Hotels by the sea
Chewton Glen - Summer Staycations Special Offer
New Milton
Readers are ‘unable to fault anything at all’ at this ivy-clad country house hotel on the edge of the New Forest, ‘the ultimate luxurious and indulgent treat’.
Soar Mill Cove Hotel - Spring Outdoors Escape Special Offer
Salcombe
Binoculars are supplied for dolphin- spotting at this much-loved, family- friendly hotel. Bedrooms have glass doors leading to patio or balcony, views of cove and coastal gardens, or National Trust countryside. Wild-flower walks and beach days beckon.
Talland Bay Hotel - 'Sunday Stayover' Special Offer
Talland-by-Looe
There is such a spirit of caprice about this cliff-top hotel, with its playful décor, its sub-tropical gardens filled with whimsical sculptures. A place for leisure and pleasure, with sea views from many bedrooms, alfresco dining on the terrace.
La Sablonnerie - Suite Upgrade Special Offer
Little Sark
‘Paradise,’ write readers on their ‘umpteenth’ stay at this rose-smothered, whitewashed hotel on a tiny, car-free island.
Rathmullan House
Rathmullan
Overlooking the long sea arm of Lough Swilly, this Georgian house in wooded grounds on the Wild Atlantic Way, is family-run and family-friendly. There are play facilities, an indoor pool, a choice of dining options, a beach at the end of the garden.
The Nare - Traditional Four Day Break Special Offer
Veryan-in-Roseland
‘The Nare’s description of itself as “the country house hotel by the sea” sums it up nicely.
The Atlantic Hotel - Free Dinner Offer
St Brelade
It’s all about the seaside at this luxury hotel designed to resemble a 1930s ocean liner, where readers this year had a ‘wonderful, relaxing stay’.
Romney Bay House - Autumn Coastal Break Special Offer
New Romney
In the elemental landscape of Romney Marsh, between English Channel and golf course, this remote 1920s house, built for Hedda Hopper by Clough Williams-Ellis, is an oasis of warmth and civilisation. Bring boots and binoculars, not bucket and spade.
Fowey Hall - Two Night Weekend Break Special Offer
Fowey
There are lots of good things to report about this family-friendly spa hotel this year.
Titchwell Manor - Complimentary Pre-Dinner Cocktail Special Offer
Brancaster
Twitchers are in their element at Titchwell, with an RSPB nature reserve just up the road – but so too are foodie couples, beach-seeking families and dogs, who can eat with their owners in the casual Eating Rooms.
The White Horse - 'Complimentary Fizz' Special Offer
Brancaster Staithe
There are Brancaster oysters and beer- battered cod on the bar menu at this family-run inn with views across the salt marshes to the sea. Close by are miles of unspoilt honey-hued sandy beaches, perfect for kite-surfing.
Trefeddian Hotel
Aberdovey
A hotel for family holidays, not boutique or trendy, but relaxed, with the beach just across the road, sea-facing lounges, packed lunches to order, children’s supper, tea on the terrace, a putting green, and good, old- fashioned hospitality.
Seaham Hall - Four Night Staycation 25% Discount Special Offer
Seaham
‘A wonderful place’, this Georgian mansion with a pedigree (Lord Byron was married to Anne Isabella Millbanke in the drawing room) stands in landscaped gardens overlooking Durham’s heritage coast.
Cary Arms & Spa - Autumn Cosy Coastal Spa Break Special Offer
Babbacombe
You can arrive by sea and moor at this secluded hotel, which clings to the cliffs above the Teign estuary. Beach huts in tropical coastal gardens have wall-to-wall glass doors, a sunbathing deck, views across Lyme Bay.
Shieldaig Lodge - Food Lover's Package
Gairloch
Once a Victorian hunting lodge, this ‘unpretentious’ hotel makes the most of both its history and its West Highland geography on the banks of Loch Gairloch.
Polurrian on the Lizard - Autumn Special Offer
Mullion
A path leads from this cliff-top hotel to a stretch of private beach on the west of the Lizard peninsula – just one of several vantage points to take in the stunning coastal views.
Watersmeet - Autumn Ramblers Package
Woolacombe
On the South West Coast Path, this former Edwardian gentleman’s retreat has ‘wonderful’ cliff-top views over an expanse of sea and sand.
Lewinnick Lodge - Three Night for the Price of Two Special Offer
Newquay
Atop the craggy Pentire headland, this cliff-edge hotel dispenses exhilarating views and the soothing sounds of the Atlantic.
The Blakeney Hotel
Holt
Kids enjoy crabbing and mud, glorious mud, on the quay at this well-run hotel. Older guests prefer local crab in a sandwich with chilled Picpoul de Pinet. All love north Norfolk’s unspoilt beaches, the indoor pool, seal trips to Blakeney Point.
Hell Bay Hotel
Bryher
Outside, calm protected beaches and dreamy views of outlying islets. Inside, rooms with a breezy New England style, an acclaimed collection of Cornish art and a menu highlighting gloriously fresh produce from the Isles of Scilly. Its crab shack is a popular summer fixture.
Morston Hall
Holt
‘Amazingly gorgeous.
The Seafood Restaurant
Padstow
Not for nothing is this fishing port town nicknamed Padstein, with 40 catered rooms spread around six properties, but here is the restaurant-with-rooms where it all began.
driftwood hotel
Porthscatho
Fiona and Paul Robinson’s New England-inspired hotel, with ‘magnificent views over Gerrans Bay’, ticked all the boxes for a reader this year, from the ‘wonderful people’ to ‘food that is too good to be true’.
Star Castle
St Mary's
The Francis family’s charismatic hotel, with many historic features, continues to please regulars, mainly for its ‘superb’ hilltop location, genial service and tip-top seafood.
Porth Tocyn Hotel
Abersoch
The first generation of children to stay at this family-run hotel will be grandparents or great-grandparents now, but the timeless beauty of the view across Cardigan Bay, the fun of a safe sandy beach, great food and warm hospitality are as they ever were.
Cnapan
Newport
‘How could a simple family home on a narrow, bustling high street possibly work as a popular guest house? Step inside Cnapan and you quickly find out.
The Colonsay
Isle of Colonsay
The island’s only hotel is set on a hillside above the harbour, and has sweeping views across the bay to Jura.
Argyll Hotel
Isle of Iona
The best tables in the sun lounge gaze across the water to Mull at this owner-run hotel occupying a row of crofters’ cottages. Menus embrace locally caught fish, hand- creeled langoustines, crab and lobster, organic garden produce.
Knockinaam Lodge
Portpatrick
‘A stiff walk from Portpatrick along the cliffs’ brings you to Sian and David Ibbotson’s Victorian hunting lodge overlooking the Irish Sea.
The Foveran
St Ola
Stunning sea views accompany the food at this ‘welcoming’ restaurant-with-rooms, where the dining room overlooks the sheltered waters of Scapa Flow and the southern Orkney Islands.
The White House
Herm
With no cars, and white sandy beaches, this tiny island paradise has just one hotel.
Scarista House
Isle of Harris
There are few more remote hotels in the Guide than this Georgian former manse, in a ‘spectacular’ setting between a white-sand beach and heather-clad mountains.
Bedruthan Hotel and Spa
Mawgan Porth
Generations of families and friends cherish childhood memories of holidays at this friendly hotel.
Kinloch Lodge
Isle of Skye
With views to take the breath away, this former hunting lodge owned by Lord and Lady Macdonald stands on the shores of Loch Na Dal at the foot of densely wooded Kinloch hill.
Burgh Island Hotel
Bigbury-on-Sea
This decadent Art Deco grande dame, set on its own tidal island, ‘harks back to a more glamorous age’, and a recent refurbishment has been given the thumbs up by faithful regulars.
Tresanton
St Mawes
Olga Polizzi’s labour of love has been contrived from a former yacht club and fishermen’s cottages to create a harmonious whole. Works of Cornish art hang in sea- facing bedrooms. Dine alfresco, enjoy the beach club, sail on a vintage yacht.
Cley Windmill
Cley-next-the-Sea
Rising above the reed beds and River Glaven in a pretty village no longer ‘next the sea’, Julian and Carolyn Godlee’s 19th-century windmill offers characterful accommodation.
The Manor House
Oban
‘A haven of comfort and good food,’ writes one regular reviewer of this small hotel on Oban Bay.
Hotel Riviera
Sidmouth
Devotees are drawn back time after time to Peter Wharton’s quintessential British seafront hotel, and that is ‘always a good sign’, as one reader remarks this year.
The Wentworth
Aldeburgh
Nothing much alters from year to year at Michael Pritt’s Victorian hotel, just across from a shingle beach washed by the North Sea.
Hotels by the sea
British weather aside, the summer is in full swing, and it’s the perfect time to head to the seaside. With bucket and spade in hand, whether you’re looking for a family holiday or a romantic mini break, British beach hotels have a reputation for historic charm and the most spectacular scenery across England, Scotland and Wales.
The variety of hotels is something we often talk about – you hear seaside and it’s so often simply connected with family holidays. Of course, there are few places as charming or as wholesome as our beaches to take children to enjoy the summer (or indeed a bracing walk in the winter), but there’s also a wealth of opportunity for a luxurious or romantic break.
Chewton Glen, the famed spa hotel in New Milton for example, has a glowing reputation as part of the Relais & Châteaux collection for wonderful food, pristine surroundings and a sophisticated experience. With a view to counter all others, on the other hand, Soar Mill Cove Hotel, just outside the seaside town of Salcombe, has been wowing visitors for decades, nestled as it is into a dip in a valley that meanders down to a quiet beach – perfect for a quiet swim if you dare.
In Scotland, the rugged beauty of the landscape is really something that belongs in storybooks. A favourite location amongst hikers and those seeking adventure, the likes of Romney Bay House, surrounded by shingle beaches and marshland is a delight for the senses. Alternatively, the Channel Islands has a wealth of spectacular escapism to offer, including La Sablonnerie, which we have visited time and again, in love as we are with the 16th-century farmhouse that has been operating as a hotel since 1948.
This is a selection of all of our hotels by the sea.