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Balfour Arms

3.0 star property

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Photo gallery for Balfour Arms

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

Reviews

8.4 out of 10
Very good

Popular amenities

  • Parking included
  • Restaurant
  • Business services
  • Bar
  • Housekeeping

Explore the area

View in a 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 Twin Beds
  • Free WiFi

View all photos for Classic Twin Room, Ensuite

Classic Twin Room, Ensuite

Classic Twin Room, Ensuite

  • 1 bedroom
  • Sleeps 2
  • 2 Twin Beds
  • Free WiFi

About the neighborhood

Sidmouth

Balfour Arms is a short stroll from East Devon and Historic Sidmouth. This 4-room, 3-star hotel welcomes guests with conveniences like a restaurant, a bar/lounge, and free self parking.

What's nearby

  • Historic Sidmouth - 12 min walk - 0.7 miles
  • Sidmouth Museum - 12 min walk - 0.7 miles
  • East Devon - 14 min walk - 0.8 miles
  • Sidmouth Beach - 6 min drive - 2.0 miles
  • Sidmouth - Valley, Ridge and Jurassic Coast Walk - 6 min drive - 2.0 miles

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

Balfour Arms features free WiFi in public areas, conference space, and an arcade/game room. If you decide to drive, there's free parking. Other amenities at this family-friendly hotel include a garden and wedding services.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.

Similar properties

Exterior
Southern Cross Guest House
Sidmouth
  • Pet friendly
  • Parking included
  • Breakfast available
  • Housekeeping
9.0 out of 10, Wonderful, 517 reviews
$74 nightly
The price is $88
Jul 9 - Jul 10
Total with taxes and fees
Southern Cross Guest House

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
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

Pets

  • Service animals exempt from fees

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
  • Check-in: 2:00 PM—-10:00 PM
  • Check-out: 11:00 AM
  • Minimum check-in age: 18
Driving? This property offers free parking.

We should mention

Details about charges, deposits, or other important information:

  • Charges for extra guests may apply and vary depending on the property's policy.
  • A cash deposit, credit card, or debit card for incidental charges, as well as a government-issued photo ID, may be required at check-in.
  • Special requests are subject to availability at the time of check-in and can't be guaranteed. Certain requests may come with additional charges.

Additional information about polices, regulations, and more:

  • The hotel can refuse certain bookings for the purpose of group events or parties, which include pre-wedding stag/bachelor and hen/bachelorette parties.
  • There are no elevators.
  • 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

What's there to see within easy reach of Balfour Arms?

This hotel is located in Sidmouth, a short 12-minute walk from East Devon and also 15 minutes on foot from Historic Sidmouth. You'll also find Dorset and East Devon Coast and Sidmouth Beach within a short drive.

How much does it cost to stay at Balfour Arms?

As of Jun 19, 2026, prices found for a 1-night stay for 2 adults at Balfour Arms on Jun 28, 2026 start from $107, 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.

Is there parking available at Balfour Arms?

Yes, self parking is offered for free at the hotel.

Does Balfour Arms feature a casino at the property?

No, Balfour Arms doesn't have a casino.

Will I find an indoor pool at Balfour Arms?

No, there is no indoor pool at this hotel.

What do couples enjoy most about Balfour Arms?

Couples staying at this hotel will appreciate amenities like a restaurant plus some guestrooms include a rainfall showerhead and free WiFi.

Are there hot tubs at Balfour Arms?

No, this hotel doesn't have a spa tub.

Does Balfour Arms have a restaurant with a breakfast menu?

Yes, Balfour Arms serves breakfast for a surcharge from its restaurant.

Are there connecting rooms at Balfour Arms?

Yes, you can book connecting rooms at this hotel for your group or family vacation.

How close is the airport from Balfour Arms?

The closest major airport to Balfour Arms is Exeter (EXT-Exeter Intl.), which is 9.1 mi away (23 minutes by car).

Are there rooms with balconies at Balfour Arms?

No, there aren't any guestrooms with balconies at Balfour Arms.

Does Balfour Arms have a wedding venue on site?

Take advantage of the wedding venue at Balfour Arms if you plan to say "I do" during your trip.

Balfour Arms Reviews

Reviews

8.4

Very Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 26 out of 52 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 17 out of 52 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 52 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 52 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 4 out of 52 reviews

8.8/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

9.0/10

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 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
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 traveler

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