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Quay 2 Quay Exclusive 2026 Discount Code For Yarmouth To Lymington Quay Ferry

17/7/2026

Kraken Quay 2 Quay Ferry in Yarmouth Isle of Wight

You can save 10% on the Quay 2 Quay ferry with our discount code

We've been given an exclusive discount code for the Quay 2 Quay ferry service, which runs the Kraken passenger ferry from Yarmouth Quay to Lymington Quay.

You just need to use the code IOWGURU10 on the Quay 2 Quay website.

We've not been told of any exclusions or an expiry date, but we'll update if that changes! It can be used on journeys starting from Lymington or Yarmouth and can be used on single and return journeys. It can't be used on bundles of tickets.

Where do I use the Quay 2 Quay promo code?

You'll find the coupon code box on the final page of the booking form on the Quay 2 Quay website.

When you get through to the page that says 'Checkout' you need to look for the section that says 'Have a coupon? Click here to enter your coupon code'

Once you've added in IOWGURU10, it will reduce the price by 10%.

Coupon code discount on Quay 2 Quay website

Of course, they might have redesigned the website by the time you read this, but that's how it currently looks. I'm sure you'll figure it out, you seem very bright.

How does the Quay 2 Quay service compare to Wightlink's Yarmouth ferry?

There are a few differences between Quay 2 Quay and Wightlink:

The Quay 2 Quay service is a passenger only service, whilst Wightlink's Yarmouth to Lymington ferry takes cars, vans and motorbikes as well. Both services take bikes and dogs.
They arrive close to each other on the Isle of Wight, but leave from different ports on the mainland. If you're coming by train, you need to get off for the Quay 2 Quay service at the Lymington Town stop and walk for five minutes. For the Wightlink ferry, you need to get off at the Lymington Pier stop, which is a 30 second walk to the booking office.
Quay 2 Quay's ferry is much smaller - it's got enough space for 110 passengers, whilst Wightlink's ferries on the Lymington route can hold about 360 passengers and 65 cars.
Wightlink's ferry is wheelchair accessible and has a lift. Quay 2 Quay requires you to climb a handful of steps. The Quay 2 Quay website says 'Travellers with restricted mobility are advised to call 48 hours ahead to ensure their needs can be met'. The number is 01983 245645.
At the time of writing, Wightlink's ferries leave a bit more regularly and do more crossings. In Summer 2026, Wightlink was running 20 services from Lymington from about 6am until 9pm on weekdays. Quay 2 Quay was running seven services per day on weekdays in Summer 2026. Quay 2 Quay do sometimes run later than Wightlink though, which may be helpful if you're doing a long day out in Yarmouth.
Both ferries take a similar time - Quay 2 Quay takes about 35 minutes whilst Wightlink takes about 40 minutes.

Wightlink's ferry at Yarmouth is considerably larger!

Which is cheaper? Wightlink or Quay 2 Quay

The short answer is that it depends.

It's worth checking prices on Wightlink's website and on the Quay 2 Quay website as it will depend on things like your age, length of stay, time of day and what socks you're wearing.

Quay 2 Quay's prices are quite simple, whereas Wightlink has more options, discount codes, loyalty schemes and so on.

Here's how they compare on standard fares without any faff or discounts:

Value	Wightlink	Quay 2 Quay
Day return	£28.80	£14
Seven day return	£41	£20
Three month return	£41	£24

So - for standard adult fares, Quay 2 Quay is currently cheaper than Wightlink.

However, it gets more complicated once we factor in all the other Wightlink deals and offers that are available. For example:

Semi-regular travellers can get a big discount with Wightlink's Multilink deal. For example, if you pay upfront for a buy a book of five return journeys then you'll pay £18.40 per return. The books of tickets are valid for 12 months and can be shared with one other person. So, if a couple were doing two return journeys in a year then it would be worth getting a Multilink pass. Quay 2 Quay also do bundles of tickets, which offer a discount of about 20% (very approximately).
You can get 10% off Wightlink with the code GURU10 via this page, if you book by 25/03/27.
Wightlink regularly do a 'Kids Go Free' offer during school holidays. Children's fares tend to be about half the price of adult fares with Wightlink.
Railcard holders can usually get a third off Wightlink fares if they also book a railway journey.
Wightlink do a reduced fare if you're travelling after midday, called the Afternoon Flyer. It's about £23 at the time of writing. You don't need a discount code for this one.
Tesco Clubcard vouchers can be used to buy Wightlink tickets. It requires a little bit of faff, but you can effectively get the fares for half price.
You can get 20% off Wightlink with various memberships and workplace schemes - such as English Heritage membership. You can find more of these on our main ferry discounts guide.

Quay 2 Quay doesn't have quite so many discounts and offers that I'm aware of, but they do offer:

Discounts for children, 60+, families, groups and students.
Bundles of tickets, which work as £16 for a return journey. You need to pay upfront and they last for one year, much like the Wightlink Multilink deal.

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Hidden Red Funnel Summer 2026 Fare For Cheap Isle of Wight Ferry Travel

15/7/2026

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Click here to
book Red Funnel
for £60 (day return)
or £120 (overnight return)

We've recently found out about a hidden discount from Red Funnel, which could save you a pretty penny on Isle of Wight ferry travel in July, August and September 2026.

In short, you can get a period return ferry with a car and passengers for £120 or a day return for £60. On some journeys that will save you £100+. On other journeys, there are better offers available, which we'll get to later.

The £60 day return offer is plastered all over the Red Funnel website and is no secret - but the £120 overnight deal is hidden away. This is the one that made my eyebrows lift up by at least 3cm.

It takes a bit of explaining, but the actual discount is a simple one to get and doesn't require you to learn a secret language or complete a sudoku.

How do I get the Red FUnnel £120 deal for summer 2026?

You can get the £120 fare from this Summer Sailings page on the Red Funnel website.

When you arrive on the page you'll notice that the £120 deal isn't mentioned - it's just a promo page for the £60 deal, which is already featured on our main ferries discount page.

However, if you put overnight dates into the booking form on the page then it will give you the £120 fare. Those prices don't appear on the usual booking form on the home page.

I suspect this has been included to discourage people from booking two day returns and then not using all of the journeys. I do know that Red Funnel are aware of it though, so it's perfectly legit.

The biggest savers with this offer will be those who are travelling on Fridays and Saturdays during the school summer holidays. Here are a couple of extreme examples of what you could save:

Ferry date and time	Standard fare, without any discounts	Discounted fare
August 8th - 15th, depart and return at 1000/1030	£343.50	£120
August 21st - 28th 2026, depart and return at 1000/1030	£350.50	£120

These prices are correct at the time of typing and assume that you don't use other offers, such as our 20% off deal. We've deliberately chosen the most extreme savings - it often won't be as much as this but it should still be a good savings

What's the catch?

There are some terms and conditions, which might scupper this deal for you:

Both of your journeys need to be in the morning or evening. Specifically, it is 'available on sailings from Southampton between the hours of 0600 to 1000 and 1700 to 2359, and sailings from East Cowes between the hours of 0630 to 1030 and 1730 to 2359'. It will show as 'sold out' if it's not valid.
You need to book by 31 August and travel by 30 September 2026.
There are only 10,000 cheap fares available over the summer - so the offer could be pulled early. Red Funnel has potential capacity to carry about 200 cars on about 35 journeys per day (i.e. 7000 cars), but most sailings don't sell out and many people will have booked before this offer started.

Is this the cheapest way to get to the Isle of Wight this summer?

As mentioned, if you're planning on visiting the Isle of Wight for a week during school holidays and want to arrive on a busy day (i.e. Friday or Saturday) then this offer could easily save you £100 or perhaps even £200.

However, in other circumstances it is beaten by better offers:

You can currently save 20% off Red Funnel with our exclusive discount. You need to book by 31 July and travel by 31 December for this one. For some crossings, this will be significantly cheaper than the £120 return fare. For example, I searched for an overnight return on a weekday in mid-September 2026 and found that the 20% discount took the price down to £70 return.
Wightlink is currently offering a discounted off peak fare for Isle of Wight residents called the Sunset Flyer. I'm not 100% sure why a journey on a ferry is described as a 'flyer' but let's not quibble over details. Over the summer, it'll cost you £98 return. As mentioned though, this offer is just for journeys starting from the Isle of Wight, whilst Red Funnel's deal is for holidaymakers as well.
Some accommodation providers may be able to beat the £120 fare, as they get given special discounted rates from Wightlink and Red Funnel. If you're staying with Away Resorts, Parkdean Resorts or Warner Leisure Hotels then I would check what price they can offer you. In some instances, their discounts are as much as 50% - 70%. Most accommodation providers offer a discount of about 15% - 25%, but it does vary.

See our guide to accommodation + ferry bundles for more information.
If you aren't bringing the car, then it's a whole different kettle of fish. Start with our guides to cheap foot passenger fares with Red Funnel and Wightlink.

Holiday parks, such as Nodes Point, can often get you a mega discount on the Isle of Wight ferry

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What's Happening With Sandown's Closed And Burnt Out Hotels?

10/7/2026

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Sandown seafront is beautiful - so what's going on with all the closed hotels?

I have a lot of affection for Sandown.

Its beach is one of the finest stretches of sand on the Isle of Wight. In fact, Countryfile Magazine went so far as to call it the UK's best beach in 2019.

Sandown has plenty of other things going for it, including a couple of big hotels with great views on the seafront (I'm thinking of Premier Inn and The Trouville). The walk along the seafront towards Shanklin is terrific and there are lots of good local businesses and some nice cafes. It's also got the Isle of Wight's only pier that still operates as a traditional amusement pier, rather than a walkway or somewhere to park the ferry. Read our guide to days out in Sandown and Shanklin for more highlights.

However, it's fair to say that the seafront in Sandown has a big problem with dilapidated and closed hotels. By my count, there are five currently crumbling away, plus a former pub.

This may explain why Sandown was labelled as a 'Turd Town' by a Youtuber, who commented on the row of closed and burnt out hotels.

I offered a rebuttal that the town still has a lot of offer, but it's hard to deny that those hotels look dire. I often tell people that it's a lovely beach to visit, as long as you don't turn round. Alternatively, you can just stick to the nicer sections of the seafront.

So, what's going on?

I thought it would be interesting to do a little digging into plans for some of the empty seafront hotels, by looking at planning applications and news reports. Is there much hope of them re-opening or being rebuilt?

This article is not intended to be a whinge, which points out the problems on the seafront without mentioning the positives. Hopefully it will provide some hope that these problems will be sorted out and that Sandown can get back to its best.

Buckle in for a history of closures, multiple fires and several planning applications.

The Esplanade Hotel

One of the bigger hotels in Sandown is the Esplanade Hotel, which has 60 bedrooms. According to news reports, Jimi Hendrix stayed there before his appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, when the hotel was known as the Seagrove Hotel.

The entrance is on the High Street rather than on the seafront itself, but it's a huge great hotel that stretches a long way.

From the seafront it looks a bit like several crumbling buildings, but it's all part of the same building. That does provide some hope that if it were sorted out then it would make a big difference to the look of the whole esplanade.

Here's a timeline:

We aren't sure exactly when the hotel closed, but it appeared to be open as the Seagrove Hotel when the Google Streetcar drove post in 2011. Outside in 2011, you can see a potted Phoenix Canariensis that is thriving and the door is open.
By 2017, it has turned into The Esplanade Hotel and appears to be closed. The potted plant is just about clinging on, but is looking pretty unloved and unwatered.
By 2018, the potted plant has gone brown. I'm going to suggest that it's dead by this point. Rest in peace.
The Esplanade Hotel was sold at auction in 2019 for £750,000 according to an Island Echo article. For anyone still interested in the potted plant - a weed has now appeared in the pot.

A couple of years later - in 2021 - the Isle of Wight Observer reported that 'a Section 215 Notice is to be served', which requires owners to 'take steps to tidy up the land, and sometimes buildings when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area'. The potted weed has been removed altogether, presumably as part of the cleanup.

In 2022, an application went in for a 'Proposed conversion of (a) hotel into 14 residential apartments and 6 holiday apartments'. About two years later, in February 2024, this was approved.
In January 2025, the owners were told that 'More than 100 improvements must be made' and issued a Section 215 notice, which gives six months for the work to be completed.
Eight months later, in September 2025, there was a fire at the hotel. The BBC reported that 'the fire was on the first, second, and third floors of the building' and was being 'treated as suspicious'. The hotel was covered in scaffolding at the time, so presumably it was being tidied up.

Summary: plans approved to turn it into flats - but the fire damage is a big setback

The Ocean Hotel

We've written before about the complicated and contentious recent history of the Ocean Hotel.

Here's a summary:

I believe The Ocean Hotel closed some time between May 2017 and August 2018. The Google Streetview car drove past on both of those dates, which gave some useful clues. On the first, the door is open and there's a menu outside. By 2018, the door is closed and a sign has been put in the window. An online article says the Carlauren Group bought it in 2017 and had plans to turn it 'into a luxury care home' or a 'serviced apartment hotel' according to the planning document (P/00790/16). Another report says it was sold to the Care Home Group Limited for about £2.7m.
In 2019, the Carlauren Group went into administration.
In 2020, the BBC covered details of an alleged scam, whilst an article from Hampshire Live explains that the situation is complicated because there are more than 50 leaseholders who had invested significant sums of money.
In 2021, there was a major fire that destroyed much of the roof. The same year saw arguments over squatters and a change of ownership to Phoenix Commercial Property Development Limited. After the fire, the owners announced that it wouldn't be returning as a hotel.
In 2022, the council issue an enforcement notice that the site needs to be tidied up. There was then a legal back and forth with appeals about what needed to be done, and by what date.
In 2023, there was more legal back and forth about cleaning up the site. Reading through the detail is like wading through treacle but the key detail comes at the end of a County Press article from November 2023, which says 'the countdown to clean up the building has now resumed, and PCPD has approximately five months to carry out the work.'
In 2024, there were reports of 'anti social behaviour' at the Ocean Hotel, with young people being 'dispersed'. During August, there were three fires at the hotel. In October, the Isle of Wight Council used emergency powers to surround the hotel with fences after 'numerous deliberate fires and break-ins'.
In 2025, part of the hotel was sold for about £350,000, whilst its car park was sold for about £260,000. From what I can tell, the sections that were sold are either side of the main hotel so wouldn't have a big impact on the large and prominent section that you notice from the road. One section is near the outdoor swimming pool whilst the other is to the right if you are looking at it from the seafront.
In 2026, the Isle of Wight Council bought a small section of land outside the front of the hotel. I'm not quite clear what will happen with this, but the Mayor was quoted as saying "the authority 'could not sit by' and watch another key piece of the town fall into permanent stagnation". There's a positive sounding section in the article that says 'the council says it will now begin a programme of working party meetings and public engagement sessions to explore both long‑term redevelopment and short‑term “meanwhile uses” to improve the appearance of the area."

Summary: ongoing efforts to tidy it up but the complex legal and ownership situation seems to be slowing things down

Kings House Bar

The Kings House Bar is not a hotel, but it was also owned by the Carlauren group and is another empty building on Sandown seafront. In 2025, a planning application to turn it into a three storey house was approved. Two years earlier, it had been bought at auction for about £350,000.

Summary: plans for a house approved but not yet built

We'll now move a little bit along onto Culver Parade, where there are two fire-damaged adjacent hotels that are looking pretty sorry for themselves.

Tarvic 2 Hotels

This bizarrely named hotel at 13 - 15 Culver Parade closed some time between 2009 and 2016. I realise that's a rather wide range, but that is when it was photographed by the Google Streetcar. It appears open in 2009 and closed by 2016.

I'm not sure why it is referred to as 'Hotels' rather than 'Hotel' but I suppose it makes about as much sense as the hotel next door being named after a ski resort in Switzerland. Perhaps it was two hotels that were merged together.

The Land Registry calls it 'Balconies Hotel'.

I believe Tarvic 2 Hotels has 50 bedrooms.

In 2018, Tarvic 2 Hotels was damaged by a fire (yes, another one). The County Press reported that a woman in her 60s was accused of flicking a cigarette butt from a balcony onto a pile of rubbish and was charged with arson - but the case was dropped due to a lack of evidence.
In 2024, an application went in to build 10 flats on the site of the Tarvic 2 Hotel, but it was refused in February 2025 (24/01851/FUL). The Isle of Wight Council gave a number of reasons for turning it down, including it being 'visually intrusive' and it leading to a loss in hotel accommodation. You can find the full report on the planning website.

Summary: plan for flats turned down

St Moritz Hotel

Next door to Tarvic 2 Hotels is the St Moritz Hotel at 9-11 Culver Parade.

I've not had much luck finding out what's going on with this one. I couldn't find any planning applications for it and it's not appeared on recent news reports.

It was open in August 2018 (on Google Streetview) but had closed by March 2021. It caught fire in August 2018, along with its neighbour - Tarvic 2 Hotels.

My best guess is that the St Moritz didn't re-open after the fire. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

St Moritz Hotel gets a brief mention on the website for Hotel Maria, which is next door. On their site it says 'Our story here began with the opening of the St. Moritz Hotel in 1998, followed by Hotel Maria in 2004' - but it doesn't expand on whether they still own it. We tried to figure out if it was still owned by the same people by looking at Land Registry records, but we reached a dead end.

Summary: we don't know what's happening with this one

The Grand Hotel

Yaverland isn't really the same place as Sandown, but the 1930s Grand Hotel next to Wildheart Animal Sanctuary is worth a mention.

It's been closed for a long time and it adds to the seafront dilapidation issues as it's in such a prominent position. It's also a rather lovely design, which makes it all the sadder that it is not in use.

I've struggled to find out when the Grand Hotel was last open.

There are plenty of cars outside in 2009 and 2011 when the Google Street car drove past but by 2016 it is boarded up.

Curiously, a video on Youtube by Abandoned Isle of Wight shows a selection of CD covers that have been left in the hotel, in one of those massive CD folders that everyone had (there are four in my garage).

Most of the CDs are from the 1990s (Chemical Brothers, Black Grape, Cypress Hill) but the most recent one I can see in the stack is from 2001 (by Andrew WK, if you're interested).

This raises several questions. Did the hotel actually close in the early 2000s? Or did someone work there who had a huge interest in 90s indie music, but not so much that they actually remembered to take their collection with them when they left?

I do hope you appreciate this level of detective work, which finally brings together two of my biggest enthusiasms - the Isle of Wight and indie rock music from the late 90s and early 2000s.

So, what's happening with the Grand Hotel?

In 2012, an application to demolish the hotel and replace it with another one was refused (application P/01646/12). There was a campaign at the time to stop the demolition.
In 2014, another application to demolish the hotel and replace it with a 30 bedroom hotel went in and was approved (P/00928/14). This appears to be an amended version of the 2012 application. As you'll gather, the plans didn't happen despite being approved.
In 2021, there was a fire at The Grand. Reports suggest this wasn't a big fire.
In January 2022, there was a larger fire at the Grand Hotel. In the same year, an application went in for an 'external refurbishment/restoration'. The BBC reported this as plans to 'restore the building to its 1938 glory' but also said that 'There is no mention of any plans to reopen the hotel'. In the same year, the County Press reports some work to the property, including new lettering and scaffolding. However, this application was later withdrawn.
Over the next couple of years there was some improvement to the external appearance of the Grand Hotel, despite that application being withdrawn. If you use the time jump feature on Google Streetview, you'll see that there's a notable upgrade from 2021 to 2024.

Summary: some external improvement but no news on long term plans

This image above shows the Grand Hotel in 2021.

By 2024, the windows had been restored and the lettering had been removed.

Is there hope for SAndown's Closed Hotels?

There's a real mixed bag here but I don't see much chance of any of these properties re-opening as hotels any time soon.

The Esplanade and Tarvic 2 Hotels both looked like they would become flats, but neither of those plans have materialised yet. The Kings House Bar also looks like it will become residential. I'll update next time I'm cycling past if I see any building work!

The Grand Hotel looked like it might return as a hotel back in 2014, but it never happened and more recent plans to smarten it up didn't mention re-opening (and were later withdrawn anyway).

There's scant information on the St Moritz Hotel, but hopefully someone can help us fill in the gaps.

The Ocean Hotel looks beyond repair and has ended up in an unfortunate situation with multiple leaseholders and legal arguments. This one seems the trickiest to resolve, which is a shame as it's also something of a flagship eyesore.

The frequent stream of fires affecting the hotels has certainly not helped. Whoever is responsible should be forced to ride a bicycle without a saddle up and down the seafront for the rest of their lives.

What offers hope is that there is clearly a desire to sort these problems out. There have been multiple interventions from the local council, as well as protests from local residents and plenty of news reports from local journalists.

Hopefully in a few years' time, I will be able to visit Sandown and enjoy the view in both directions whilst I'm standing on the beach in my pants.

Until then, please don't feel that you shouldn't visit Sandown - the sand is still lovely, the beach is rated as 'good' for water quality by the Environment Agency and there are some terrific events - such as the annual Regatta and Carnival.

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What Is Happening At Priory Bay Hotel? (2026 Update)

7/7/2026

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Priory Bay has long been one of our favourite Isle of Wight beaches

Priory Bay Hotel is in an absolute stonking location, with one of the best Isle of Wight beaches on its doorsteps - yet it has been empty for seven years now.

The beach has a special place in my heart (Ed: get a grip, man). It was our second favourite beach growing up (Compton Bay was first) and we would have been there more often if it had been slightly closer to Carisbrooke.

I've been Googling Priory Bay Hotel sporadically and thought I would share the latest update for those who haven't seen it themselves.

Here's a potted history of the last decade, including an update from the new owners last year.

The Closure of Priory Bay Hotel

Back in 2016, Priory Bay Hotel went into administration and went up for sale. It had been a pretty posh hotel for a long time and featured in our guide the best posh hotels on the Isle of Wight when we started this website in 2013.

According to the Caterer magazine, Priory Bay Hotel had been owned by the founder of the New Covent Garden Soup Company. This has no real relevance but my mother enjoys reading little details like this.

Aria Resorts

In 2017, Priory Bay Hotel was bought by Aria Resorts. It went on the market for £3m, although Land Registry says it actually sold for £2.3m. Today, that would just about be enough money for a one bedroom flat with sea glimpses in Yarmouth.
Aria Resorts had grand plans for Priory Bay Hotel and also bought up three Isle of Wight holiday resorts in St Helens, Colwell and Rookley. At the time these three holiday parks were called Rookley Country Park, St Helens Holiday Park and Colwell Bay Holiday Cottages. They renamed them as The Lakes Rookley, The Bay Colwell and St Helens Coastal Resort. The whole investment was worth £30m, according to reports.
From my memory, there was then a long period where Google maps showed Priory Bay Hotel as 'reopening in May 2020'. Or perhaps it was 2019. I can't remember exactly. Anyway, things were looking very promising.
In 2019, there was a bit of a hoohaa about the planned redevelopment which included 'A two storey extension to the existing hotel and internal alterations to existing structure; conversion, alteration and refurbishment of existing outbuildings to provide 14 hotel suites, a restaurant, bar and spa; provision of up to 56 holiday lodges, 10 tree houses and 12 woodland retreats. The main issue seemed to be the properties in the woodland overlooking the bay.
In summer 2020, we stayed at St Helens. As guests of Aria Resorts we had permission to cut through the grounds of the Priory Bay Hotel to get to the beach. I took great pleasure in saying this to someone who told me I was trespassing whilst I wandered down to the beach with a bucket and spade under my arm. They apologised and we became great friends. And that's how I met your mother.
During my triumphant walk, I was able to see the hotel from the footpath. As far as I could tell, there hadn't been any activity for some time and the grounds were overgrown. The terrace had a couple of champagne flutes which appeared to have been abandoned when the hotel had shut. I expected to see a skeleton playing a cello.

The photos I took in summer 2020 aren't great, but I'll share them anyway:

My poor quality photos of Priory Bay Hotel from 2020 showed no activity...

...and it was getting a little overgrown

The grass was up to waist height and the pond was very green

Later in 2020, there was a slightly bizarre episode of 'security guards riding quad bikes' on the beach.

A dramatic turn of events

I may have overdone the headline here, but the next developments were quite dramatic in my mind.

In 2021, Aria Resorts then merged with another holiday company - Away Resorts, which owns Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park. It wasn't immediately clear to me what this meant for the Priory Bay Hotel. Away Resorts are more of a holiday park company than a hotel company, so my assumption was that the hotel wouldn't really fit in their plans. The Aria Resorts name disappeared.
In December 2021, Priory Bay Hotel was purchased by Priory Bay Property Limited. Land Registry says it was sold for £4.75m. If you want to be nosey, you can look on companies house and discover that two of the directors are also directors of a luxury watch brand called Richard Mille (again, this detail has no real relevance to Priory Bay Hotel but my mother enjoys reading these little nuggets).
In June 2022, a big update appeared on the new owners' Priory Bay website, including several highlights:
- "As owners of the property, we are also island residents and so understand the importance of working with and integrating into the local communities of Nettlestone and Seaview"
- "although planning permission had already been secured by the former owners, for a total transformation across the estate, we nevertheless sought the advice of several independent consultants so as to safeguard the heritage of the destination for local residents and tourists alike"
- We are "currently exploring options for revising the existing proposals; in particular, by removing fifty-six planned lodges and replacing them with alternative significantly lower density accommodation, the specification of which is yet to be confirmed but which will befit, and harmonise with, the beauty of the surrounding landscape."

Getting to Priory Bay has always been difficult, unless you are staying in the hotel. It requires a walk from one of the adjacent beaches and is easier at low tide. On the issue of access, the new owners now say that "it has been necessary to install boundary fencing along a section of Bridleway R84, the primary purpose of which is to safeguard the health and safety of the public throughout the construction process. We will also be implementing a signage strategy to warn any members of the public who might stray from the public rights of way on the coastline". The website continues to give further details on the access issues.

Anyway, it is great to see something happening at the site! Best of luck to the new owners - let's hope it can re-open soon.

Priory Bay Hotel Update: 2024

We've just added a gallery of photos of Priory Bay Hotel in July 2024. Thanks to Ian, who got in touch and provided this.

Priory Bay Hotel Update: 2026

It's been a while since we did an update, so we've spent a couple of hours digging around for updates:

There was an Isle of Wight County Press report in November 2024 that 'Police have reported a rise in thefts and vandalism at the property, including the theft of valuable materials such as copper wiring and plumbing fixtures.' The paper said this 'has further inflated restoration costs and disrupted the renovation timeline'. It didn't quote anyone apart from the police.
More recently, there have been several 'urban explorer' videos of LADS on the site, showing some of the damage.

We then looked at planning applications and updates on the Isle of Wight Council website.

Most planning applications for the area are people asking to trim trees, but there have been a couple of more noteworthy applications in the last couple of years.

An important tweak to the planning application

In October 2024, an application called 24/01005/RVC was granted at Priory Bay Hotel for:

'Variation of conditions 11, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 on P/01131/18 for the trigger points to be slightly adjusted whereby a specific limited material operation is permitted so that a lawful commencement can take place in accordance with Section 56 of the Town and County Planning Act 1990'.

I was baffled by this at first, but I read a few documents myself and ran them all through an AI summary tool to see what it made of them.

Here's my understanding:

As referenced earlier, a planning application (P/01132/18) was approved in November 2021 for "demolition of rear hotel extensions (including ancillaries) and East Cottage; proposed two storey extension to the existing hotel and internal alterations to existing structure; conversion, alteration and refurbishment of existing outbuildings to provide 14 hotel suites, a restaurant, bar and spa". From my understanding, this application also granted permission for 56 lodges and 12 woodland retreats but turned down an application for 10 treehouses. As mentioned earlier, despite having permission, the new owners said on their website that they didn't plan to build the 56 lodges but wanted to build 'significantly lower density accommodation'.
The application was about to expire as three years had passed since it was approved.
Under planning law, the developer needed to perform a 'lawful material commencement' or they would lose the planning permission. In other words, they need to show they are doing something or they would be back to square one.
There were various hoops that needed to be jumped through before work could start, such as archaeological investigation, woodland management plans and so on.
Getting all these approved was going to take too long and they would miss the three year deadline.
The developer asked the council to tweak the wording so that they could demolish a 1970s building called East Cottage and legally 'start' the project.
Various people then popped up with their opinions on whether this would be OK, including the Parish Council and someone who checked for bats.
The application was approved.
I am not sure if the demolition of East Cottage has taken place yet.

There was then a separate application, which related to the demolition of East Cottage (24/01003/DIS). There wasn't as much of interest in that one, but it did say that was a big tree overhanging it, which meant that the demolition of the roof had to be done by hand so machinery didn't damage the tree.

So, what does this mean for the development?

From my understanding, it means that the development has legally started, even if it's only gone as far as knocking down a building. That means that the clock has stopped ticking and there is now no deadline to get the hotel redevelopment started.

It gets a little confusing at this point, but I believe I'm correct in saying that the permission for 56 lodges and 12 woodland retreats is still valid. However, the 2022 comment from the owners suggests they would prefer something much 'lower density'.

If you believe I've misunderstood any of this, please do get in touch or comment below.

Who owns Priory Bay Hotel now?

I don't believe this has changed since it was sold in 2021.

We had a look at Companies House documents for a company called 'Priory Bay Property Limited', which we assume to be the owner as they are mentioned on priorybay.co.uk

There wasn't anything majorly exciting or new in the Companies House documents, but here's my summary:

The company is still owned by Redgrave Luxury Limited, which owns the Richard Mille watch brand. Some of their watches are selling online for more than £3m (which means that Priory Bay Hotel was bought for the price of two watches!).
Priory Bay Property Limited generated £0 in turnover in 2024 and took an administrative loss of about £450,000 and has accumulated losses of about £940,000.
The company's asset (i.e. the hotel and grounds) is listed as being worth about £4.7m in the accounts.
Without any turnover and losses on the books, the hotel is reliant on the parent company's income.
In 2024, the parent company (Redgrave Luxury Limited) made a profit of about £67.7m and had about £172m in cash.

Again, please get in touch if you think I've got any of that wrong and I'll correct it.

You can see why we're interested in the area around the Priory Bay Hotel!

When will the redevelopment of Priory Bay Hotel start? When will it open?

We don't know but here's our understanding of the main points:

There is no longer a deadline for the main part of the redevelopment to begin (see the section above about East Cottage). There was previously a three year deadline, which began in 2021.
There has not been a public announcement about the hotel redevelopment plans since 2022.

We would love to hear from anyone involved in the project - please do get in touch. I did fill out the contact form on the official Priory Bay hotel website, but I received a message saying 'Your submission failed because of a server error'.

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20% Off Red Funnel In 2026 If You Book In July!

1/7/2026

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You can use our exclusive 20% discount on the car ferry from Southampton to East Cowes

You can also use the 20% off deal on the Red Jet foot passenger ferry from Southampton to (West) Cowes

You can now get a nice simple 20% off Red Funnel ferry travel for the rest of 2026 if you book by 31/07/26 via this exclusive booking form.

We've had a 10% deal for a long time, but Red Funnel has doubled the discount for the next month. Achieving this deal took us many months of intense negotiation and eleventh hour table thumping (well, we exchanged a couple of emails).

Red Funnel did something similar for us last year and it was the best deal around for a lot of people planning summer holidays. Last year, they decided to extend the offer into August, but we don't yet know if they will decide to do that - so I would advise getting on with it. As a general rule, car ferry prices increase as you get nearer to your travel date.

Your booking is still with Red Funnel - the link just takes you to a page on their site that they've created exclusively for us.

Click here to
save 20% on Red Funnel
Book by 31/07/26
Travel by 31/12/26

Which ferries can I use this on?

All of them! You can use this on the Red Funnel car ferries from Southampton to East Cowes and foot passenger ferries from Southampton to (West) Cowes on the Red Jet. You can use the discount in both directions.

There are no 'blackout' dates for this offer.

Is this the best offer around for getting to or from the Isle of Wight in 2026?

Yes, for a lot of people - but not for everyone.

This is a nice simple discount that doesn't require any faffing around. However, you might get a lower price in other ways:

If you are paying for accommodation on the Isle of Wight then the people you book with may be able to offer you a better discount. The biggest savings are with the biggest names - such as Away Resorts (four holiday parks), Parkdean Resorts (four holiday parks) and Warner Leisure (two hotels). These brands can typically save you 50% - 70% off standard fares. That figure isn't a guarantee but it's generally what it's worked out as when we've done comparisons. Smaller accommodation providers can often get 15% - 25% off.

Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park guests typically get a ferry discount of 50% - 70%

Red Funnel sends out books of vouchers to Isle of Wight residents, which they can pass on to friends and family. These are called the Big Book of Savings and typically include discounts of 15% - 25% and a fixed price day return car ferry deal of about £50 - £60.

If I was being pedantic I would point out that it's more of a booklet and should really be called the Book of Big Savings. Anyway, it offers unique codes with a limited number of uses so we can't share them here. If you've got an elderly aunt in Bembridge who never leaves the Island then you could give her a call and see if she's received it. You'll then need to get her to read out the 23 digit discount code over a poor quality phone line. Good luck.
Electric cars get a 25% discount with Red Funnel. This offer has been running for a long time but a lot of people don't seem to know about it. It has to be fully electric rather than a hybrid.
If you've got loads of Tesco Clubcard points built up then you can double them up on Wightlink. You can't combine it with another offer though. Wightlink is the rival to Red Funnel and runs ferries from Portsmouth and Lymington. The Isle of Wight is not huge, so you can get any of the ferries and you won't have a huge drive on the other side (see our ferries beginners' guide).
If you're arriving on foot then there are several other options that have a good chance of beating the 20% off deal. For example, Red Funnel is doing day returns for about £13 on most weekends in July and August. Another favourite trick for Railcard owners is booking the ferry with a short train journey, as you'll get 1/3rd off the whole journey. Read more in our guides to cheap foot passenger travel with Wightlink and Red Funnel.

Isle of Wight residents have got a few other exclusive options. For example, they can get a fixed return fare of £80 - £98 in 2026 if they travel early or late in the day (the Wightlink Sunset Flyer). People with an Isle of Wight residence (including second home owners) can buy a bundle of tickets called Multilink. You can read the pros and cons of the scheme here.

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