Ingleside

We visited for 2 nights with our son and his fiancée and can’t fault the really homely b&b. Diana welcomed us and showed us to our room which overlooked Lynton and the hills beyond. We had a fresh bottle of water, tea/coffee/hot chocolate and lovely biscuits which were replenished daily. Our bathroom had a bath with a shower overhead. A nice touch was the bath foam/bath salts for soaking those weary legs after a day of walking. Breakfast was ordered the night before with full English, omelette, eggs, porridge all part of the menu, together with toast, home made jams & marmalade all washed down with tea or coffee. The b&b is very close to the beautiful Valley of Rocks coastal path and a walk down the hill takes you to Lynmouth with its shops and woodland walk to Watersmeet. If you can’t tackle the climb back up, there is always the cliff railway! There is parking on site and there are plenty of restaurants just down the hill on the main street so your car won’t be needed as everything is within walking distance. Can recommend the Oak Room and Number 10. Will definitely re-visit. Thank you Diana and Keith for making us feel so welcome.

This is quite possibly one of the best places we have stayed in. Keith & Diana devote so much time and energy into ensuring that you enjoy your stay. When we arrived they gave us such a warm and genuine welcome, everything we talked about they remembered. They were so accommodating when I explained that my husband is in the army and prefers to sit with his back to the wall-they immediately changed our breakfast/dinner table around. The room is full of personal touches. Muscle soak and bath salts in the bathroom (it’s a walkers paradise so for this we were incredibly grateful!) They replenished the tea/coffee daily including fresh water and a cold bottle for keeping the milk cool. The room was always clean and fresh and they had the brilliant idea of getting us to fill out what we would like for breakfast the day before on a menu, which we took down before we went out for the day/evening. There was even a quirky In/Out board for when we left/entered the building-we felt very looked after! Diana and Keith are the type of people you want to come back and tell them all about your day. Nothing was too much trouble. The food was exquisite, made with love is an understatement. It was honestly like a home from home-except theirs is better! We will definitely be returning, if not for the holiday but just to say hello!

Had a great 3 night stay at Ingleside over the busy jubilee period during which the hotel was fully occupied. The property is beautiful, and the interior is what I’d describe as ‘charming’ rather than modern. Very comfortable, traditional and homely. I’d think of it as a ‘grand b&b’ rather than a hotel. The hotel is very centrally located with a local convenience store a stones throw away. We booked late, and had a relatively small room. Despite being small it was comfortable and had fantastic views over Countisbury Hill, the sea and Lynton itself. The town itself is fairly sleepy - don’t expect a huge range of places to eat and drink, most places close in the afternoon and there’s only two or three places that serve food during the evening. Lynmouth, a short walk down (but not up!) has a few more places but is much busier due to the seafront setting. Booking for dinner anywhere here is essential! The owners, Diana and Keith, are wonderful hosts. If anyone visiting from abroad wanted to experience traditional British hospitality, this is as good as it gets. Diana is a wonderful host and Keith is a fantastic chef! As for the food, it is traditional English breakfast with the option of the usual continental offerings. Breakfast is ordered the night before by filling a form and leaving it out in the common area. The breakfast itself was fantastic, for the price they are using the best ingredients possible and everything was bought out promptly and hot. After a day, Diana will read you like a book and leave you with little effort on the morning. One thing that separates this place out from the other b&b’s in the area is that they also serve dinner. The menu changes each day and offers a variety of traditional British home-cooked dishes. We ate one evening and the food was so great we wished we’d opted for the dinner the night before too. The cod main (with genuinely fresh fish) we had was sublime, as was the bread and butter pudding dessert. For the price per person for a three course meal, it really cannot be beat and is such a valuable offering in a town that - for some reason- is lacking in evening eateries. They must be doing something right as almost every night most of the occupants were eating dinner at the hotel. Additionally, the hotel is not licensed, however allow you to bring your own alcohol….. with no corkage fee! I was very impressed coming down to dinner with the wine I’d previously bought and handed to Diana sitting chilled in a cooler at our table, very nice! For the room prices, Ingleside offers fantastic value for money and is a gem in Lynton. To reiterate to our foreign friends visiting- this is the full traditional English hospitality experience done right.