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.
2019 Editor's Choice Seaside Hotels
Editor’s Choice Seaside Hotels
Argyll Hotel - Three Night 25% Discount Special Offer
IONA
Iona Sound, frescoed with gently bobbing boats, provides a tranquil outlook for the row of crofters’ cottages that form this ‘amazing little hotel’.
Trefeddian Hotel - February/March Breaks from £80 per person per night
ABERDOVEY
The Cave family’s holiday hotel overlooking Cardigan Bay is ‘very much family orientated, and the facilities are excellent – indoor pool, putting green, games room, beach across the road.’
Cary Arms & Spa - Two Nights for the Price of One Special Offer
BABBACOMBE
At the end of a ‘precipitous, twisty descent’, ‘courageous’ visitors are rewarded with ‘unrestricted views and a genuine, good-humoured welcome’ at Lana de Savary’s ‘fabulously secluded’ cliff-face hotel.
Hell Bay Hotel
ISLES OF SCILLY
‘The surrounds are dramatic, the interiors pretty spectacular too.’ Readers report much to enjoy at Robert Dorrien-Smith’s gloriously isolated island hotel.
Treglos Hotel
Padstow
The Barlows, whose family have run Treglos for 50 years, have sadly decided to close the hotel.
Tresanton
ST MAWES
Up 137 steps, through ‘glorious’ gardens, ‘one of the most comfortable establishments I’ve ever stayed in’ occupies a higgle piggle of houses with ‘extraordinary views’ across Falmouth Bay.
The White Horse
BRANCASTER STAITHE
‘One of my favourite hotels,’ writes a trusted reader, who spent four nights at the Nye family’s inn with views across salt marshes to the sea. ‘Good location, nice room, excellent food.’
Artist Residence Brighton
BRIGHTON
Charlotte and Justin Salisbury’s eclectic hotel distils relaxed, creative Brighton into a cool Regency town house.
The Seaside Boarding House
BURTON BRADSTOCK
White walls, pleasant staff, bright sunshine, blue, blue sky, sparkling sea just over the road…’ For one reader this year, everything hit the spot at this cool small hotel overlooking Lyme Bay.
The George
YARMOUTH
Guests staying at this 17th-century seafront town house are following in illustrious footsteps. Charles II walked on the same stone flags, uneven floors and sweeping staircase when visiting its then resident, Sir Robert Holmes, the island’s governor.
2018 Editor's Choice Seaside Hotels
Editor’s Choice Seaside Hotels
The White House
HERM
Visitors are not spoilt for choice of places to stay on this tiny, car-free island – they’re just spoilt at the island’s best and only hotel
The Nare - Complimentary Spa Treatment
VERYAN-IN-ROSELAND
‘Old-fashioned in all the best ways’, ‘a Cornish jewel’, ‘a real joy – almost a privilege – to stay there’; complements rained down from trusted readers after visits to Toby Ashworth’s hotel on the Roseland Peninsula.
Cary Arms & Spa - Two Nights for the Price of One Special Offer
BABBACOMBE
At the end of a ‘precipitous, twisty descent’, ‘courageous’ visitors are rewarded with ‘unrestricted views and a genuine, good-humoured welcome’ at Lana de Savary’s ‘fabulously secluded’ cliff-face hotel.
The Blakeney Hotel
HOLT
Standing right on the quay overlooking estuary and salt marshes, in a coastal village of flint cottages, gift shops and galleries, Emma Stannard’s hotel is ideal for outdoorsy family holidays.
Porth Tocyn Hotel
ABERSOCH
A Welsh rarebit on the tip of Cardigan Bay, this ‘lovely, wacky’ hotel is a family-friendly, family-run affair.
Tresanton
ST MAWES
Up 137 steps, through ‘glorious’ gardens, ‘one of the most comfortable establishments I’ve ever stayed in’ occupies a higgle piggle of houses with ‘extraordinary views’ across Falmouth Bay.
Idle Rocks
ST MAWES
‘The situation, the view and interior are all marvellous,’ writes a reader this year, of Karen and David Richards’s ‘superb hotel’ (Relais & Château) right by the harbour wall in a fishing village on the Roseland peninsula.
The Beach
BUDE
With its cocktail bar and sea-facing terrace, Susie and Will Daniel’s buzzy hotel overlooking Summerleaze surfers’ beach is ‘a mecca for the young of Bude’.
The Pig on the Beach
STUDLAND
Forged from the coastal villa of an aristocratic MP this ‘gloriously Gothic mini-Hogwarts, all gargoyles and turrets’ gazes out across the sea to Old Harry Rocks.
The Seaside Boarding House
BURTON BRADSTOCK
White walls, pleasant staff, bright sunshine, blue, blue sky, sparkling sea just over the road…’ For one reader this year, everything hit the spot at this cool small hotel overlooking Lyme Bay.
2017 Editor's Choice Seaside Hotels
Editor’s Choice Seaside Hotels
Soar Mill Cove Hotel - 40% Discount 40th Anniversary Special Offer
SALCOMBE
‘We couldn’t have enjoyed it more or been more welcome,’ write trusted Guide correspondents this year, after dropping by at Keith Makepeace’s long-established, family-run hotel with views across National Trust coastline to the open sea.
The White House
HERM
Visitors are not spoilt for choice of places to stay on this tiny, car-free island – they’re just spoilt at the island’s best and only hotel
The Nare - Complimentary Spa Treatment
VERYAN-IN-ROSELAND
‘Old-fashioned in all the best ways’, ‘a Cornish jewel’, ‘a real joy – almost a privilege – to stay there’; complements rained down from trusted readers after visits to Toby Ashworth’s hotel on the Roseland Peninsula.
Romney Bay House - Three Night Special Offer
NEW ROMNEY
In the otherworldly landscape of Romney Marsh, this extraordinary 1920s house was built by Clough Williams Ellis for Hollywood actress Hedda Hopper.
Cary Arms & Spa - Two Nights for the Price of One Special Offer
BABBACOMBE
At the end of a ‘precipitous, twisty descent’, ‘courageous’ visitors are rewarded with ‘unrestricted views and a genuine, good-humoured welcome’ at Lana de Savary’s ‘fabulously secluded’ cliff-face hotel.
driftwood hotel
PORTSCATHO
‘Wow! This was good.’ A regular Guide reader offered high praise after visiting Paul and Fiona Robinson’s ‘delightful’ hotel that gazes across Gerrans Bay on the Roseland peninsula.
Idle Rocks
ST MAWES
‘The situation, the view and interior are all marvellous,’ writes a reader this year, of Karen and David Richards’s ‘superb hotel’ (Relais & Château) right by the harbour wall in a fishing village on the Roseland peninsula.
The White Horse
BRANCASTER STAITHE
‘One of my favourite hotels,’ writes a trusted reader, who spent four nights at the Nye family’s inn with views across salt marshes to the sea. ‘Good location, nice room, excellent food.’
The Old Coastguard
PENZANCE
This ‘youthful, buzzy’ spot, say returning guests this year, is liked for its ‘good rooms, helpful, friendly staff, excellent food – and no flashy bits’.
The Pig on the Beach
STUDLAND
Forged from the coastal villa of an aristocratic MP this ‘gloriously Gothic mini-Hogwarts, all gargoyles and turrets’ gazes out across the sea to Old Harry Rocks.
Hotels chosen in 2016
Editor’s Choice Seaside Hotels
Hell Bay Hotel
ISLES OF SCILLY
‘The surrounds are dramatic, the interiors pretty spectacular too.’ Readers report much to enjoy at Robert Dorrien-Smith’s gloriously isolated island hotel.
The Colonsay
COLONSAY
On an island of white-sand beaches and rocky inlets (human population 135; seals, otters and eagles unnumbered), Jane and Alex Howard’s 18th-century inn sits at the centre of village life, with quiz nights and live music.
The Henley
BIGBURY-ON-SEA
‘As superb and lovely as ever,’ Martyn Scarterfield and Petra Lampe’s Edwardian holiday cottage turned guest house is ‘a home-away-from-home’ for many devoted returning visitors.
Dunvalanree in Carradale
CARRADALE
Alyson and Alan Milstead’s restaurant-with-rooms is ‘a lovely place, excellent for all its quirkiness,’ says a regular Guide reader in 2017.