The Imperial Torquay

Beautiful decor, clean rooms, comfy bed, soft sheets, friendly helpful front desk person, amazing massage, great coastal walks nearby, adult only swim is a nice touch in the evening, breakfast was lovely and loved the sea view.

We were placed on the top floor, which was obscenely hot. It was during the heatwave, so was around 23° outside in the day, but only 16° at night. Our room however was around +28° at night! I only know this because I filled my water bottle from the chilled fountain at the gym and left it in the hotel room. When I got home from drinks at 11pm, I measured the temperature of my water that I'd left in the room and it was over 28°, so the room may have been even hotter than that! You could feel the heat hit you in the face as you enter the corridor leading to our room. We had 2 fans and it was still unbearable! We mentioned it on the way out and the lady at reception said, "yes it's been hot for all of us". This was annoying as they obviously know it's unbearable up there, they clean and walk around and must feel the wall of heat as you enter, the rest of the hotel was comfortable, so it felt very dismissive and gas lighty after suffering so much! We should have asked to switch rooms, but we were busy out until late and thought, they obviously know it's roasting up there and have put us there anyway so perhaps there is nothing else. The window would only open a crack. I understand these old buildings get hot, but they could try to ventilate the space by propping doors to empty rooms open to create a breeze, keeping curtains closed during sunny hours, moving guests if possible when there's heat like that and consider portable air con units they could wheel out. The pool area and changing room was also really quite dirty. Green algae covers the walls of the Jacuzzi area and was also floating in the gutters round the edge of the pool. You can see the grease floating on top of the pool water and there was a very thick scum line around the edge of the pool. We saw one of the staff collect a pool sample for chlorine testing incorrectly, taking a small sample from the surface, rather than fully submerging the sampler to get an accurate reading.

We arrived at the hotel and drove straight into a parking spot. The outside had lovely flowers and looked newly refreshed - a lovely welcome. We were checked in by Kendal who did so quickly and efficiently - smiling and wishing us a pleasant stay. We booked a family room and it was lovely - ready spacious and newly refurbished! Beautifully clean and the bathroom was also very clean. You can see the work the manager Craig and deputy manager Richard have done over the past year, guests seemed happy and relaxed and enjoying their surroundings. Breakfast was very well organised and it was lovely to see Basha and Igor making sure it was quick and replenished. The airshow from the room balcony was stunning and really is a prime position - the blue skies really helped with the view ☀️ Our room was replenished daily with bottled still and sparkling water, biscuits and coffee bags aswell as different teas. The good quality coffee is always a good sign of a good hotel! We were supplied with fans in the wardrobe to help with the heat on this glorious half term, these really helped get the sea breeze into the rooms. What really topped off our stay was the pod of dolphins that came right in front of the hotel one morning, jumping and swimming in the clear water - where else in the uk could you see such a sight. Thank you for a wonderful stay Imperial staff and management - see you in July

Location

Our room…number 130. Could not open sliding doors so had poor ventilation & very little fresh air. Room was far too warm. Asked for a move but no joy. At one stage the bar actually ran out of bottled water— ambarassing & unbelievable. We will never be back.

The veiw

Staff were not helpful, and I was not asked when checking out if everything was all ok with our stay, Just took our key . Carpet in our room full of dog hair , so if you have allergies, be aware. The swimming pool shuts at 6.30 so no evening swims. Also had to pay £10 a day to park in the car park, and that was at our own risk . REALLY paid enough to stay there. At breakfast, the scrambled egg ran out, I asked for some more and was told I had to wait 6 mins. A couple on another table asked for a poached egg, were told can't do . .

great view, great breakfast, lovely large room, and nice to have large bath and shower

outside pool closed during hottest week of the year.. may

The location is excellent. 5 mins walks from the harbour with all the cocktails bars, shops and amusements

The shower was poor in our room. Just a trickle. The kettle wasn’t really big enough to fill the 2 mugs in the room for hot drinks.

Great Location great staff service

Nothing