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Reviews of Porth Avallen Hotel

3.5 out of 5
Porth Avallen Hotel
Sea Road, Carlyon Bay, St Austell, England

Reviews

7.8

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 24 out of 51 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 14 out of 51 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 51 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 4 out of 51 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 6 out of 51 reviews" "

7.8/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

7.2/10

Amenities

7.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

6.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

8/10 Good

Joan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in May 2023

2/10 Terrible

lorraine

Travelled with family
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hotel is very run down, in need of updating. We had two mismatched taps that didn’t work. The breakfast is horrible everything out of a can…they say grilled tomatoes but they served canned chopped tomatoes, the bread was plain sliced bead, the fruit was canned grapefruit. Great views but it takes more than vies to make a stay pleasant….do not recommend this hotel.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

8/10 Good

Lee

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Room with a view
Hotel is a little dated but excellent value, staff are friendly excellent view of the Sea from our room. happy with stay.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Janos

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great location.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Stephen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Recharge and relax.
A comfortable hotel with a really lovely relaxed atmosphere. A great place ro chill out. Fantastic views. A good base to see local attractions and sites.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Mark

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Quaiint stop
We really enjoyed our stay. The view from the common areas was fabulous. The room was smaller but very clean and cosy. We enjoyed dinner and breakfasthere and the staff were friendly and helpful.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

2/10 Terrible

Simon

Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Rude owner
Ive never reveiwed a hotel in all my years of working away but this time ive made an exception. The owner is extremely RUDE. Me and my colleague ordered food to the hotel because all the hotel was serving on this particular night was pizza, which we didnt want. Soon as our food arrived the owner burst into the bar "whos ordered from deliveroo? To which we replied it is us whos ordered. He very abruptly told us we could not eat food in the hotel and we would have to eat this outside because he is not VAT registered?(never heard that before) he cannot allow food from outside the hotel on his premises. Which would of been fine if he would of just told us in a calm manner we would of just eaten it in our vehicles. We was planning on just going to our rooms anyway with the food. In all my years of stopping in hotels for work this is the only hotel thats not allowed food into there hotel. Had the owner of just been polite then i wouldnt be writing this review. To add- The delivery driver also said hes been very abusive in the past towards his own customer's and delivery drivers and there have been times where the delivery drivers have been thrown out the hotel. My stay: I would say below basic room with a tiny bath. 2/10 for cleanliness- hair all over the bathroom and bed. The shower was dismal no pressure at all. Toilet was broken-leaking water. VERY dated/boring hotel. Got lots of potential unfortunately. Pros: great views
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Richard

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location
Very friendly and welcoming staff Food very good Shower and bathroom excellent but room could do with a paint only on one wall
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Lance

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

E

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 7 nights in Oct 2022

6/10 Okay

Mark

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Great views...but hotel is looking a bit tired and dirty now.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

8/10 Good

Maxine

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Old charm Gem
What a lovely old charming hotel such a nice place to relax with beautiful views and no rush. The staff were very helpful and a pleasure to chat with nothing to much trouble. The food was tasty and plentiful compliments to the chef. This is a hotel where you can relax and just enjoy. No fancy frills just good old world charm. Loved my 3 night stay
The view
Early evening drinks
Glorious food
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2022

8/10 Good

Wendy

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A very nice small hotel and friendly staff. Nice and clean. Fabulous view from some rooms and the large terrace. 15 minute walk to fab beach
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2022

8/10 Good

Rebecca

Travelled with family
Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Lack of daily service cleaning
Very impressed with hotel. Room was lovely with seaview. But the bathroom was not clea.ned daily. I put towels in shower to get a clean set. We came back to a bathroom door shut, as heating had been put on highest setting, to dry the dirty towels i had put for exchange for fresh, clean ones !! Other patrons of hotel continually let their room doors slam. Sometimes late in evening. So waking us up .
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2022

8/10 Good

Philip

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Lovely location. Furniture a little dated
Stayed 2 nights in May 2022

2/10 Terrible

Nicholas

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Absolutely Vile!
Avoid. £540 for three nights! Grossly over priced. Room was filthy. Its soo bad its almost unbelievable. Just look at the photos!!! We asked for it to be cleaned and they didnt bother to clean the next morning. We even had a mushroom growing under the bath! The service was laughable, no one cared. The building/decor is so old its badly stained and stinks of mould!!! The quality of the breakfast was all cheap and value range. Spend your money elsewhere!
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2022

2/10 Terrible

Sarah

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Dirty and disappointing
So disappointed with our stay! The hotel is old and sad. We stayed in a ‘deluxe’ room for £230 for 2 nights. Not sure which part was deluxe. The walls were half painted, no pillow protectors on flat pillows, mould in the bathroom and on windows, big stain on carpet, dirty toilet, two single beds zipped together and the furniture was outdated and missing handles. I booked a room with a bath but was told the website was wrong and no baths and in fact no baths available in the whole place. Continental breakfast consisted of cereal, tinned peaches, prunes and grapefruit.
Filthy toilet seat
Mouldy ceiling in bathroom
Half painted behind tiny tv
Half painted on other wall
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2021

10/10 Excellent

Stephen

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Our room was at the front of the building & gave us wonderful views of the bay
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2021

8/10 Good

Emily

Liked: Staff & service
A stay of two parts.
This hotel has a fabulous location and is run by friendly and helpful staff. The quality of their evening menu was very good, as too was the choice of wine. Located at the rear of the building, on the ground floor, our standard room was a little tired and could definitely do with a bit of TLC. This would make up for the view of the car park. Whilst the en-suite was a reasonable size the window frame had mould, as too did some of the grouting and there was also some dirt round the door frame. Where previous fixings had been removed, raw plugs were left exposed. The shower whilst lovely and hot was weak. We enjoyed our stay and hope that these comments are taken as constructive.
Wonderful view from the terrace
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2021

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2021

2/10 Terrible

Diane

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Do not stay at this hotel
The Hotel is old and tired. Lovely view from the main communal areas. Our room was extremely basic with worn furniture stuffed and old. The bedside light was plastic. The bathroom was filthy (see pictures attached) on arrival we asked to change rooms as we’re staying two nights this could not be accommodated. We asked for the room to be cleaned whilst we were out which did not take placebo either night stay. The young breakfast serving staff were polite and friendly.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2021

10/10 Excellent

William

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Fabulous location with great seafront views and easy walking access to Carlyon Bay beach and Charlestown. Very good food.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

Ian

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2021

6/10 Okay

Gayle

Liked: Room comfort
Facilities Need Updating
The hotel has a modern, cosy bar area and a dated restaurant on the ground floor. Breakfast is great, the food is well cooked and the service excellent. We only ate in the restaurant once and our meal was delicious, but the atmosphere was flat, with mainly older diners. The hotel's in a good location with fabulous views and Charlestown and Carlyon Bay within a 10-minute walk via the coastal paths. Sadly, the hotel was let down by the facilities. The cleanliness throughout wasn't great and our room had stains on the carpet. The biggest issue was our en-suite. The lack of hot water was resolved, but the issue we had with the toilet which we reported the morning after our arrival was not fixed. When it finally gave up completely, we had no option but to cut our stay short. Had the management acted to fix the toilet immediately then our rating for the hotel may have been higher.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

John

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic place to stay
Fantastic place to stay the fsmily room wqs perfect for us the location was great we stayed for 2 nights en toute to south Cornwall and we definitely look to stay again the stsff were really friendly and helpful even when we didnt check in ubtil very late the first night notging was any trouble!
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2021

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
There was no air-conditioning or fan in the room. Too much noise from the generator after switching the bathroom lights off. The bathroom towels stunk, not sure if they were even washed. The service received on the first day for breakfast was poor, waited endlessly to be served. Coffee mugs extremely dirty. It's fair to say I won't be visiting this hotel again, not worth the price I paid.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Amazing views from, the front of the property, as well as from the bar and the dining room. Great footpath nearby and lots of things of interest. The food is superb.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Robert

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very enjoyable few days. Nice food and friendly staff
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2021

8/10 Good

PETER

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
A traditional up market seaside hotel
A traditional old up-market seaside hotel with pleasant public rooms, very limited wifi (reception or, if you are lucky, the dining room) and a GOOD restaurant. Rooms were well fitted out albeit with antiquated plumbing behind the refurbished bathrooms. Our bed was harder or firmer than we are used to and lacked a headboard, but the room had good views out over the sea. Our room was not as advertised on 2 hotel booking websites, but the receptionist (owner?) assured me, quite firmly, that "they" (the hotel) had never ever had the 32" TV or satellite service, and they had never advertised the rooms as having baths (there was a mixer shower with pretty poor pressure). So, the websites must have got the descriptions wrong. The car park is large but mainly sloping, uneven gravel. The views from the terrace and bar, and some bedrooms, are glorious. A new dining platform has been built to the front looking out over the sea (across the access road) but was not in use. Overall we felt this hotel was priced for the online adverts, and the lack of wi-fi, basic TV channels and low water pressure suggested that there was a surface gloss on an old property that will not stand the test of time. Staff were generally young, enthusiastic & courteous. Bar service (by the owner?) was hectic & slow and delivered in T shirt and shorts well into the evening; the guests made an effort to dress up, but the owner(s) didn't; they seemed to be working hard but tired. As was the hotel itself.
Sea views from bedroom
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2021

6/10 Okay

Samantha

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, room comfort
On arrival we had a very friendly and welcoming check-in by a lovely young lady
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2021

8/10 Good

Peter

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Loved location
Superb location and lovely view. Service adequate but a little slow, and quite noisy from the building site next door first thing in the morning.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
2 night break
Excellent staff. Great views. Very good food. Good value.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2021

10/10 Excellent

Jenny

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A very enjoyable stay
We had a very good stay. The staff are all very helpful and friendly. Room was very comfortable and adequate for our 2 night stay although the stairs to the top of the hotel was a bit difficult but still no complaints. We ate our evening meal there both nights which were very nice. My only criticism is that there is no WiFi in the bedrooms and I think breakfast could have had some fruit on the menu.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2020

8/10 Good

Emma

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Amazing hotel, skip the restaurant
Amazing views over the water, plenty of parking. Check in was easy and they let us in early. Room 11 was spacious and clean, and bed really comfy. Staff really friendly. Outdoor seating was plentiful, and with an amazing view of the water. Only a short walk down to the town, or the other way to the beach. Breakfast was delicious, with quick service Only downside was the restaurant which we booked for dinner. They appeared to be out of alot of stock/ingredients but didn't communicate well with the guests, if its covid related- maybe consider making a new limited menu for the time being? I ordered a lamb burger with cucumber sauce and roasted pepper- it camr with lettuce and pickle and cheese (which I'm intolerant too). When questioned the chef said they didnt have any of what was on the menu- I would have chosen differently had I known. Expensive for what it was. Also another table was having a simular issue with edited items, and the manager came into the restaurant and was very rude and loud, in front of the other guests. It was very Faulty Towers-esque. Entertaining but certainly embarrassing for the manager to act in that manner, and really needs to work on his communication skills. He also blamed wait staff for issues he should have taken responsibilty for. Would skip the restaurant until issues have been fixed.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2020

10/10 Excellent

Jason

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely stay
Hotel room was spacious and clean. We didn’t eat there but the staff were very nice and the bar/restaurant has a great view over the coats. Location was also great, 20 min walk to the harbour with lovely pubs.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2020

10/10 Excellent

Mark&Kay, Rotherham

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Perfect location and beautiful hotel! Highly recommended
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2020

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Stayed 9 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Location very good. Friendly staff. Excellent food. (certainly as good if not better than the Carlyon Bay Hotel just down the road !!!!!)
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 9 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2019

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
The property is expensive and run down. The internet is bad, upstairs corridor smells of hospital grade dis ijnfectant and the room was small crowded and needed a thorough clean. It has great views of the bay, but the room at $300 AUD per night is way overpriced You can do much better in the area.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Walter, Charleston, SC, USA

Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The view from the dining room alone was worth most of the price of the room. The staff were friendly and helpful with a few small problems I had. The only down side is that I didn't get to spend much time at the hotel as I was volunteering at the nearby Kneehigh Asylum and didn't get in until late at night after the bar had shut down. It was great to have a tub to soak my weary bones after a lone day at the theatre.
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2019

10/10 Excellent

Paul

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful Place
Overall rating excellent. Our room decor was a bit tired, but the cleanliness and service received from all of the receptionists and the breakfast waiters was brilliant, very friendly and efficient. Also, the location is superb, fantastic coastal view plus coastal path to Charlestown and our favourite beach at carlyon bay with great chill out bar on the sand.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019

10/10 Excellent

malcolm

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
My wife and I enjoyed our stay at Porth Avallen very much. the position above the bay is better even than advertised. The staff were always friendly and efficient and the building is comfortable and welcoming. Thank you to all.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2019

4/10 Poor

Murray

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disappointed
Poor standard of room , nothing like image online . Very very tired room NO hot water and the shower was little more than a trickle
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

Stan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent hotel in St. Austell area.
Friendly welcome and all the staff were friendly and helpful throughout our 3-night stay. Our Superior room was spacious, clean and comfortable with a great view out over the bay. Food in the restaurant was very tasty with a decent selection of dishes. We would certainly be happy to stay there again if we are back in that area.
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel by the sea. Family room was fab size. The only thing we disliked was the bath was dusty and bathroom needed a bit of tlc. Staff lovely food fab. Will be booking to stay again.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

gretlin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Charming hotel
Really sweet hotel, the staff were absolutely lovely. The view and location were fab! The fish and chips were nice too. Overall a really great stay and we felt very welcome there. Somewhat a shame that someone in the rooms downstairs was clearly smoking in the rooms, but that's really not the hotels fault.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018

10/10 Excellent

Jimmy, Norfolk

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Really lovely views, in a very good area,easy to park,friendly staff. Good food and coffee. The room was a long trek to the reception , as I had a bad knee, but kept us fit. The. Owner was very friendly and talked to all the guests. Would go back again definitely.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2018