Cary Arms & Spa

What a fabulous hotel and setting for a lovely short break with our 9 month old puppy. We stayed in one of the Beach Huts with mezzanine bedroom and it is ideal, particularly for dog owners. The road down to the hotel is very steep and not for nervous drivers, but there was always staff around to help with parking and luggage. The setting, overlooking Babbacombe Beach and Torbay is simply stunning and we were treated to some spectacular sunrises through the large porthole window on the upper floor. Despite being so close to Torquay, with it’s thousands of holidaymakers, the Cary Arms is a lovely retreat if you just want to get away from it all. While, being so close to ‘civilisation’, you are only a short drive to all the amenities the area has to offer.||The food is really good, while the menu is slightly limited if you are not keen on fish or seafood. There is an extensive, but not cheap, winelist and the choice of beers and spirits is excellent. The breakfast is superb - a particular favourite was the Bubble & Squeak with Duck Egg.||If you are fortunate to have good weather there are ample table and chairs on the steeply stepped terrace area. There is also a good sized Residents Area for when the main bar area is busy.||One suggestion for the Beach Huts with deck terrace, would be for them to be gated and made completely dog secure. This would make it slightly less stressful for the dog owners and those guests in the adjoining Huts. Our puppy was always on the lead to ensure that she didn’t manage to find a sneaky way out - which, of course, she did. But was quickly recaptured!||I would like to give a special mention to the fantastic and friendly staff. This includes the very diligent gardener, who ensures a magnificent backdrop to a beautiful Hotel.

We had a lovely lunch. Incredible views matched with wonderful food. Linda was a brilliant host and even organised us the most amazing table sat outside to watch the dolphins. Sadly, no dolphins in the end but the food and drinks are top notch

Stopped for a refreshing drink while on the SW Coastal path. What a great place. Plenty of quiet seating areas in the gardens with fantastic views across the bay. Friendly, helpful service. Food looked good, but beware the hungry seagulls, and save some energy for the steep climb up to Babbacombe.

My husband booked a beach hut at the cary arms as part of my 40th birthday celebrations and all i can say is its absolutely stunning! Calling them beach huts doesn’t really do it justice, the room was bright and spacious and had everything you could need, so much so we didn’t want to leave the room.. so we didn’t! We ordered all out food and drinks to the room and ate on the balcony with the beautiful sea view. After a brilliant night sleep in a very comfy bed we had breakfast in the restaurant which we had no complaints about, the room was fresh and well cooked. After breakfast we took a lovely walk across the beach which is just a few steps from the hotel. I literally have nothing negative to say about this place, we enjoyed every moment of our stay and we will definitely be returning hopefully we can book the same hut

We stayed 4 nights for our mini-moon. I would have given 5 stars but the only thing that let us down was the service we received and also the breakfast. More on that later!||The positives:|The suite/little cottage we had was absolutely perfect, it had all the amenities we needed and had a lovely sea view from the patio out front. It was a lovely touch to have a log burner (we did end up lighting it even though it’s July!). Overall it was cosy but also plenty of space for the two of us. Again lovely sea views from the bedroom. ||The location is incredible, we explored the local area walking to Ansteys Cove which was absolutely beautiful, breathtaking sea views and easily accessible from the Cary Arms. ||I had a 90min calming spa treatment and this was 10/10. The staff in the spa were exceptional, and the amount of guests you can have at one point in the spa is very well organised, this is ideal as the changing area is small. I never experienced an issue with overcrowding or worrying about privacy. ||The negatives:|We both commented on how we felt ‘looked down on’. We found the overall attitude to be very judgemental and snooty. I find this very hard to write as I don’t like to complain but the fact we both felt this way is upsetting. We almost got the vibe that we didn’t belong there which isn’t a nice way to feel. |One evening at dinner we arrived slightly earlier than our booked reservation as we wanted to have a drink outside in the sun. Whilst my partner was at the bar getting drinks (again, ignored) I overheard two waitresses discussing why I was sat at one of the tables - along the lines of ‘I’m not sure who she is or why she’s here, she just sat down’. I found this very unprofessional and again confirmed why we felt looked down on. ||Following on from this, we had one day where our breakfast was forgotten and our room was not turned down, again we were forgotten. ||Overall the location is fabulous and the suite and spa were great. We just did not feel welcome here which is such a shame after paying £1500 overall for a very special occasion.

We plucked for 5 Nights stay and got home lunchtime today. The Beach Hut 3 was great and well set out. Our two Doggie Golden Retrivers settled in well, so we had the full resturant experiance without worrying if they were OK. If your staying 5 nights I'd definately recommend one night eat out, (local indian resturant for us) and the local taxi service was spot on for this. Food is very much at the hotel, 'ala carte', which gives verity and choice, and they do daily specials. Breakfast is cooked and they are very accomodating if like my wife you ask for something just a bit off the menu. I took a view/tour af Suite 8 whilst there, so if you can afford that little extra prehaps a thought if you have big dogs like us, next time we will go for that. Will their be a next time? I think so, once you have mastered the very steep road, and thy have an excellent concierge to park you vehicle in their carpark for you, also you get used to the limited doggie poo areas it's well worth a stay. Graet staff, friendly and could take my dry sense of humour. Thankyou Cary Arms and Spa

We stayed at the Cary Arms to celebrate my wife's birthday. I was looking for a great location, beautiful sea views, a little luxury, great food and drink and wonderful, friendly staff and this place hit the brief. We were lucky with the weather and our room had magnificent views out over the bay. The Cary Arms has a Spa that offers some great treatments, beautiful terraces where you can sit and relax with a drink and is a most relaxing and wonderful place. Just perfect!

We had a wonderful overnight stay last week at The Cary Arms. What a lovely experience! Great staff, fantastic food and Amazing views! Such a wonderful location with stunning views. We really enjoyed our drink on the terrace watching the seals.