The Palace Hotel
4.5
1 review
4.5
1 review
tinahodgkinson
23 Sep 2018
4.5
Date of visit: September 2018
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
I use or have experience of: walking aid
Excellent
Sea front, medium size hotel in own grounds. There is a restaurant, bar, Singer Room (ornately decorated) and Genisis Health Suite with gym, indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room and beauty treatments. The hotel is well maintained, very clean and in a classic style. The building was originally built as the home of Washington Singer, son of the of the founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. It dates from the Victorian period and has been extended. There are about 50 bedrooms, some with sea views. Many of the areas are step free, with ramp and lift and where there are a couple of steps there is a stair lift.
Good
It's a large building and if you are facing the hotel the main door is on the right hand side. The entrance to the hotel has both stairs with handrail and a ramp. Once inside the reception, lobby, bar, Singer Room and sun lounge with a dining area are all step free. All dining areas have movable table and chairs. There are about 3 - 4 steps to the Paris Restaurant with a hand rail and also a stair lift. There are 2 lifts. The first has step free access. The second is accessed by a couple of steps which also has a chair lift. It was the second lift I used to get to my bedroom. It is quite small and fits about 3 - 4 people, so suitable for some wheelchair users. There was then level access to my room. I had a single room at the rear of the hotel. There was a single bed, bedside table, desk, stool, chair, built in wardrobe with shelves, TV and tea and coffee making facilities. The bathroom was compact. There was a toilet, sink and shower cubicle with quite a large step into it. This was too difficult for me to manage. I went and spoke to staff, but was advised that almost all their shower cubicles were the same and they were unable to swap my room. It was arranged for me to use the accessible shower in the Genisis Health Suite, in the basement of the hotel. This was arranged by the staff and in the morning when I wanted to use it I would phone reception, I would then take the lift to the basement where I would be met by a member of staff. I would walk through the gym are to the accessible shower room. The Genisis Health Suite's accessible shower room had a wheels in shower, grab rails, 2 shower seats and emergency alarm. The staff got me a towel when I arrived so I didn't have to carry one to and from my room. A little bit out of the ordinary but it worked for me.
Excellent
There is excellent public transport links. Paignton Train Station , which has step free access, is a 10 minute level walk. There are numerous buses that stop near by. Almost directly outside is the bus stop for the number 22 bus, which goes into Torquay and beyond. There is a car park, which had disabled parking bays near the entrance. The car park has an automatic gate. The hotel is very centrally located, directly opposite Paignton Pier, although the hotel stands back from the seafront.
Good
Accessible public toilet on the ground floor which was spacious, clean and with grab rails and alarm. There is also an accessible toilet in the accessible shower room in the Genisis Health Suite. There was a standard toilet in my bedroom and didn't have grab rails.
Excellent
The staff are exceptional. Usually I do a lot of checking about accessibility before I book accommodation but this time for personal reasons I hadn't had the time to do that. I put on my booking form that I wanted a room with a shower as I have a disability. When I went back downstairs to reception, after seeing my room, to talk to them about the shower, they were very approachable and went out of their way to fin a solution. They immediately checked their other rooms and also called their 2 sister hotels to see if they had an accessible room. They also suggested using the accessible shower room in the Genisis Health Suite. Initially I was not sure about this but it worked perfectly. They left a note on reception for someone to take me to the shower room when I telephoned them. This worked well. I really appreciated the staff's positive attitude to dealing with it, they were very customer focused and wanted to find a solution for me. The positive staff attitude was throughout my stay. Everyone from the front desk, waiting staff and cleaners always said hello and smiled when they saw me. The front desk always dealt with things quickly such as when I wanted to order a taxi or asking directions. The waiting staff were wonderful. You are allocated a table which you keep throughout your stay and service was always prompt even through the hotel as busy. They asked what I was doing and remembered what I told them and asked me how that particular activity went next time I saw them.
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