royal Hotel, rooms are clean, comfortable and have 24-hour room service. One of the hotel's famous features is the oak-panelled Kingsley Room, with its ornate, sculpted ceiling.
Score from 451 reviews
Exceptional
8.1/10
Rooms: 24
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Address: Barnstaple Street, Bideford EX39 4AE 
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What people say
The friendly atmosphere, and helpful staff, also the carparking facilities are excellent. The full English breakfast is fantastic. The ambience, the food and the helpfull and attentive staff. good service from staff. Helpful Staff. restaurant. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The room for 2 adults and 1 small child was a very good size and was kept clean throughout our stay. A traditional hotel, nice touches like having a large fruit hamper and chocolates on arrival all added to an enjoyable stay. all reviews »
The high quality of room and public areas and facilities. Everything very well presented. The price of the double room was exceptionally good value for money at £65 for BandB. Position, ideal for our purpose. Everything was fine - no issues at all.- all perfect.the atmosphere and ambience were very agreeable. Food and staff were excellent. Great food and service, the head waiter cared.First class food. Great friendly staff. The quality of the fittings. Staff very very good, restaurant was a pleasant surprise for eveing meals - small menu but very well presented food. bathroom I had was great - all new and modern - great shower!. very comfortable and clean. Handy for where I needed to be.A pleasant and comfortable hotel, with good staff. Lovely hotel right in the town close to all facilities in bideford and easy access to cornwall and devon. I loved my room.. Very cosy ... although weirdly small sink for a bigroom... Tv wasnt tuned very well. High level of staff capability and knowledge not only of the hotel butimmediate local area.welcoming clean and well presented evening meals were lovely. Clean and reasonable value for money. Quality of bedrooms. Choice of food. Very nice room. Great location and views of the river. The Staff are all friendly and the hotel is clean.Food excellent. Hotel staff also excellent. Excellent food (we had dinner).Friendly and helpful staff. very comfortable room. the basket of fruit. The location of the hotel and the interior decor. Very impressive staircase. Excellent breakfast.The rooms and bathrooms were spacious. However, the decor was a little bit dated. Very polite staff, Good time range for meals, very relaxed atmosphere. Good position with a nice walk into Bideford across the bridge. The extra little touches - fruit and chocolates in room. Location as I was visiting my parents in Bideford. Good sized room and good value. The room very cozy and came equiped with chocolates and fruit.helpful friendly staff. Easy and friendly. The evening meals are good quality and very good value for money. bar meal was excellent value for money. Breakfast and dinner were good. The staff were fantastic. Friendly staff. The staff were friendly and helpful. The breakfast was good. Parking was close by.Good Food. location, breakfast.The food was good, the room was spacious and clean, plenty of bits and pieces, soap etc - tea and coffee. Two small points: Parking is difficult. I couldn't find a space on arrival. A waitress at breakfast had a heavy cold and couldn't stop sniffing. Someone should have suggested she went home for her own good and comfort of guests.Loud banging doors late at night and early in the morning, other top marks. Because it is a listed building with original windows - I slept in a room on the front and traffic noise and late night reveller noise was very intrusive - it did not particularly spoil my staff but could upset others. Not necessarily anything the hotel can fix but an observation all the same.breakfast - Poached eggs were overcooked. Other than that it was great. No, some of the staff were a bit grumpy serving behind the bar at thewedding party. One was particularly rude to me when I had forgotten totell him to charge my room and he had rung it up on the till!!! Ohdear... End of the world dear!. Minimal parking. the breakfast was dry and burned. Traffic Noise. The room was exactly what was expected. Same complaint about the hard pillows and the noise from the streets.The television did not have all channels, and despite asking twice it was not resolved and no feed back from the staff was given. Not your fault, but there is a lot of traffic noise and rush-hour seems to start at 5.30 a.m.! Perhaps double glazing the windows of rooms over the junction would help.Saturday breakfast was unlike the other 3 with table in the bar, no buffet and options unobtainable through ordering. Felt as though we were not wanted that morning. other breakfasts were excellent. service in the restaurant was not up to the standard we expected from the quality of the hotel. eg taking the food order before the drinks order!. They didn't provide much service and we had to deal with our own luggage. Everyone seemed to be more busy with FandB arrangements. A little dangerous crossing road from car park to hotel entrance due to nature of road , but of couse this is really out of hotels control.The mascerator in the toilets make a lot of noise. Our room was over the main entrance and a wedding party being held atthe hotel all congregated outside the front door to smoke. A little morethought and care in giving us a room away from what was obviously goingto be a noisy area would have been appreciated.Car parking can be fraught. Food could be imporved as I had to send my boiled eggs back. Better checking of receipts as I had a bottle of wine wrongly signed off against my room. The porter who let us in at midnight was very grumpy, almost to the point of being rude. I think we must have woke him up!. bathroom was tiny. A bit of an OAP's hotel. It could do with a redecorating.ran out of fruit salad at breakfast before 9am. The bathroom needs updating, poor shower/bath.Yes the bathroom just about managed 1 star. It was not up to a 3star rating. A new shower head only costs £20.00. Bar could have done with a TV even if on silent, also TV in rooms were a little high up. It was cold in the bedroom on the first night - however we found out how to actually turn the heating back on. The double bed was actually 2 singles put together making it somewhat uncomfortable.The evening meal, to which we had invited guests, was not good. The rooms need a makeover to bring them up to standard of a 3* hotel.Uncomfortable bed and shower hopeless in bathroom. I have stayed here before and was not impressed with prices for using wireless internet, the room was small and had a draught. when I got in at 11pm on the friday night the staff were very unfriendly.booked for a wedding I appeared to be the only person in the hotel bar that was not at the wedding because iof this felt uncomfortable. Would it not have been better to inform other guests that the hotel n this occasion was booked people attending wedding. The lack of a proper welcome to hotel, poor quality of breakfast general impression not wanted. The staff were unfriendly and quite off at times, i asked for a double room and had two single beds pushed together which was not comfortable and the windows rattled most of the nite.
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The Royal Hotel Room information
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Standard Twin Room
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2 |
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GBP 75.00 |
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Rooms have an en suite bathroom and a TV.
Room Facilities:
Work Desk, TV, Toilet, Telephone, Tea/Coffee Maker, Shower, Radio, Ironing Facilities, Heating, Hairdryer, Fan, Bathroom Amenities, Bathroom
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Standard Single Room
[Room Information]
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1 |
from
GBP 61.00 |
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Rooms have an en suite bathroom and a TV.
Room Facilities:
Work Desk, TV, Toilet, Telephone, Tea/Coffee Maker, Shower, Radio, Ironing Facilities, Heating, Hairdryer, Fan, Bathroom Amenities, Bathroom
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Standard Twin/Double Room
[Room Information]
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2 |
from
GBP 75.00 |
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Rooms have an en suite bathroom and a TV. Please advise the hotel if you have any room preference.
Room Facilities:
Work Desk, TV, Toilet, Telephone, Tea/Coffee Maker, Shower, Radio, Ironing Facilities, Heating, Hairdryer, Fan, Bathroom Amenities, Bathroom, Bath
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Deluxe Twin / Double Room
[Room Information]
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2 |
from
GBP 95.00 |
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Some of these larger rooms have river views or king-size beds. Please request Twin or Double when booking.
Room Facilities:
TV, Toilet, Telephone, Tea/Coffee Maker, Shower, Radio, Ironing Facilities, Heating, Hairdryer, Fan, Bathroom Amenities, Bathroom, Bath
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Amenities at The Royal Hotel
Services
Wi-Fi/Wireless LAN, Internet Services, Free Wi-Fi Internet Access
Miscellaneous
Non-Smoking Rooms, Heating, Elevator, All Public and Private spaces non-smoking
General
Pets Allowed, Parking on-site, Parking , Free Parking
Front-desk/reception area services
24-Hour Front Desk
Food & Drink
Special Diet Menus (on request), Room Service, Restaurant, Breakfast details, Bar
Food & Drink
Breakfast is served from 07:30 until 09:30.
Lunch is served from 12:00 until 14:00.
Dinner is served from 19:00 until 21:00.
Hotel information details
Whatever the reason, a stay at the Royal Hotel will feel truly special, whether we are catering for your wedding; looking after your business meeting; or serving you a special occasion dinner. A stay at the Royal Hotel will feel truly special.
The Royal Hotel enjoys an excellent reputation for first class cuisine and friendly, courteous service. Delicious table d’hôte and chef's speciality menus, mean you can enjoy the finest, freshly cooked food at the bar or in the more formal surroundings of the regency restaurant or Kingsley Room.
Afterwards, try a liqueur coffee in the comfortable lounge bar.
Important information to guests
Please note that dogs are only accepted in standard rooms at the managers discretion and that there is a daily charge of £3.00 per dog. Dogs are not allowed in any public rooms unless they one for a vision impaired or hearing impaired person.
Information about the area
The Royal Hotel, sitting proudly on the Eastern side of Bideford's Ancient Bridge, has a long history. The writer Charles Kingsley wrote much of his famous novels, The Water Babies and Westward Ho! at the hotel. Bideford, which he described as 'The Little White Town', is just a short walk across the river and is a great place to explore.
Alternatively, you could board the Kathleen and May, a beautifully restored 3-masted Schooner which makes its home on Bideford quayside.
Travelling information
By Car:
- From the M5, take junction 27 to the A361 & Barnstaple.
- Follow signs to Barnstaple before taking the A39 to Bideford.
- Approaching Bideford, turn right before the bridge and follow the sign for Instow.
- Turn left at the roundabout and follow the road ahead to the hotel.
- Old Bideford Bridge is on the right and the Royal Hotel's private car park is on the left.
By Public Transport:
The train and bus stations are located in Barnstaple town centre, where you'll find regular bus services to Bideford.
The Royal Hotel Policies
Check-in
15:00 -
Check-out
07:00 - 11:00
Accepted CreditCards at Hotel
The hotel reserves the right to preauthorise credit cards prior to arrival.
American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, Maestro (Switch), MasterCard
Cancellation Policy
If cancelled up to 2 days before date of arrival, no fee will be charged.
If cancelled later or in case of no-show, the first night will be charged.
Children and Extra Bed Policy
All children are welcome.
All children under 2 years stay free of charge when using existing bedding.
All children under 2 years stay free of charge for cots.
All older children or adults are charged GBP 10 per night per person for extra beds.
Maximum capacity of extra beds/babycots in a room is 2.
Deposit Policy
No deposit will be charged.
VAT and city/tourist taxes
17.5 % VAT is included.
Service charge is not applicable.
City/tourist tax is included.
Internet
Internet via modem is available in the hotel rooms and costs GBP 10 per hour.
Meal Plan
Full English breakfast is included in the room rate.
Parking
Free public parking is possible on site (reservation is not needed).
Pets
Pets are allowed on request. Charges may be applicable.
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