It’s always interesting to ask our guests how they found out about us. Sometimes there are obvious ways like they’ve looked up the number one ranked bed and breakfast in Torquay on TripAdvisor. Other times though they may have searched for something completely different and come across us in some other way.
If you look for a bed and breakfast with parking in Torquay then you’re quite likely to come across us. There’s a mix of B&B in Torquay with and without car parks. Some of the Victorian terraces on Belgrave Road for instance only have a couple of parking spaces behind the building, one of which is often used by the owner’s vehicle. Others like us have a larger car park. We have enough spaces for each of our bedrooms so there’s never any problem parking with us. Be careful some B&Bs advertise having a large car park but you may wish to look on Google Streetview to check what it looks like. As Torquay was built on seven hills, although we’re on the flatter side of town, others nearer the harbour will be on a hill which makes some of their car parks quite scary and difficult to park on.
If you’re searching for a bed and breakfast with a sea view then The 25 is not necessarily going to come up on a search as we don’t have a sea view. However, we’re only a ten minute walk from the sea via the lovely grounds at the historic Torre Abbey. As mentioned above, we’re on the flat side of town so we don’t have views of anything let alone the sea. However, if you want a sea view, there’s no B&Bs on the sea front so the only way you’ll achieve this is by being up on one of the hills. This means every time you walk into town or go out for dinner, you have to tackle that big hill on the way back, or pay for a taxi.
Searching for a bed and breakfast with hot tub? I’m afraid we don’t have room for hot tubs and as I’ve said, it’s not like you could sit in one and enjoy a view. However, we do have an exclusive deal with a local spa who do have a great sea view so why not pop there for the day, have a treatment, hit the pool, sauna or just sit in the sun on the decking enjoying the sea view?
Adult only b and b is a search term where we are often found. Although some of our guests may have children or grand children themselves, they may be looking for a child free bed and breakfast to have a break. It may be an anniversary and a romantic hotel in Torquay is called for or it may be the end of the school holidays and the grandparents need some alone time to rejuvenate and relax. We’ve had experiences in boutique hotels ruined by screaming or mis-behaved children. Having a b+b without kids is our ideal. Plus everything is so super clean and shiny in our B&B – do we really want sticky fingers on everything?
Another search term where our guests are likely to come across us is B&B near restaurants. When you book, we send you a link to a long list of our favourite places to eat in Torquay and the surrounding area. Many restaurants we recommend in Torquay are in walking distance and that’s idea as you can walk off dinner on the way home. Taxis are plentiful too if you prefer to grab a cab or if it’s raining.
Having had so much publicity over our award from TripAdvisor when they named us Best B&B in the World in the 2019/20 Travellers’ Choice Awards, we usually appear on more general searches such as B+B in Torquay or boutique hotels Devon. If you’re looking for a boutique hotel in Devon, although we’re not a hotel, we are definitely boutique. You may want to read my separate blog on what makes a hotel or B&B boutique.
So there you have it, some of the many ways our guests find out about us, some obvious, some less so but as long as people do find us and come and stay then it doesn’t really matter how they found us. Now we’ve just celebrated our fifth anniversary of opening, many of our guests are repeat visitors or have been recommended by someone they know which is always the sign of a good B&B. If you’ve stayed here already and loved it, please do spread the word.
If you’ve not stayed with us, check out our website at www.the25.uk
See you soon.
Andy.