Two on holiday in Torquay – Lincombe Hall Hotel

It’s getting to the end of my work holiday year, so I needed to take some more holiday before I lost it.  The OH was busy on the farm, so I booked N some time off nursery and 2 days before we were due to go away I was on the internet in the middle of the night frantically trying to book somewhere to stay.

I decided because it was only the 2 of us that a hotel was best.  I was hoping that Devon would have some hope of being warmer, so decided to holiday in Torquay.  Luckily I’m pretty quick at packing things to go away, so it wasn’t too painless.  I do think next time we go away, I should really wash the car because it did look embarrassingly filthy in the hotel car park compared to the other shiny clean cars.  It was a bit ‘spot the farmer’s car’.

Because it was fairly short notice, we were restricted on hotel availability, but actually it turned out really well.  We stayed at Lincombe Hall Hotel, slightly up the hill about Torquay centre.  My essentials are always free wifi in rooms (necessary for evenings when I’m on my own and N’s asleep) and a car park.  Lincombe Hall also has an indoor pool so we were really treated. (Note: shortly after we stayed, Lincombe Hall hotel changed to a no children hotel, so do check minimum age if you want to stay with older children)

I’d chosen a deluxe kingsize room because family rooms are hard to come by, and in a large bed, N and I could just share it.  But I wasn’t expecting a boutique hotel.  Yes the outside of the hotel was immaculate, a lovely clean white, but I was really impressed with our room.  It was really beautifully decorated, with gorgeous chunky wooden furniture.

I do like lots of storage, and there was plenty in our room.  I struggled with the hairdryer the first morning because I was only getting cold out, but in the end it was just a switch direction issue.

N was just really surprised by the rotating door to enter.  I did worry about him getting carried away and not stepping out, but he got the hang of it pretty quickly.  I was told that he had to go first everytime we arrived or left.

The staff were all lovely at the hotel, really helpful whether we asked about something in the hotel, or asking about leaflets and recommendations for days out.  I was impressed that every single one seemed to know our room number for breakfast.  I’m presuming a) because it wasn’t peak season and b) because we only spotted one other family with children there.  Even the other guests were chatty, helping us with our luggage and bits and pieces down the stairs when N was struggling to carry his trunki and paddlepak.

From our hotel window we overlooked the garden and outdoor swimming pool.  N loved watching the workmen who were digging out the bottom of the pool each morning.  Thankfully we weren’t hanging around the hotel in the day because we needed the windows open to cool the room down, and it would have been a bit noisy with the workmen.  But it was good entertainment for N.

Of course one of the first things we did on arrival was to spread out the tourist leaflets to plan our days out.  N just wanted to go to the beach, but it’s one of my favourite things on holiday, to read about the area and work out the plans for our holiday.

Apart from mooching every so often back in our room when we needed a break, N liked going to see the swimming pool.  I couldn’t understand it, but every day were were there, he wanted to walk down and see it.  Just to go in and look at it.

We had taken our swimming gear though, so we did go for a swim on one day.  It was bliss, if only 4 strokes long, and N had a blast, pretending that he was my swimming teacher, as well as doing some swimming himself.  There’s also a jacuzzi, although it was out of order when were were there.

We were a bit lazy because we went everywhere by car.  The hotel wasn’t far from Torquay centre and harbour, but it was a pretty steep hill (even walking up the car park was tiring – shows how unfit I am!), and I knew that N would have a moan about walking all the way back up in the evenings.  The hotel did bar food and a restaurant, but we ate out each night.

We didn’t really get out much further than the harbour in Torquay when walking around.  It wasn’t too busy, because it was still out of season, but most evenings, the restaurants we chose were all crowded.

It was lovely walking round by the harbour.  N was more excited about the sound of the bridge as we walked over it.  But there’s always so much to see.  It was lovely to get to explain the fishing nets and what the harbour was used for.

One thing that intrigued N was how Torquay lit up their lights in the evenings. N was confused because ‘it isn’t Christmas, Mummy’. But it really did make the place feel more special when you’re walking around after a nice meal.

I shall split our holiday posts to avoid boring you all stupid, but it was a lovely break in a gorgeous hotel that turned out to be a bit of a surprise vs what I expected.

Check out all my family day out recommendations for Devon

Have you been to Devon before? What type of accommodation do you tend to stay in when on holiday?