The Belmont Hotel — Hotel in Isle of Wight

Whoever cannot rate the Belmont as 5* or can in any way find fault won’t have stayed at the same Belmont as we just have. It’s by far the best B&B hotel we’ve visited. Linda and Des run it in their own way very different and much better than elsewhere. Our comfortable room (20) was huge with direct access onto the front veranda. The breakfast choices were numerous, the pool area very inviting and when it’s wet (we had two days of it) the large lounge is yours for however long you wish with a tempting sweets and snacks cabinet nearby alongside the ice cream freezer apart from which sandwiches and more can be ordered for lunch so if needs be there’s no need on such days to go elsewhere except of course for dinner. Shanklin has a wide variety of restaurants, pretty pricey on the whole it has to be said but that’s how it is wherever you go. At the cheaper no frills end we ate at the Happy Haddock and the Paramount (booking very much recommended) but watch evening opening hours at both, while the others were the Village Inn and Amici (a very good Italian restaurant) where booking quite well in advance is essential at both (we booked a couple of weeks before leaving home), all of which are in the High Street, and finally the Steamer Inn on the seafront who don’t take bookings so be ready if necessary to wait as it’s very popular. And when you get back to the Belmont there’s a well-stocked bar. As for getting about, the island bus service is reliably good so forget the car unless it’s necessary. We left ours at home, using our county bus passes but if you do the same they are acceptable on all regular numbered routes but not the specials. That said, if you’re 60+ a 24-hour ticket on the latter will cost you just £9.30 and considering how far that can get you it’s good value. Despite a cold wind blowing for a large part of our two week’s stay we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and can very much recommend...

I may have been a little harsh in giving The Belmont 3 stars. It's a pity there isn't a half star. Let's start with the positives. It's in a great location. Easy walk down to the front and a couple of minutes walk into Shanklin Old Town. The outside is looks well kept and Linda a good host. The reception area is really nice and well decorated with loads of different items for sale from coffee to cold drinks to toiletries amongst others - all done on an honesty basis either via cash or written in a book and added to your bill. Breakfast is cooked by Linda and is first class from continental through to fully cooked in all guises. Upstairs it sort of goes astray. Our room (12) was passable, just. Quite an odd shape with the bathroom tucked down a little hall. The bed was comfortable albeit quite small however the position of the TV was not good and gave my wife sore neck. The bathroom was quite a let down. Firstly it was very small with barely enough room to dry yourself after a shower. The shower cubicle was again very small and the water pressure very poor. The sink was okay only let down by the fact that the cold water tap produced warm water despite running it constantly. Finally the position of the toilet roll holder was ludicrous - positioned over your left shoulder and almost impossible to reach. There were far better places to put it, just not sure why they weren't used! The rooms are not "turned down" during a stay. We were told this when we checked in but you do miss this service. We were told that they did serve an evening meal at one point but this has now stopped. Our overall impression was that this had once been a very good hotel but has gradually cut it's services to a point where they are just adequate. It seemed that only Linda and her husband actually run the hotel and do everything. I may be wrong but didn't see any other staff. Having said all that, I would still recommend...

Whoever cannot rate the Belmont as 5* or can in any way find fault won’t have stayed at the same Belmont as we just have. It’s by far the best B&B hotel we’ve visited. Linda and Des run it in their own way very different and much better than elsewhere. Our room (20) was huge with direct access onto the front veranda. The breakfast choices were numerous, the pool area very inviting and when it’s wet (we had two days of it) the large lounge is yours for however long you wish with a tempting sweets and snacks cabinet nearby alongside the ice cream freezer apart from which sandwiches and more can be ordered for lunch so if needs be there’s no need on such days to go elsewhere except of course for dinner. Shanklin has a wide variety of restaurants, pretty pricey on the whole it has to be said but that’s how it is wherever you go. At the cheaper no frills end we ate at the Happy Haddock and the Paramount (booking very much recommended) but watch evening opening hours at both, while the others were the Village Inn and Amici (a very good Italian restaurant) where booking quite well in advance is essential at both (we booked a couple of weeks before leaving home), all of which are in the High Street, and finally the Steamer Inn on the seafront who don’t take bookings so be ready if necessary to wait as it’s very popular. And when you get back to the Belmont there’s a well-stocked bar. As for getting about, the island bus service is reliably good so forget the car unless it’s necessary. We left ours at home, using our county bus passes but if you do the same they are acceptable on all regular numbered routes but not the specials. That said, if you’re 60+ a 24-hour ticket on the latter will cost you just £9.30 and considering how far that can get you it’s good value. Despite a cold wind blowing for a large part of our two week’s stay we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and can very much recommend...