The Devonshire Arms Hotel & Spa - Skipton

Had a meal deal as a couple. Meal very basic, little choice and no veg included. You had to buy these as extras. Salmon starter should have been served with bread or toast. . Sauce same on salmon starter as on minuscule portion of smoked haddock main dish. Main dish very small like tiny starter. The portions overall were really small. We did the same event last year and it was very good. Wouldn’t recommend meal deal. Basic. Coffee in lounge previously included little shortbread biscuits. Real cutbacks here from a very fancy venue which isn’t cheap, No complaints about the staff who are very friendly and pleasant.

We frequently pass The Devonshire Arms & have often wondered what it is like to stay there, so we did! The location of the hotel is stunning in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. The hotel looks attractive from the outside and inside the communal areas are lovely. Real fires were lit in two rooms and it felt warm & cosy during our visit. We were greeted and shown to our room by a lovely young receptionist who was very bubbly and welcoming. SPA- We visited the spa which is located over the road. It’s small but very attractive and the staff were friendly. Changing rooms are upstairs then you need to come back down the stairs to enter the spa which everyone has just walked up in outdoor shoes so ensure you take your flip flops as none are provided. There are 2 steam rooms & 1 sauna. They were good but the floor outside gets very slippery due to overflow from the nearby shower so care should be taken especially as it’s extremely dark in this area. The bottom bench in the sauna had a loose slat on our visit ( third plank from front) Refixing the slat should be easy, it just needs the screw tightening or replacing . I intended to mention it but forgot as leaving. Guests are requested to shower before entering the pool. We did, but it wasn’t enforced as we saw two guests entering the pool bone dry . This is unhygienic and staff should enforce it. One staff member seemed to know the ‘offending couple’ as their conversation with them seemed more than just friendly chit chat so sure it would’ve have been easy to offer a gentle reminder. FOOD- Food & the service in The Brasserie was excellent ( see separate review) but less so at breakfast. Breakfast is served is The Garden Room, a really beautiful room overlooking a formal outdoor area. On our visit, breakfast service would have given ‘Fawlty Towers’ a run for its money! Firstly, no one was there to greet us and we had to wait a few minutes to be attended to. The front of house male staff member rushed over and apologised for our wait. After giving him our name 3 times he eventually found us on his list and lead us to our very comfortable table and gave us our menus. The table was attractively set with good quality linen & cutlery. After perusing the menu for only a few seconds he returned to take our breakfast orders & asked if we would like any fruit juice. We gave our orders and immediately again he asked if we would like any juice. We informed him we had literally just given him our orders , he apologised and said it was a busy morning. He did seem quite flustered. Service thereafter was slow and when the full English breakfast was served it came without beans even though we had requested them. The hollandaise & eggs were served barely warm , the smoked salmon was delicious though. The toast was cold and the coffee served was luke warm. The poor couple near us were served their cooked breakfast before their fruit cocktail starters but when they flagged up the mistake they kindly agreed to have it

We had a great nights stay at The Dev. It is the definition of cosy with open fires in comfy lounges. Rosie was great when adding amenities prior to my arrival. The spa facilities & staff were so nice. All very clean and accessible. We were roomed by a gent from reception, I didn’t catch his name. He was very professional and was able to help with any questions. Thanks to Sophie & her team in the Brasserie, the food & wine was delicious. We could have easily extended our stay. Would recommend.