History
The Watersmeet Hotel was built for an Edwardian gentleman in 1907. Records found at the North Devon Record Office show that a private hotel ‘known as Watersmeet House’ was operating in 1914. The original building comprised the ground and first floors from the present reception to the bay window in the lounge. The ‘East Wing’ was added in the 1920s, having a sprung oak floored ballroom on the ground floor and six single bedrooms on the first floor. The second and third floors were added in the mid 1930s, giving a total of 40 bedrooms by the end of the thirties.
During the Second World War, the hotel was requisitioned and a girl’s school from Kent remained here for the duration of the conflict. A number of ‘old girls’ have stayed at the hotel over the years. They were able to tell us that American officers, billeted in the village, were regular visitors!
In 1974 the outdoor pool was built, one of the first in the area. From then until the mid 1980s, the hotel remained virtually unchanged. Our octagonal restaurant was built in 1986, along with the extension to the lounges. The next 18 months saw the number of bedrooms reduced to 24, as en-suite bathrooms became the norm, rather than the exception, and small bedrooms were amalgamated to make more spacious ones.
1996 saw the conversion of the ballroom into an indoor pool, providing much appreciated leisure facilities as the hotel stayed open into the winter months. Since 2000 the lounges have been remodelled and refurbished, and in 2002 a raised tier in the restaurant was introduced to allow more diners to enjoy the sea views.
In December 2003, Style Hotels Ltd acquired the hotel and since then all bedrooms and bathrooms have been refurbished adding two new ground floor rooms. The leisure facilities were upgraded to include a hot tub and a steam room.
Although a hotel can never be said to be ‘finished’, I hope you will agree that over the years the changes to the property have been both sympathetic and carried out to a high standard. The result is The Watersmeet as we know it today – one of the highest regarded four star hotels in the West Country.