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5 Ventnor Hotels And Guest Houses 2024
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.
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:
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.
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:
Ventnor at night, from the Spyglass pub
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 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 has featured in 'every Michelin Good Food Guide since its inception' according to the website. 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).
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 has featured in 'every Michelin Good Food Guide since its inception' according to the website. 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).
The Royal in Ventnor is arguably the Isle of Wight's most prestigious hotel
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 of 4.5/5 and it's in a terrific, elevated position.
At one stage, its restaurant had a coveted Michelin star. It doesn't have one at the moment, but it is still well rated and features in the Michelin Guide. It has 5 stars from the AA which is not to be sneezed at.
It will take you about three minutes to walk from the hotel to the seafront. More accurately, it will take you two minutes to get to the beach and five minutes to get back, as it's a rather steep hill.
The best rooms at the Hambrough have balconies with views for miles. Most of the cheaper rooms have a bit of a sea view as well as a view of St Boniface Down, which is the highest point on the Isle of Wight (I hope you realise how lucky you are to be getting little nuggets of local information alongside waffle about hotel rooms).
At one stage, its restaurant had a coveted Michelin star. It doesn't have one at the moment, but it is still well rated and features in the Michelin Guide. It has 5 stars from the AA which is not to be sneezed at.
It will take you about three minutes to walk from the hotel to the seafront. More accurately, it will take you two minutes to get to the beach and five minutes to get back, as it's a rather steep hill.
The best rooms at the Hambrough have balconies with views for miles. Most of the cheaper rooms have a bit of a sea view as well as a view of St Boniface Down, which is the highest point on the Isle of Wight (I hope you realise how lucky you are to be getting little nuggets of local information alongside waffle about hotel rooms).
Sea views from one of the seven rooms at The Hambrough
3. 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 décor are 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.
The location of Lisle Combe is more St Lawrence than Ventnor, so it will take you about half an hour to walk into the town centre. If you have the time, walk down to nearby Steephill Cove and follow the coastal path which leads to Ventnor. It's one of my favourite walks on the Isle of Wight and you can then eat out in Ventnor.
Some of the Isle of Wight's most remote beaches are within walking distance of Lisle Combe. You will often have Orchard Bay and Mount Bay to yourself. The isolated nature of Orchard Bay may explain why it was used as a drug smuggling base until the National Crime Squad caught up with the smugglers in 2000.
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 décor are 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.
The location of Lisle Combe is more St Lawrence than Ventnor, so it will take you about half an hour to walk into the town centre. If you have the time, walk down to nearby Steephill Cove and follow the coastal path which leads to Ventnor. It's one of my favourite walks on the Isle of Wight and you can then eat out in Ventnor.
Some of the Isle of Wight's most remote beaches are within walking distance of Lisle Combe. You will often have Orchard Bay and Mount Bay to yourself. The isolated nature of Orchard Bay may explain why it was used as a drug smuggling base until the National Crime Squad caught up with the smugglers in 2000.
Lisle Combe was home to a poet called Alfred Noyes
4. St Maur (£)
St Maur is a small guest house with eight rooms and a modern décor. 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 (4.5/5 on TripAdvisor, 4.8/5 on Google reviews).
You can walk to the seafront in Ventnor in about 10 minutes from St Maur. It's also close to Ventnor Park which links up with the coastal path to Steephill Cove, which is a lovely little beach which can only be reached on foot.
You can walk to the seafront in Ventnor in about 10 minutes from St Maur. It's also close to Ventnor Park which links up with the coastal path to Steephill Cove, which is a lovely little beach which can only be reached on foot.
St Maur guest house in Ventnor gets positive reviews
5. The Terrace (£££)
The Terrace Ventnor will be familiar to a lot of people as St Augustine Villa. It's one of the most prominent buildings near Ventnor's seafront and has been given a jazzy upgrade and a new name in the last few years. The owners also run a classy restaurant in Yarmouth with the same name.
Guests get a wine tasting each evening (hiccup) and breakfast. Some breaks in winter include evening meals but in the summer you just get B&B. However, they do a deal that includes food at a local restaurant, or you can pick from one of the others in Ventnor.
There are five bedrooms, plus a dog-friendly and child-friendly annexe.
Guests get a wine tasting each evening (hiccup) and breakfast. Some breaks in winter include evening meals but in the summer you just get B&B. However, they do a deal that includes food at a local restaurant, or you can pick from one of the others in Ventnor.
There are five bedrooms, plus a dog-friendly and child-friendly annexe.
