The Cliff House — Restaurant in New Forest

We went to Burton-on-sea mainly to visit the beach and to have a swim with our little dog, which loves the sea. Some friends, who had been here before, recommended us the Cliff House and, when we realised they it was literally up the hill from the beach we chose, we decided to go there.

We’re glad we did as the whole experience was amazing: the location is dreamy, especially on a sunny and warm day like the one we had, the views are beautiful and the place itself is very nice. A massive outdoor terrace divided in two sections, each with a different menu and slightly different modalities for ordering- which honestly makes sense, especially when the place is packed (and I imagine it gets packed very easily).

When we went it was fairly busy, despite that though, there was no sense of rush, nor chaos or confusion and the staff were all so friendly and efficient that we never felt ignored, nor did we have to wait long for drinks or food. We opted for the ‘À la Carte’ menu and section, rather than the ‘bar/pub’ menu, and were really pleased about our choices: great starters and salads, excellent fish dishes and, oh my goodness, the desserts! I fell in love so much with the Baked Alaska. That said though, literally every time a plate was served to the tables in the Bar section, we were like “Wow, that’s looks delicious”. So, I’m fairly confident that also the Bar menu would have convinced us.

As sunset was closing in and it got a bit chillier, we asked if we could move inside to eat our dessert and the staff were very accommodating and attentive to our requests, even with our dog. That’s when we found out that the place is fully dog friendly, even the hotel room.

We saved it to our list of places to stay again in the future, so definitely...

Last week, I stayed at the Cliff House Hotel, from Tuesday to Friday (7-11 July 2015).

I really could not have been more pleased, and felt very welcome, with the impression that my being a guest was valued. Although I was alone, the smallish double room (named Wight) that I booked was clean and comfortable, with an amazing view over the Solent to The Needles.

Breakfast was excellent and substantial, a good start for the day.

I ate in the hotel restaurant on Tuesday and Thursday evening, and I was not just pleasantly surprised but quite taken aback by how good it was. The food was first-rate, and the service faultless, with waiting staff attentive and keen to ensure that I enjoyed dinner. Foolishly, I ate out at a local restaurant on the Wednesday evening - one which appeared to have a very high reputation. The experience there was a massive disappointment, food quite good but service well below par, with elementary errors and shortcomings which one should not expect. And the price was astronomical - top-dollar price for a relatively mediocre supper. (If you search, you may see the comment that I left on their website, warning prospective diners to think carefully before going there. I will say no more.)

Dinner the next evening at the Cliff House was such a refreshing occasion.

You may be sure that I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending the Cliff House Hotel if you seek a comfortable place to stay, where you can relax and be sure of being looked after. Do not give it a moment's hesitation - just go there. You will not be disappointed. And I will be...

WoW what a find, it was a surprise weekend for my wife to celebrate jointly her birthday and our wedding anniversary. A quick google check and there it was the ideal venue, booked our room in minutes of finding the Cliff House. Dog friendly on a cliff overlooking a vista of our wonderful south coast with loads of opportunity for our Westie Rufus (who also loved the weekend break) to run and enjoy the surrounding cliff top with mum and dad. We arrived around mid-day to be greeted by Hayley and Steve together with the tentative Cliff House team asked if we could have lunch before booking into our room, I am glad we did as very quickly this hot spot destination for the locals filled up. After lunch we were showed to our room by an extremely helpful member of the team, we had the White room one of seven that are all tastefully decorated with subtle seaside tones and clean everywhere. The Wight room is an intimate double room with twin windows providing the seascape view of both the Solent inlet and looking out into the English Channel. Eating in the restaurant is a real treat with a wholesome menu inclusive of vegetarian choices, we both opted for the fillet steak for dinner and it was one of the best we had ever had. Chef Michael choosing local produce gets top marks from both of us for his choice of supplier for those steaks. We will return to this gem of a retreat, there are a few very interesting events featured on the web site all worth investigating especially the Dog Friendly Guy Fawkes night. We...