Review: Bovey Castle, Dartmoor National Park (Hyatt / Mr & Mrs Smith)

This is our review of Bovey Castle hotel in Dartmoor National Park, Devon.

The planning for this trip started with the question of all questions: What to do with teenage kids during February half term? Skiing has become difficult as one child still likes it but the other is less keen, and with time running out we decided to stay local.

We had heard of this family-friendly hotel and, as we hadn’t stayed on Dartmoor before, decided to give it a go. We paid for our stay and the hotel did not know that I would be reviewing it.

The hotel website is here.

If the picture above looks blurry this is because it was foggy and rainy for the entire four days we spent there! Having said that, this is no reason to stick your head in the sand – or better mud. We expected it in February and the hotel is made to snuggle up in, with Dartmoor looking slightly haunted out of the windows, rattling with wind and rain.

To be honest, it would have been a shame in some ways if it had been beautifully sunny and dry! We wanted the full ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ atmosphere and we got it.

This very large country house was originally owned by WH Smith (the man himself) and later sold to Great Western Railway. I’m not sure why as there is no railway station in the proximity, at least these days, but I can imagine it was used to encourage rail-based excursions in the 1930s.

I should mention here that the pre-arrival service from the hotel was excellent. We got a personalised email from a named person confirming our booking, clarifying a few details about how we were splitting the rooms with the kids and encouraging us to lock in dinner reservations.

Guests enter the estate via a large gate with a very pretty gate house. It is an extended drive to the house which takes you right across the impressive golf course. The valet kindly took over the parking and we headed straight to check-in.

Entering this hotel is like coming as an invited guest to a hunting weekend – this is what you expect from a country house hotel and the hotel certainly delivers. The entrance is generous with carved wood and many original features.

Below is the wall opposite reception. Next to the entrance is a large notice board with daily activities which can be booked, from horse-drawn carriage rides to gin making, guided walks, clay pigeon shooting etc.

We booked an archery session with an instructor which was great fun despite the paper target progressively sliding off the board in the heavy rain ….

Public rooms at Bovey Castle

One thing to make very clear about Bovey Castle is that the public areas are large and very impressive.

Opposite the entrance is the great hall. It is a characterful space and despite its enormous size very cosy and welcoming. A fire is roaring all day in all public rooms creating a warm and homely atmosphere.

This is the opposite side of the great hall with a large balcony, originally used for musicians.

The library is a more intimate room. In one corner was a pile of board games. I should mention that there aren’t any ‘sporting’ games here – no pool table, no dart board (as we had at Cowley Manor), no table tennis etc.

Here is the main bar in the hotel – there is another one in the brasserie. It was lovely to hang out here and it was always well attended.

The Adam Room has a more formal feel to it. Afternoon tea could be taken in any of the public rooms.

Our room

The hotel has 59 rooms in the main building. There are also 22 standalone lodges in the grounds which can be rented out via the hotel website – I’m not sure if these are privately owned or controlled by the hotel.

We had booked two Valley Rooms which come with a super king sized bed and were priced at £379 per night. They were located on the top floor which is basically under the roof, although the slope was not too pronounced (and we’re tall people!).

The rooms were a generous size with a desk, table and armchairs and a sideboard with coffee machine.

As the name suggests our view was towards the valley. We couldn’t fully appreciate this given the weather but the view must be gorgeous in summer. I should note that our two rooms were not identical in size and the one photographed here was slightly larger – it had two armchairs instead of one and the bed faced the window.

Bovey Castle has an old fashioned, but welcome, turndown service with the latest edition of The Bovey Bugle left on your bed with the news and events for the next day and, importantly, the weather forecast.

Tea, sugar and china is stored in a box, a bit like a picnic set. The turndown service involves taking the cups out and leaving them with a chamomile tea bag ready for night time tea.

We had a free bottle of red wine in each of our rooms, a benefit for booking via Mr & Mrs Smith at hyatt.com. More on this later.

The bathroom looked new with a wide sink and bathtub.

The shower was a good size too, although this isn’t real marble.

Breakfast at Great Western Grill

Great Western Grill is the fine dining restaurant of the hotel where breakfast is also served. Let’s start with breakfast before I come to the evening meals.

It is a large warm space with white tablecloths and feels quite formal. Although the hotel was busy we never had to queue for a table and service was swift.

Breakfast consists of a small buffet and an a la carte menu. The middle buffet table has fresh items like fruit, yoghurt, Bircher muesli, ham and cheese:

On the sideboard are various juices, pastries and cereals.

It’s a relatively small buffet selection, but the a la carte menu offers a full English breakfast (and a vegetarian version), eggs benedict, pancakes, crushed avocado and poached eggs on English muffin. You don’t pay extra to order a la carte items.

Here is the oak smoked salmon and scrambled egg. The breakfast was decent but not outstanding, which is a theme I will return to.

Dinner at Smith’s Brasserie

Smith’s Brasserie is located in a modern extension. It is a very generous space and more informal than Great Western Grill.

There is another bar here:

We had one dinner here. The menu offers light bites / starters, fish and meat mains, grills, pizza and pasta and salads.

As my starter I had baked scallops in garlic butter and leaf spinach (£18).

For my main I chose estate beef Bourguignon, baby parsnips and creamed potatoes (£24). The menu was actually quite promising but my beef was very dry – and also too much of it with not enough sauce – which is unusual for this dish. The other three mains we had around the table were equally unimpressive.

Dinner at Great Western Grill

Great Western Grill holds a 3-star AA rating. The menu is very ambitious featuring, at the top end, Exmoor Imperial Oscietra caviar on blinis at £100.

I had poached native lobster and Brixham crab at £25 as a starter. The presentation was impressive but, again, the taste didn’t quite hit the mark.

My main was ‘Creedy Carver Duck’, red leaves & Muscat grapes at £38. Again, my meal – and those eaten by the rest of the family – didn’t hit the mark.

For our third night, we left the hotel and headed to The Ring of Bells Inn, a five minute drive or (apparently) 25 minute walk away. The food here was excellent and offered the best meals that we had all week.

That said, I don’t want to be too critical. It’s easy to forget that you are in a remote corner of Dartmoor. The staff at Bovey Castle – in the hotel and restaurants – were exceptionally good, far beyond what I expected given the location.

The spa and pool

The spa, pool and sauna is located in the same extension of the hotel as the Brasserie.

The pool is large and, as you can see below, there are great views over the valley. Children can use it until 5pm at which point it is adults only.

Unfortunately the pool area closed at 8pm when we (and other guests) were asked to leave. An extra hour would have been convenient.

The pool is a decent size and good for swimming. Two different saunas are in the back.

I tried the spa with a work-it-out massage at £120 for 55 minutes. This was lovely and used products by British brand Templespa.

The gym

The fitness studio is small and located in the basement BUT it has a big window!

In a separate outbuilding is The Elan Studio. There were no classes on offer whilst we were there but the room was available if you wanted to do pilates or yoga on your own.

Kid’s Club

The kid’s club is a very friendly space with lots of toys and things to do for smaller children. Use is £15 per day for one child per day (or £25 for two). I didn’t see any supervision and it wasn’t clear how this worked.

Children are also invited feed the hotel chickens at 9am every day!

For older children there was a games room with three X-boxes.

The shop

I was surprised to find a very well-equipped Dubarry shop, featuring all things country.

Twilight on the terrace

Finally, this is the view from the terrace in late afternoon. The terrace and garden must be fantastic to visit during summer.

Conclusion

Bovey Castle is a warm and inviting country hotel with comfortable individual rooms and welcoming and characterful public spaces. The spa is great, golf and various country activities will keep you busy even in bad weather and, of course, there is the whole of Dartmoor National Park to explore.

Bovey Castle has clear ambitions, although we felt that our stay was let down by the food. The hotel prides itself on its AA rosette awards but we were not impressed.

Would I come again? Yes, I would. The location and place itself are wonderful despite – or even because of – the fog, the wind and the rain that accompanied our stay.

How to book

Bovey Castle is part of Mr & Mrs Smith, so you should check prices on the official hotel site and the Smith site. Bookings via Mr & Mrs Smith come with a free bottle of wine.

Should Mr & Mrs Smith have the same deal as booking direct (as it did in our case) you should book via the World of Hyatt website. Most Mr & Mrs Smith hotels are listed there and you will earn World of Hyatt points, albeit only on your room rate.

With the current Hyatt double points promotion and my Explorist status bonus, it was a lucrative stay. It also triggered the ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ badge towards a Hyatt ‘Brand Explorer’ free night.

The hotel website is here if you want to find out more or book direct.

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