The Royal Hotel

Afternoon tea in the conservatory or on the terrace overlooking sub-tropical gardens is one of many highlights of this venerable Victorian hotel whose legions of loyal guests book their favourite room year after year. With ‘lovely rooms looking out over the sea’, spacious and elegant public rooms, and staff who are ‘so very kind and efficient’, many guests feel that ‘the Royal is just perfect’. Head gardener Gary Steptoe even dispenses free gardening advice. ‘Very comfortable’ bedrooms are either classic country house with pretty wallpapers and fabrics, or more contemporary. ‘We had a very generous sea view.’ Evening meals in the dining room, with its opulent curtains, chandeliers, starched linen and garden views, is a real event. Classic dishes with a modern twist, which some guests rate as ‘the best meal’ they have eaten, might include monkfish with guacamole and sweet potato, or lamb with pommes Anna and butter lettuce. Other readers would have liked more variety during their six-night stay. Breakfast does not disappoint. Guests who were ‘particularly taken with the gardens’ often ate theirs outside. (Tony Hall, David Sowden, MW, AS)