Name: Hotel Riviera
Address: The Esplanade, Exeter
Telephone: 0745 127 3975
Rating: 4.5

Superb

Spot On in Sidmouth

Liked: Lovely hotel located on the Esplanade.Lots of attentive staff.Comfortable room.Nice terrace on the front of the hotel.Parking available.
Disliked: Nothing.

Very good

We would look to come...

Liked: Location. Directly on the sea front and in the town Nice restaurant as well as outside eating area overlooking promenade Friendly and welcoming staff. Parking given the limited parking in the townFood really good and served well
Disliked: No air conditioning in rooms pity as all rooms had been refurbished Price of restaurant and tariff

Good

Excellent comfortable hotel with attentive...

Liked: Era of the 20s
Disliked: Nothing

Idea location for a visit...

Disliked: Nothing really

Wonderful staff great location.

Liked: The staff were wonderful. Very friendly and polite. One waitress got my order slightly wrong both days but nothing major. Overall great staff.
Disliked: Weak flow on shower and no Aircon in a heatwave, but to be fair the hotel was an older building. Could have done with less harsh lighting behind the bed as like the main lighting fixture it was also a mini chandelier. Much too bright for me. If I'm relaxing in bed I want low lighting, but this was somewhat reminiscent of Tesco. Though very aesthetic. Food and alcohol prices were really expensive with Pims and lemonade coming in at £14.95 and evening meal starting at £55.00 per head for three courses. I ate elsewhere in the evenings. I can't justify £55.00 for one meal. Breakfast was complicated compared to other buffet/make your own meal hotels with extra charges for each type of breakfast, so if you want cereal and full English with tea and toast, you'll be paying a lot as they are all separate charged. One pot of tea for example will set you back £4.95 at the time of writing (July 25). Parking is charged at £10 per day but then spaces are limited, so it helps to secure a bay for those that need it. Me being one of them. With all that in mind, I don't think I'll be returning. But that's a shame, because I thought the staff were exceptionally lovely and the location was perfect..I wish I'd brought my music as they have a grand piano on the lounge bar. Oh well...

Location great , service poor...

Liked: Day 1 was good. We slept well. Comfy bed .We ate at the Hotel at 17.54. We took advantage of the cheaper cocktails, before we & our two friends ate outside on the hotels terrace. I thought the bill looked weird, it described us as walk-ins? We spent £143.54 including a tip. We left the terrace at 20.01 and retired to bed for an early night.
Disliked: Day 2 I went to reception and met the lady receptionist from the previous day. She informed me there would be live music on today as there is every Saturday at this time of year. I asked the times of the music, she said 1400- 1600 and a barbecue would also be happening. I said that sounds great, we may ask our friends if they would like to pop in before we go out for dinner. At 11.30am we left the hotel and visited our friends at their hotel, then spent the day with them . At about 1700, we all walked back to the Riviera, to find no barbecue and no music. I walked into the cocktail bar and asked the barman, what happened to the live music. He said I don’t know, we always have music on a Saturday.We decided to go for a drink elsewhere and returned to our room at 18.15hrs.When we got to our room,the please clean our room notice was still on the door. I was filled with dread. On opening the door it was obvious that nobody had been in the room, bed not made, no toilet rolls, no tea no coffee no milk and wet towels.I was not happy so went to reception. I was greeted by a girl receptionist I had not seen before. I told her what had happened, she said this does not happen at this hotel, I said it has now and what are you going to do about it.She said I will ensure your room is 1st to be cleaned tomorrow. I said no thanks, we leave tomorrow. We need toilet rolls, tea and coffee and towels now, my wife is making the bed. After 4 visits a girl who told my wife she had just started today at 1700 on her Ist day ,delivered all the missing items. We checked out at 1100 next morning, they tried to charge us for 2 teas costing over £8, which we never had. I asked for a reduction off the £342.38 we had paid for the room, because of it not being serviced. They said they couldn’t take anything off the bill, as it had already been paid. They knocked off the £20 for our car parking - REALLY😡 ,Not the special service we expected.