More about Thistle Exeter Rougemont Hotel
An excellent Hotel
by A TripAdvisor Member
I stayed at Thistle hotel Exeter for two nights. From beginning to end it was a thourougly enjoyable experience. On arrival I managed to find a space in the hotel car park, which is very limited but is what I would expect from a city centre hotel. On check in the receptionist (Kerry) was extremely polite, friendly and helpful. I was offered assistance with my luggage even though I only had one bag. Once I had checked in I went up to my room which I found to be very spacious and clean. I ate dinner in the restaurant where the food was excellent and the service faultless. The breakfast was slightly greasy however full english breakfasts usually are! On check out there was a queue and only one receptionist, however this receptionist (again Kerry) was extremely efficient and friendly to all the guests even though she was rushed off her feet. She apologised to me for keeping me waiting and offered directions. The directions she gave me were accurate so I had no trouble finding my way out of Exeter. I would definitely reccomend this hotel, the staff and the service was very proffesional and friendly. I would definitely go back there with my family.
Not bad for a Thistle!
by TripAdvisor Member Passey77
I booked a one night stay over the May Bank Holiday with my partner. The reception staff were friendly and very helpful. We arrived at 1030 at night and the receptionist went out of her way, to help us find a space in the hotel car park. The room was clean and tidy and more than adequate for a one night stay. This is certainly one of the better Thistle hotels that I have stayed in.
Nice hotel
by TripAdvisor Member Jollyhols
We stayed at this hotel for one night in April 2006. We were pleased with our room - large and clean. The bed was very comfortable. We ate in the restaurant in the evening and the standard was very good. They made me a vegetarian meal which was excellent.
I would recommend this hotel.
The only problem is the parking. The small car park was completely full. Although it was just a short walk to a car park with plenty of space, it was quite expensive and it was in a quiet area and we were therefore a little worried about it. Apparently there was some free parking just up the road from the hotel, but the roads were so busy at that time that we didn't bother to look.
Very Disappointing
by A TripAdvisor Member
I stayed in this hotel on business for over a month a few years ago and found it very disappointing due to...
We were often excluded from the restaurant due to functions and were forced to eat from the bar, despite obviously being booked guests.
One night I checked in on a Sunday and I had a sneaking suspicion that the room may not have been cleaned as there were biscuit crumbs around the bed and it was generally rather grotty. I let it go and had a shower. On coming out of the shower I picked up a towel and went to dry myself with it only to find it covered with someone elses skid marks! Yes, someone else had dried their arse on it without washing their backside properly beforehand...yuck!
By that stage I was straight on the phone to reception screaming at them to move me to a clean room, which proved tricky due to the time of day and there being just a night porter on duty. He managed to move me although the hotel was fully booked.
Apart from all that everything else was at best average, including the food.
Good & Bad
by TripAdvisor Member Amy52
The room: we had a deluxe room (Room 111) which was very clean and spacious but very 1980s in style (and the bathroom may have been 1970s). But it had duvets instead of scabby old blankets, which was a plus. The curtains had a gap at the bottom, so take an eye mask in summer. And the room was boiling hot; the radiator's control didn't work so it was on full blast, but the staff managed to switch it off for us. The room was not really acceptable for a hotel in 2006, but given that we'd paid a cheap rate on expedia, we didn't mind too much.
Location: great location, across from Exeter Central rail station and next to lots of bars, restaurants and shops. A short walk to the catherdral and plenty of coffee shops in the street for breakfast. Be warned: the outside street is VERY noisy on weekend nights, so take ear plugs.
Parking: very limited number of spaces, which is to be expected in a city centre hotel. £5 per day. We found a space, but were lucky.
Staff: reception was very friendly.
Public areas: lovely grand lobby and stairs. There was also a really sweet little bar next to the main staircase and the function rooms, decorated in a really cosy Victorian style with comfy sofas and armchairs, which inexplicably stayed shut for the whole of our visit. Instead the only open bar was the most horriblest hotel bar we've ever seen: bare, no available seating, no cocktails, no decent wine, clueless staff, horrible horrible atmosphere. We went without a drink rather than sit in there. Whoever decided that the space is an acceptable bar for a hotel should be fired for incompetence.
We'd stay there again if we got another cheap rate, mainly for the location. Think it needs a refurb, really.
Tired with the worst breakfast ever
by A TripAdvisor Member
This is a pretty mediocre property. Like all Thistles it is under-managed and under-invested. They then get overtaken by better refurbished or new hotels and there rates get stuck leaving them in no position to invest and so on and that is the case here.
It is in an excellent location, immediately opposite the Central Station (which connects with the main St David’s station). The hotel is a fine Victorian building with a pretty light public lobby. But of course the bar and restaurant are at the side and would have been outdated in the seventies. The breakfast was truly awful, quite the worst I have ever had in a proper hotel. The room was OK – a ‘single’ but it had a sort of double bed with, thankfully, a duvet. The bathroom was OK but like the room it was very dated. The TV had no news channel – pretty pathetic when every Travelodge and HI Express does. Thankfully it wasn’t too hot for no a/c and the window opened on very noisy ventilation units in an internal courtyard. Also, the desk staff were completely unaware that Thistle gives AAdvantage miles – what is the point in having airliner partners if even your, perfectly pleasant, check in people are not trained. The evening menu in the restaurant was a pastiche of the 70’s and expensive. We fled to the café bar in a nearby boutique hotel. If a hotel like this is
Overall, if you get a great rate it is OK but Thistle need to invest or give up. I mean the market is going design or price led. What is the point of a tired hotel with £150 rack rates if it can’t deliver quality?
Don't Book This Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member lcpugliese
This is one of the most tired hotels I've experienced in years. My family and I were dissapointed with the overall condition of the hotel, which was very poor. The hallway carpets were stained and dirty, the walls badly in need of new paint. The room and its facilities were 19060's-esque vintage. Thistle hotels are all over the U.K. and if this is any representation of other hotels, I'd be loathed to stay at any of them.
Im voting this room as having the worst bed in the world !!!
by TripAdvisor Member DDHerbie
Booked into the Hotel for the start of our holiday traveling around the SW of England. All I can say is thank goodness things improved after a stay here. On check in they tried to give us twin beds.. not good when you are on honeymoon ... we changed rooms and headed off to unpack.
After throwing myself on what I believe to be a bed, or something suspiciously looking like a bed - nearly broke my back. as it had the feel and flexibility of a slab of stone.
Got a shower.. of course now I get it, I’m still in the UK and beds and showers are always terrible.. Yep you guessed it the shower was a dribble of cold water. We went out to enjoy Exeter and returned to a room that was now airless, boiling hot (the heating was on and it was 23 degrees) and of course how could I miss the busy street outside right under the window that would not open properly. Made the daft mistake of going into the bathroom with the light off and walked into the heated towel rail that for some stage reason was turn on full blast (and you cannot turn it off), suffering a lovely burn on the front of my leg !!
Complained, unfortunately staff were not interested at that time of night.. so we tried to get to sleep on the lovely slab of concrete. We complained in the morning, to be advised.. oh really... as though it was a complete surprise. I also handed in 2 customer forms that had been left in the room from the previous tenants.. Strangely enough their comments were exactly the same as ours.
If you want the worst sleep of your life, want to feel like a boiled fish in the morning, and suffer third degree burns wristling with a towel rail, then check in here !!! I have traveled to many destinations across the globe.. this hotel was by far the worst I have experienced.. and that is going something to get that kind of recognition!!!!
excellent location
by TripAdvisor Member yasminfinn
we stayed in the hotel for one night, the staff are extremely friendly and welcoming, the entrance is very grand with a beautiful stain glass window, the rooms were very nice we had a suit, and the breakfast offered hot and cold buffet which was also excellent, we will be staying there agin in the near future. thankyou very much
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