From harbourside retreats to remote escapes, the UK has the most spectacular coastline that never fails to feed the soul. Estuaries and salt flats, sandy beaches and secluded cliff top locations, the hotels by the sea combine spectacular views, natural beauty and excellent customer service with sand, surf and occasionally sunshine as well. Here are the Good Hotel Guide’s top 10 seaside hotels.
Editor’s Choice 2017 Seaside Hotels
Soar Mill Cove Hotel - Autumn Adventures Await
Soar Mill Cove
Family owned, family run, exuberantly family friendly, Keith Makepeace’s ‘welcoming’ hotel stands in rolling countryside above a valley running down to the shore.
From £125 per night
The White House - Bluebells in Bloom 2016
Herm
‘Walking is the thing’ on this ‘very green’, car-free island: alight from the ferry and let a tractor bring your luggage to this ‘truly lovely’ hotel (‘it’s all part of the enjoyment’).
From £72 per night
The Nare - Children Summer Special Offers
Veryan-in-Roseland
‘Pretty well perfect’, Toby Ashworth’s seaside hotel on the Roseland peninsula, founded nearly 30 years ago by his grandmother, continues to please.
Idle Rocks - Foodie Escape
St Mawes
Perched ‘truly on the water’, Karen and David Richards’s sophisticated seaside hotel (Relais & Châteaux) is ‘just the place to unfurl after the stresses of the day-to-day’, this year's visitors say.
From £280.00 per night
Romney Bay House - Three Night Special Offer
New Romney
Approached by a private, unadopted road, Clinton and Lisa Lovell’s 1920s mansion has a ‘stunning, unique location’ between Littlestone’s shingle beach and miles of wild marshland scattered with ancient churches.
From £95.00 per night
The Old Coastguard
Mousehole
In an old fishing village, a ‘friendly’ welcome and the ‘young, very buzzy atmosphere’ attract visitors to this personable Victorian hotel overlooking the sea.
From £135 per night
The Cary Arms - Summer Special Offer
Babbacombe
By a ‘fabulously secluded’ cove, Lana de Savary’s chic hotel clings to wooded cliffs overlooking the beach.
From £195 per night
Driftwood Hotel
Portscatho
‘A poetic setting of beach and sea and garden.’ An ‘abundance of calm’ settles upon this smart seaside hotel, thanks to the ‘very hands-on’ owners, Paul and Fiona Robinson, and their well-trained staff.
From £180 per night
The White Horse
Brancaster Staithe
‘Efficient, friendly’ staff, ‘well-appointed’ rooms and ‘splendid seafood meals’ keep guests returning to the Nye family’s ‘charming’ inn on the north Norfolk coast.
From £100 per night
The Pig on the beach
Studland
The fourth addition to Robin Hutson’s drove, this little Pig, in a ‘rambling’, turreted Gothic manor house, is ‘a relaxed version of a country hotel, noticeably enjoyed by guests of all ages’.