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5 Ventnor hotels and guest houses

Ventnor pulls off the remarkable feat of making other Isle of Wight towns like Ryde and Newport seem like urban hubs. 

It takes an eternity to get to Ventnor from the ferry (i.e. 45 minutes) and when you arrive you’ll find your mobile phone signal has all but vanished. It doesn’t have a train station, a petrol station or a large supermarket.
Ventnor at night
Ventnor at night, from the Spyglass pub
However, it is a gorgeous little town on a steep hill meaning there are sea views aplenty. In recent years Ventnor surprised everyone (well, me at least) by suddenly becoming trendy with restaurants which serve things in silly containers and its own fringe festival. 

Here are 5 of the best hotels, guest houses and other places to stay in Ventnor:

1.The Royal Hotel

My wife is a big fan of old-fashioned hospitality, where working in a hotel is a chosen profession rather than something teenagers do in their summer holidays to pay for their mobile contract. As a result, she loved our recent visits to The Royal Hotel in Ventnor.

Admittedly we just had afternoon tea and a dinner (and I used a discount voucher which embarrassed her) but we got the general idea. It's one of the poshest hotels on the Isle of Wight and you half expect to find Winston Churchill eating dinner with Gandhi, although I’m sure they’d be having an argument.

Its restaurant is featured in the Michelin guide (as of 2019). That's not the same as having a Michelin star, but it's still pretty impressive. It's a fairly large hotel by Isle of Wight standards, with more than 50 bedrooms. The Royal Hotel has an outdoor swimming pool, but not an indoor pool (brace yourself). There are though various spa treatments on offer. 

2. The Hambrough Hotel

A smaller, boutique hotel in Ventnor with sea views is The Hambrough. There are only seven rooms, but it gets very good reviews and its in a terrific elevated position. At one stage, its restaurant had a coveted Michelin star. It doesn't have one at the moment (2019) but it is still well rated. It has 5 stars from the AA which is not to be sneezed at.

3. Hillside Hotel

The Hillside Hotel gets my vote because it has that winning combination of looking historic and pretty on the inside, but modern and clean on the inside. The building is thatched and built in the 18th century and whilst it hasn't got anything like a swimming pool or spa, it does have sea views and a penchant for fine art.

Despite only having 12 rooms, its got its own restaurant which has a 'Scandinavian twist', apparently.

4. Lisle Combe

​Lisle Combe has a bit of interesting history which will appeal to scarf-wearing poetry fans. It was once home to Alfred Noyes, who wrote The Highwayman, which is that one with the horse-like rhythm which you probably read at school. It's now a highly rated bed and breakfast in Ventnor and is one of the cheaper options we've found in the South Wight. The style and decor is of a country house with a drawing room and such things. It doesn't look like they do evening meals, but Ventnor has a very good range of places to eat along the esplanade and in the town.

5. St Maur ​

St Maur is a small guest house with eight rooms and a modern decor. It's a Victorian villa with pretty gardens and unlike a lot of guest houses, they offer dinner as well as breakfast. We've included it because it consistently gets very good reviews.

Related guides from Isle of Wight Guru