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Balfour Arms

3.0 star property

Photo gallery for Balfour Arms

Restaurant
Classic Double or Twin Room, Ensuite | Garden
Lounge
Lounge
Miscellaneous

Reviews

8.4 out of 10
Very good

Popular amenities

  • Parking included
  • Restaurant
  • Breakfast available
  • Business services
  • Bar
  • Housekeeping
The current price is NZ$208
includes taxes & fees
3 July - 4 July

Explore the area

View map
Woolbrook Road, Sidmouth, England, EX10 9RU
  • Place, Historic Sidmouth
    ‪12 min walk‬
  • Place, East Devon
    ‪14 min walk‬
  • Place, Sidmouth Beach
    ‪6 min drive‬
  • Airport, Exeter (EXT-Exeter Intl.)
    ‪31 min drive‬

Room options

View all photos for Classic Double or Twin Room, Ensuite

Classic Double or Twin Room, Ensuite

Classic Double or Twin Room, Ensuite

8.0 out of 10
Very good
(1 review)
  • 1 bedroom
  • Sleeps 2
  • 2 Single Beds
  • Free Wi-Fi

View all photos for Classic Twin Room, Ensuite

Classic Twin Room, Ensuite

Classic Twin Room, Ensuite

  • 1 bedroom
  • Sleeps 2
  • 2 Single Beds
  • Free Wi-Fi

About the area

Sidmouth

A family-friendly stay in Sidmouth awaits you at Balfour Arms. Within just a 15-minute stroll, you'll find East Devon and Historic Sidmouth. Highlights at this hotel include a restaurant, free self-parking and a bar/lounge. .This smoke-free hotel offers free WiFi in public areas, a games room and a garden. Plus you'll find wedding services. .Within a 30-minute drive of this 3-property class Sidmouth hotel, attractions include Exeter's Historic Quayside and Powderham Castle.

What's nearby

  • Historic Sidmouth - 12 min walk - 1.1 km
  • Sidmouth Museum - 12 min walk - 1.1 km
  • East Devon - 14 min walk - 1.2 km
  • Sidmouth Beach - 6 min drive - 3.1 km
  • Sidmouth - Valley, Ridge and Jurassic Coast Walk - 6 min drive - 3.1 km

Getting around

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

Restaurants

  • ‪Becketts Coffee House - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪Fort Cafe - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪The Cornish Bakery - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪Rockfish - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪The Rising Sun - ‬3 min drive

About this property

Balfour Arms

There's a restaurant on site. You can enjoy a drink at the bar/lounge. WiFi is free in public spaces. The family-friendly Balfour Arms also features an arcade/games room and a garden. Self parking is free.

This 3-star Sidmouth hotel is smoke free.

  • 4 guestrooms or units
  • Conference space
  • Breakfast available (surcharge)
  • Wedding services available
  • Games room or arcade
  • Garden
  • No smoking on site
  • Bar or lounge
  • Dining venue
Balfour Arms offers 4 accommodations. Housekeeping is provided on a daily basis.

Similar properties

Food and drink
Blue Ball Inn
Sidmouth
  • Pet-friendly
  • Parking included
  • Free Wi-Fi
  • Restaurant
4.5 out of 5, Wonderful, 157 reviews
The price is NZ$213
includes taxes & fees
26 July - 27 July
Blue Ball Inn

Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transport

  • Free self parking on site
  • Limited on-site self parking

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 lift

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
Minimum check-in age - 18

Check-out

Check-out before 11:00 AM

Special check-in instructions

Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property
Information provided by the property may be translated using automated translation tools

Access methods

Staffed front desk

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
Charges for extra guests may apply and vary according to property policy.
A cash deposit, credit card or debit card for incidental charges and government-issued photo identification may be required upon check-in.
Special requests are subject to availability at the time of check-in. Special requests can't be guaranteed and may incur additional charges.

    We should mention

    • Please note that this property can refuse certain bookings for the purpose of group events or parties, which include pre-wedding stag/bachelor and hen/bachelorette parties.
    • This property welcomes guests of all sexual orientations and gender identities (LGBTQ+ friendly).

    Property is also known as

    Balfour Arms Inn
    Balfour Arms Sidmouth
    Balfour Arms Inn Sidmouth

    Frequently asked questions

    Is parking available at Balfour Arms?

    Yep, Balfour Arms has a free self car park.

    How much does it cost to stay at Balfour Arms?

    As of 30 Jun 2026, prices found for a 1-night stay for 2 adults at Balfour Arms on 3 Jul 2026 start from NZ$208, including taxes and fees. This price is based on the lowest nightly price found in the last 24 hours for stays in the next 30 days. Prices are subject to change. Choose your dates for more accurate prices.

    Are there any beaches close to Balfour Arms?

    The closest beach to Balfour Arms is Devon Cliffs Beach (13.8 km).

    Is Balfour Arms family-friendly?

    You bet! With amenities such as a playground and an arcade, as well as highchairs in the guestrooms, it's no surprise that Balfour Arms is a hit with families.

    Is there a free airport shuttle available at Balfour Arms?

    No, Balfour Arms does not offer an airport shuttle service.

    Is there a bar or restaurant at Balfour Arms?

    Yep, they've got a lounge bar and an onsite restaurant.

    What time are check-in & check-out at Balfour Arms?

    Check-in begins at 2:00 PM. Check-out time is 11:00 AM.

    Balfour Arms Reviews

    Reviews

    8.4

    Very good

    Rating 10 - Excellent. 26 out of 54 reviews
    Rating 8 - Good. 18 out of 54 reviews
    Rating 6 - Okay. 4 out of 54 reviews
    Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 54 reviews
    Rating 2 - Terrible. 4 out of 54 reviews

    8.8/10

    Cleanliness

    8.6/10

    Staff & service

    8.8/10

    Amenities

    8.4/10

    Property conditions & facilities

    Reviews

    Verified

    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
    Verified

    10/10 Excellent

    Lesley

    Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
    Great welcome, clean and comfortable. Everyone friendly.
    Stayed 1 night in Dec 2025
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    8/10 Good

    Verified traveller

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    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
    Verified

    10/10 Excellent

    Graham

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

    Short break

    We stayed for two nights and we felt very welcome. The room was very comfortable with a good quality bed and fresh white linen and duvet cover. The en-suite shower room was very well presented and modern. We ate there on both nights and enjoyed the food. Breakfast was freshly cooked to order ,which is so much better than buffet type breakfasts. We really enjoyed the cooked breakfast but felt that if you wished to have continental you would not have so much choice. Overall a pleasant stay and recommended for a short break.
    Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2021
    Verified

    10/10 Excellent

    Juliet

    Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
    Lovely
    Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021
    Verified

    8/10 Good

    Verified traveller

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

    Business stay

    Booked for a business stay, all good.
    Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021
    Verified

    6/10 Okay

    karen

    Liked: Room comfort

    Overall good value accommodation.

    Lovely room with comfortable bed and large modern bathroom. Breakfast average with Luke warm drinks from a buffet table. Location is forty minutes from the beachfront but a pleasant walk through a park. We were there for four nights and our room was serviced once which we had to ask for. Noisy at night from the bar but to be expected with pub accommodation.Wifi did not work and the staff commented that it was often a problem
    Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2021
    Verified

    10/10 Excellent

    Alan

    Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
    Very helpful and friendly staff, room and food were excellent with parking as well on site.
    Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021
    Verified

    10/10 Excellent

    John

    Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
    Friendly, helpful staff and comfortable room. Everything very clean. Substantial cooked breakfast and evening meals available (if required) Pleasant 20 minute walk to the sea front along the Byes river walk.
    Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021