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Balfour Arms

3.0 star property
Family-friendly inn with a restaurant and a bar

Choose dates to view prices

Photo gallery for Balfour Arms

Bar (on property)
Classic Double or Twin Room, Ensuite | Bar (on property)
Exterior
Miscellaneous
Garden
In the heart of Balfour Arms, discover a haven that combines family-friendly fun and relaxation. Unwind in the garden, challenge your loved ones to a game at the arcade, or savor kids' meals at the on-site restaurant.

Reviews

8.4 out of 10
Very good

Popular amenities

  • Bar
  • Housekeeping
  • Parking included
  • Free WiFi
  • Restaurant

Room options

View all photos for Classic Double or Twin Room, Ensuite

Classic Double or Twin Room, Ensuite

Classic Double or Twin Room, Ensuite

Highlights

Heating
Connecting rooms available
Flat-screen TV
Heating
Separate bedroom
Blackout drapes/curtains
Rainfall showerhead
Hydromassage showerhead
  • 1 bedroom
  • Sleeps 2
  • 2 Twin Beds

About the neighborhood

Map
Woolbrook Road, Sidmouth, England, EX10 9RU

What's nearby

  • Sidmouth - Valley, Ridge and Jurassic Coast Walk - 3 min drive - 1.5 miles
  • Sidmouth Beach - 3 min drive - 1.6 miles
  • East Devon Art - 3 min drive - 1.6 miles
  • Jacobs Ladder Beach - 4 min drive - 1.7 miles
  • The Donkey Sanctuary - 7 min drive - 3.6 miles

Getting around

  • Honiton Station - 16 min drive
  • Exeter (EXT-Exeter Intl.) - 23 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪Taste of Sidmouth - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪The Marine - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪The Bowd Inn - ‬2 min drive
  • ‪The Cornish Bakery - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪The Swan Inn - ‬3 min drive

About this property

Balfour Arms

Family-friendly inn
At Balfour Arms, you can look forward to a garden, a playground, and an arcade/game room. Stay connected with free WiFi in public areas, and guests can find other amenities such as a bar and conference space.
Other perks at this inn include:
  • Free self parking
  • Breakfast (surcharge), wedding services, and smoke-free premises
Extra amenities include:
  • Highchairs and daily housekeeping

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  • Breakfast included
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  • Parking included
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8.6 out of 10, Excellent, 186 reviews
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Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transportation

  • Free self parking on site

Food and drink

  • Breakfast available for a fee
  • A bar/lounge
  • A restaurant

Things to do

  • Arcade/game room
  • Playground

Family friendly

  • Arcade/game room
  • High chair
  • Playground

Guest services

  • Housekeeping (daily)
  • Wedding services

Business services

  • Conference space

Outdoors

  • Garden

Accessibility

  • No elevator

More

  • Smoking not allowed

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 2:00 PM; Check-in end time: 10:00 PM
Early check-in subject to availability

Check-out

Check-out before 11:00 AM

Special check-in instructions

Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property

Access methods

Staffed front desk

Pets

Service animals are welcome, and are exempt from fees

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed

We should mention

This property does not have elevators

Property is also known as

Balfour Arms Inn
Balfour Arms Sidmouth
Balfour Arms Inn Sidmouth

Frequently asked questions

How much is parking at Balfour Arms?

Self parking is free at this property.

What time is check-in at Balfour Arms?

Check-in start time: 2:00 PM; Check-in end time: 10:00 PM.

What time is check-out at Balfour Arms?

Check-out is at 11:00 AM.

Where is Balfour Arms located?

This family-friendly Sidmouth inn is within a 15-minute walk of East Devon, Sidmouth Museum, and Historic Sidmouth. Sidmouth Beach and South West Coast Path Section 45 Trailhead are also within 2 mi (3 km).

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Balfour Arms Reviews

Reviews

8.4

Very Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 25 out of 49 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 16 out of 49 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 49 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 49 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 4 out of 49 reviews

8.8/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

9.0/10

Amenities

8.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.8/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

8/10 Good

David

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Friendly owners and staff made our stay enjoyable 👍
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2025

10/10 Excellent

Richard

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great owners and staff wouldn't hesitate to book again if in the area excellent value for money
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Caroline

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Great Fun and Friendly

We had a great time staying here, entertainment both nights, you will hear it in your room, but you’re staying in a pub so would expect to, was all quiet by 12. Room was lovely, good wi fi comfortable bed. Breakfast was lovely. Staff were very friendly and helpful, would definitely stay again
Stayed 2 nights in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Alan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Fantastic stay.

From the greeting when we got here. The beautiful room with all ammenites. Fantastic food to a high standard. Would highly recommend staying here.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Mary E

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

wonderful place

Wonderful place with friendly staff and good food. Stayed one night. Had lunch and dinner there. Participated in the bar's trivia night - finished last but had a great time. Free on-site parking, and free breakfast in the morning.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024

2/10 Terrible

Barry

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Not a great place, cold, cold old , dated Vaping permitted inside the bar, very run down. The stairs leading to the rooms smelling heavily of pet ammonia
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2025

8/10 Good

Graham

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Staff welcoming

Was worried when entering property as porch was full of old cigarette stubs and rubbish but pub was clean and staff very welcoming. The bed was extremely comfortable and the breakfast far exceeded our expectations. Would stay again.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

8/10 Good

Mark

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Overnight Stay

Nice overnight stay food from the restaurant was very good. Recommend the Rib Eye. A bit of noise from downstairs, but it is a pub after all. Quiet a little later so all good.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

2/10 Terrible

Paul

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Noisiest place I have ever stayed.

Extremely noisy as they have a band on a Saturday night who was playing until midnight and might as well be playing in our room. Was advised it isn't mentioned on hotels.com but it does get mentioned if you book on their website, which didn't help.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

2/10 Terrible

Evelyn

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Very dissatisfied wouldn’t book there again

We booked the accommodations in the Balfour Arms in May and they canceled our reservation 2 days before we were to arrive from Australia. They offered us NO help find other accommodation , made the excuse they had double booked the room and left us high and dry. Very unhappy and lucky to find somewhere else at this time of year.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2024

8/10 Good

Graeme

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Lovely room, a pity about quality of our dinner

Our stay was three days.The room was spacious and nicely decorated. But we were unable to get a wifi signal anywhere in the hotel. Comfortable bed. A good shower. The price included breakfast which was a reasonable standard but not up to that of Premier Inn. A pity that the stair carpet leading the rooms was stained and not a good introduction to such a nice room. We ate one evening meal a chicken and bacon pie. The taste was reasonable but the content sparse, 4 small pieces of chicken.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

2/10 Terrible

S

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

One to miss

Room ok. Stairways to room dirty . Live band on till 10pm . Told would be towels in room later . We asked 5 x , told would 5 mins 3 x , at 9 . 30pm . Asked a young girl for towels as the people running the place had disappeared. Received at 9.45 pm from young girl . Told at breakfast only limited food , due to no deliveries . We had a bacon sandwich. The place should be removed from list. The trouble with these places they have taken your money, before you arrive so you cannot get any refund.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

4/10 Poor

Jane

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service

Very unhappy with our stay

The double room we had was excellent, spotlessly clean, very comfortable, lovely bathroom. We stayed for 2 nights, the beds were not made for 2nd night, cups not washed, no extra coffee or tea. Breakfast for 1st morning was awful, full English ordered, the waitress had to go to Lidl to get eggs as no eggs available, eventually arrived, bacon cold, fried eggs and mushrooms running in fat. Terrible. 2nd morning the chef didn't turn up so cleaner got the landlord to cook our breakfast breakfast and that was cooked beautifully. The other problem we had was the noise, room directly above the bar, band playing both nights and parties. First night noise stopped at midnight second night went on until 02.30. There was 1set of earplugs provided in the room which had absolutely no affect at all against the constant noise level. Extremely disappointed stay.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

JOHN

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024

8/10 Good

m

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Andrew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2023

4/10 Poor

Diane

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

A pub.

This is a pub - with pub food which is good. The accommodation-the bed was comfortable - the toilet seat was not attached, there was a missing plug in the washbasin, and the bedroom door was almost impossible to lock. It is such a shame - obviously a lack of staff - we stayed due to the reviews, but we found they were not in keeping to what we experienced.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

6/10 Okay

John

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Amy

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Loved our stay.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and would recommend you try it. Has a new owner who is in the process of upgrading areas and training his staff even more. Our bedroom was comfortable, just no hairdryer at present. There was an issue with the heating while we were there but this was solved with a portable heater till it was fixed. Met two other lovely couples (only three rooms), we joined up for a great evening of quizzing, we came second!! Also have other entertainment throughout the week. Food was great with an excellent breakfast. Once this new manager upgrades some things it would get an excellent all around from us but we would go back again anyway as we were made so very welcome.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023

8/10 Good

Phillip

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The bedroom was nicely decorated and a good size. The bed was very comfortable. Good size bathroom but too cold as no heating
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Margaret

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We had a great stay, Everything was fine, Staff friendly and food was excellent
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022

8/10 Good

a

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Very good value

Very pleasant, food & drink more than acceptable. Car parking right outside the door. 25 minute walk to the sea front which we enjoyed. Only negative was noise from the bar & those leaving late at night, but we were early to bed, it is a pub & the room rates were very reasonable.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2022

8/10 Good

John

Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2022

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