Imperial Hotel

Address

The Imperial
Taw Vale
Barnstaple
Devon
EX32 8NB

Business type

Hotel/bed & breakfast/guest house

Date of inspection

19 November 2025

Standards found at the time of inspection
Area inspected by food safety officer	Standards found
Hygienic food handling Hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage	Improvement necessary
Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building (including having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control) to enable good food hygiene	Generally satisfactory
Management of food safety System or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future	Major improvement necessary

If you wish to see the food safety officer’s report on which this rating is based, you can request this from the local authority that carried out the inspection. You can do this by sending an email to the address below. In some cases, the local authority may decide that they cannot send you a copy of the report but will let you know this and explain why.

What the business says

Following the inspection, we have reviewed the areas identified and taken immediate action to address them. The main issues related to refrigeration storage practices - organisation, labelling and covering, and these have swiftly been resolved. We have also invested in new refrigeration equipment to further support and strengthen these procedures going forward.

Daily monitoring has been enhanced, and staff across both front and back of house have received refresher training, reiterating the standards expected to ensure ongoing compliance across all relevant areas.

Our kitchen management was in a transitional period at the time, which unfortunately contributed to the reason these issues were found. However, this is no excuse, and the procedures set out in our food safety manual, together with the training already provided, should have ensured our long-standing high standards were maintained. We are confident that the problems found have been addressed, to return to the high standard expected by all concerned.

About comments made by the business

A business has the right to reply to its local authority about the food hygiene rating given. This means a business may draw attention to improvements made since the inspection and/or explain particular circumstances at the time of inspection that might have affected the rating the business was given. The comments made by the business have been reviewed and may have been edited by a local authority food safety officer so they fit the terms and conditions of this website but the accuracy of any statements made has not been verified.