The Royal Hotel

Afternoon tea was lovely. Lovely hotel and staff were polite and service was really good. The afternoon tea was nice although the sandwiches could do with a little more filling in as it is expensive. Cakes and warm scones with jam and cream were delicious. We ordered lattes and they were lovely. Hotel itself is nice, grounds are beautiful. The only downside was the parking was difficult for disabled family member and there were no spaces left so had to park a little walk away.

Having got your attention, if you are one of those travellers that like to look for defects and failings in a hotel, then you will be disappointed at the Royal! What makes this place so good is the staff. Everyone I encountered was welcoming, knowledgeable and friendly. More specifically, the landscapes were a credit to the gardener. It is an old building but little sign of maintenance problems. Everything worked, and at least our room and the public areas were smartly painted. Well done to the chambermaids, (if you call them that now), as our room was spotless. Reception staff welcomed everyone with a ready smile and offered advice and assistance. Special mention for the restaurant. Every dish from breakfast to dinner was really excellent. No wonder the chef has so many accolades, and, no doubt, a great kitchen support team. The serving staff were not only efficient but knowledgeable, especially Molly who was able to reel off the details of every course, just like those waitresses in high class American restaurants. She and Janice were watchful that one of our party, who was dairy allergic, was properly protected and catered for and ensured their colleagues knew this. Good to see the manageress (Sadir?) mucking in where required as well as chatting with guests to ensure their enjoyment and comfort. They all asked, without any sign of boredom, how we had enjoyed our day. I don't normally write such glittering reviews, few hotels deserve them and I must admit, by the end of our short stay, I was looking for shortcomings as I thought The Royal couldn't be that good, but it was! Just hope the new owner will allow and support his staff so that the tradition can continue. And no, I have no connection to the hotel, just enjoyed the stay and this review is a public thank you to them.

In most ways we loved this grand hotel. It was surrounded by a delightful garden where you could have scones and tea on the lawn, the reception rooms were gorgeously decorated in period style as was our spacious bedroom, and the menu and service for breakfast and lunch was outstanding. The one flaw for us was the lack of air conditioning in our room. The room was particularly hot at night, even with the window wide open. The automatically timed heated towel rails in the adjoining bathroom did not help the temperature and (in our room at least) could not be switched off. It made for some uncomfortable nights trying to sleep. I do understand there was an unexpected heat wave in June affecting the whole of the UK, but I would say that in any summer there will be some hot weather where air conditioning is necessary - or at the very least a ceiling fan - for the comfort of guests.

Lovely atmospheric hotel in a great levated position. Lovely gardens and outside swimming pool. Lovely regal dining room if a little formal. Breakfasts were very nice and cooked to perfection. We didnt have evening meals so cannot comment. Our bedroom was nicely decorated although at the rear of the hotel but it did have air-con.A little expensive to stay but overall worth it.

We enjoyed our 4 nights stay at the royal hotel, I booked the 4 nights including dinner and ferry package and couldn’t fault the restaurant food and service, the staff are well trained and attentive. The weather was very warm and my only concern was a few sleepless nights and think the hotel would be advised to fit ceiling fans in the future as most other guests we spoke to were of the same opinion. Ventnor is very hilly so not suitable for people with mobility issues but if you just want to relax and enjoy the hotel and grounds then this is for you. Overall an enjoyable 4 nights and will probably return sometime in the future.

We had booked this hotel for the three of us: my wife and I, and our 9-year-old stepson. When we booked, we spoke on the phone and decided on a Classic family room, and traded off a view of the hotel car park for a separate bedroom area with a proper single bed for our son. We arrived at the hotel early for check-in, so we decided to leave our bags and go out to explore the town and some of the island. We returned to the hotel around 5 pm to check in and go to our room. Our room was tiny, and the separate bedroom area for our son was like a large cupboard with a fold-away bed and a view of the waste bins, not the car park, which I might add was very difficult to park in. We asked to speak to the manager and explained our disappointment. She was very helpful and offered us the alternative family room, which turned out to be the one we had turned down when making the original booking. So we asked for a refund and left without staying at the hotel. To sum up this experience The Royal staff were very helpful in trying to resolve the issue, but we felt mislead when originally making our booking, and in our opinion this hotel along with a lot of the island has seen better days and is living off a an old and out of date reputation probably with guests returning every year without realising how this hotel has drifted into decline. The Royal was starting to show signs of decline; the decor was shabby and sad, and in our opinion, it was not a 4-star hotel. However, anyone looking for a hotel with the kind of luxury and high standards that a 4-star hotel should provide will struggle on the Isle of Wight, as we did when trying to find an alternative after leaving The Royal Hotel.