Reviews of Dartington Hall 4 stars

It was a medieval estate: the building and especially gardens look beautiful. The cafes and the pub serve good food.

Medieval estate certainly puts some constraints: the room is small and the windows look a bit like arrow slits.

Comfy bed. Nice walks, wonderful walk to the Glade where we had a venue there.

Mold in bathroom.

The gardens are still beautiful.

I was shocked with how under staffed (no-one at reception) and run down the Hotel property was. Our room had been double booked so we walked into someone in our room. We had to wait a very long time to get the situation sorted. Happily we were upgraded. But I found the quality of both the rooms and the breakfast of low standard.The food at the white Hart was also not to be repeated.The re-use of the previously famous arts school at Dartington was depressing with many of the buildings falling into decay. The once drama studio is now a virtual golf course, the student blocks are crumbling and the swimming pool empty with weeds growing in it etc.

Breakfast was great. The location and grounds are spectacularly beautiful. The whole place felt like a retreat.

Is it really necessary to have 3 locks on the toilet and shower?? Also, it was noisy when guests shut their doors and the front door as well. I tried to shut them quietly but it was difficult.

Room 3, friendly swallows said hello.

Room 3, damp wall, maybe from blocked down pipe.

Dartington Hall is a fabulous place to stay - interesting buildings, lovely setting, free range of the beautiful gardens and a pub on site. What's not to like?

The room was rather small, though it was described as a 'cosy' double. Fine for a couple for one night or so but no longer.

We were in a supreme double room. The room itself was lovely and the bed was very comfortable and huge - plenty of space for 2 people to sleep without even noticing each other, which was helpful for us as I was sharing with a family member. The grounds are obviously beautiful and the location fantastic.

I feel the property is let down by the fact the on site pub has gone significantly downhill in recent years. The breakfast we were served in the morning was full of nice ingredients which unfortunately were poorly cooked. For example, the lovely eggs were fried in what was clearly old, overused oil and were covered in black burnt remnants of previous eggs (at least I hope that’s what they were). It literally looked as though they’d been cooked in dustpan. And the chef saw fit to serve them up as though that was perfectly normal. But we weren’t all that surprised after paying for an evening meal on a previous visit where everything was oversalted and lukewarm. I therefore think the hotel in general is charging a bit much based on previous reputation. Things like the breakfast do not match the luxury price tag.

i know Dartington v well so lovely to be there. Staff very nice and breakfast good.

I was allotted a disabled room.... why i have no idea - and certainly not what I booked. The bedroom was fine however the wetroom was old, grubby and not the sort of facilities I would have wanted if I was disabled which I am not. Very second class. I asked if this was really my room and was told yes and because Dartington was very full with a wedding This was a Friday and i saw NO sign of any wedding that day or Saturday. Not happy.

Shops, cinema and exhibition on site.

The Japanese garden is very poorly maintained. It is one of my favourite Dartington spots.

Beautiful surroundings, peaceful and so much history. A variety of cafes to eat, lovely food and fantastic service. The grounds are incredible, lovely nature trails

A fascinating historic building in a delightful part of Devon, with lots of different things on the estate, as well as the hotel. The rooms are not super-modern but are satisfactory as regards facilities, and comfortable and quiet. The White Hart is an excellent pub for straightforward tasty pub food and some additional touches such as a creditable tapas selection. The waitstaff were very pleasant and helpful. My request for a room with shower cubicle, rather than bath, was promptly met on booking, and this promise was kept. I enjoyed my stay, despite the downsides noted.

The parking is the weakest aspect, since there is no dedicated parking for hotel guests. Instead you have to use a huge general public car park for all visitors to the estate. Hotel residents can ignore the pay-to-park machines and enter the licence plate number on checking in, but it's easy to miss this in the small print of the arrival instructions - although it is praiseworthy in general that these are so detailed. I arrived at 7:30pm on a Friday and ended up having to squeeze into the far end of the car park, then drag my luggage quite a distance to the reception, across terrain not very suitable for dragging luggage. There are a lot of stairs and random steps, and no lifts - also tough going at my age. In fairness you are warned about this, and it is unquestionably part & parcel of the building's historic nature. Breakfast runs until 9:30 which is OK but not as good as some places especially at the weekend. A 10am checkout is rather early. Quite expensive for the room size and degree of luxury, but it was a very popular date just after the state of school holidays.

Beautiful grounds

The room was minuscule. Could hardly fit our suitcase in the room without having to walk over it. The room felt dirty and clearly needed a painting. The on suite bathroom was across the hall. 🙁

Breakfast was perfect - relaxed atmosphere, delicious, well layed out. I had not booked into the restaurant for dinner but they found me a space and the sea trout was fabulous. Staff were very helpful and polite.

My room smelled a little musty - I understand, the building is old and historic.

Fantastic location in a beautiful historic building. lovely gardens and a tranquil atmosphere.

Amazing setting Quiet White Hart Garden cafe

Very uncomfortable bed which ruined our stay Needs updating

Room, location, the estate as a whole, breakfast, kindly staff

comfortable. Gorgeous setting. Loved my walk in the gardens in the evening, and along the river the next day.

I received a parking ticket as I didn't have time to figure out to pay for parking.

Ancient and wonderful

Own loo in room