Royal Hotel

This hotel is currently CLOSED. Apparently all bookings have been transferred but we were not told. We waited for over an hour on the doorstep knocking (there's nothing on the doors to say it's closed and a light was on) and trying to phone for help (but the hotel's phone line has been cut off) until eventually a man happened to turn up and tell us to "try The Dolphin". They did have our booking but it's only by chance we knew where to go!

Very disappointing stay. Firstly there was no hot water in the shower, we tried at both 5.30pm and again at 7.30am. The TV didn't work at all. My child cut her foot on a staple that was sticking out of the bed base. We got into bed at 10.30pm to discover large blood patches visible through the sheet! It was very late, so I just pulled the mattress protector off. Fortunately the mattress looked very clean, so we just replaced the sheet but were pretty disgusted. Breakfast is extremely basic. Just a bowl of Weetabix or packs of 'fruit and fibre' or a few cornflakes in a tub, no bread, fruit or yoghurt. You get a few slices of toast when you order tea or coffee. Cooked breakfast was better but the sausages were awful, definitely didn't taste like pork, they were very odd. There was nobody on reception in the morning to address any of this issues, so we just left the key as others had done. On the bright side, the staff seemed friendly enough.

Great value seaview hotel - much better than some reviews would have you fear. Friendly staff, good breakfast, building full of character and historic interest. Room - by normal standards - clean, leaving no grounds to complain. Very much enjoyed my stay.