A seaside hotel branded ‘Britain’s worst’ is being investigated after it caught fire for the second time in two days.
Emergency services attended the Sherwood Palm Hotel in Torquay at around 2pm on Easter Sunday after a previous blaze at the same site.
According to the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, it was the second incident at the building within three days.
Four fire engines and an aerial ladder were initially sent to the scene, but as the fire developed, further resources were deployed, including two additional fire engines and a second aerial ladder, as well as an incident commander.
At the time, members of the public were advised to avoid the area, as Devon and Cornwall Police warned of large amounts of smoke affecting nearby streets.
In a statement, the force said: ‘Please avoid the area for the time being. The advice is for residents, and particularly those nearest to the hotel, to close all windows and doors to prevent any health issues.’
The Sherwood Palm Hotel in Torquay – dubbed ‘Britain’s worst’ – caught fire for the second time in two days on Easter Sunday weekend
A previous blaze erupted at the same site on Friday 3, April
The latest fire follows a separate incident on Friday, 3 April, when five fire engines, responding to multiple calls from members of the public, arrived at the property to control a blaze.
Once a three-star establishment, The Sherwood Palm Hotel has been plagued by a series of troubles in recent years.
Described by local police as an ‘anti-social behaviour magnet’, the venue – previously damaged by another fire in March 2024 – was forced to close for three months in October 2025, as reported by The Express.
The cause of the recent fires remains unknown, with investigations still underway. The hotel is currently listed as ‘temporarily closed’ on Google.
On Tripadvisor, guests haven’t held back in sharing an honest review of their stay at The Sherwood Palm Hotel, with many awarding the establishment just one star out of five.
One person recently described the property as ‘filthy’, adding: ‘The hotel is so rundown, we didn’t expect much as we didn’t pay much but the rooms should be cleaned with fresh towels every few days as there is nowhere to dry them.’
Another wrote: ‘This place is not even fit for a human to stay in. Toiletries were advertised as part of the stay…Nope NO toiletries. There is no proper view from your room. All views overlook garbage. Mould in the shower…’
In August 2020, a third said: ‘Possibly the worst hotel imaginable. Despite having been in lockdown the place was filthy. We checked out a day early because of the state of the place, as did others.’
Another warned prospective guests to avoid booking the hotel as they said it has ‘closed for good’ yet it will not issue refunds for ‘non-existent bookings’.
But one guest defended: ‘We stayed for 4 nights in room 19 and to be fair it was OK. It had a new bathroom, the bed was comfortable and it was clean. In its day it must of been a great place to stay. Just needs a lot of TLC to bring it back to where it once stood.’
It comes after a Brit spent one night in what has been dubbed the UK’s ‘most disgusting hotel’ – and was left horrified.
Known as Adz Uncut on YouTube, the tourist stayed at The Himley Country Hotel in Dudley.
The establishment offers a range of accommodation options from deluxe suites to family rooms.
It has more than 800 reviews on Google, with an average rating of 2.7 stars out of five.
Adz shared a video titled ‘Most Disgusting Hotel In Britain (I had to leave)’ of him checking in. Once inside he comments, ‘I’m not going to lie, those corridors do smell, not of cigarettes.’
He then takes a deep breath in as he enters the room and adds: ‘That’s a bad smell. The corridor smells musty but this smells more of sweat and fear to be honest with you.’
Looking out of his bedroom window, Adz notices ‘soggy tissues’ and a ‘packet of coffee’ that had been thrown on the grass outside.