Best of British: Ten best seaside pubs and restaurants with rooms
By Simon Heptinstall
Published: 28 August 2005 by Independent.co.uk
1. Halfway House Inn, Cornwall
A traffic-free village with pastel-coloured houses lining steep winding streets, Kingsand is more like a chic Mediterranean resort than the eastern edge of Plymouth Sound. The stream behind the Halfway House used to mark the border between Devon and Cornwall - hence the name. Inside, there's a cosy bar with a huge fireplace and vaguely Victorian furnishings. Last time I visited, a fisherman staggered in with his day's catch in a dripping cardboard box. Specials are chalked on blackboards and the choice includes lots of seafood, for example scallops in white wine, cream and tarragon sauce (£6.25) and local crab salad (£9.30). The atmosphere is contagious; every Wednesday the local male voice choir sings for a supper of sausage and chips. There are six en-suite rooms, decorated in cottage style with pine furniture.
The Halfway House Inn, Fore Street, Kingsand, Cornwall (01752 822279; www.halfwayinn.biz/). Bed and breakfast from £65 per double per night.
2. Andrews on the Weir, Somerset
This stylish restaurant with rooms is tucked away next to a tiny harbour at Porlock Weir, about a mile from the main Exmoor coast road. The backdrop of steep densely wooded slopes leads up to the moor, and the foreground is a huddle of old buildings around a tiny stone harbour. Chef Andrew Dixon serves up top-quality food here: Lynmouth Bay lobster, asparagus, avocado and potato salad with mango are on the £35 three-course menu. Five en-suite bedrooms have great views, although they are decorated in a strange mix of styles.
Porlock Weir, Somerset (01643 863300; www.andrewsontheweir.co.uk). Bed and breakfast from £85 per double per night.
3. Spyglass Inn, Isle of Wight
I've visited this pub three times this year already and I live 150 miles away. I can't think of a better place for a weekend lunch, lounging on the terrace with the waves lapping the shore below, gazing across Victorian Ventnor's sandy bay. Big portions of pub food include homemade fisherman's pie (£8.25), seafood chowder (£5) and seafood casserole (£8.75). Crash out in one of the three self-contained suites upstairs, each with en-suite double bedroom, kitchen area (supplied with breakfast ingredients), and balconied lounge.
The Spyglass Inn, The Esplanade, Ventnor, Isle of Wight (01983 855338; www.thespyglass.com). Bed and breakfast from £60 per double per night.
4. Bell Inn, Suffolk
This 600-year-old pub near the village green, just a pebble's throw from the beach, has all the original features you could desire. The food is just the ticket, too - look out for shredded sticky pork belly with apple chutney (£4.95) or grilled skate wing with herb, lime and caper butter (£8.95). There are six cottage-style en-suite bedrooms, most of which overlook water. The Sea View Suite has a king-size bed and the best view.
The Bell Inn, Walberswick, Suffolk (01502 723109; www.blythweb.co.uk/bellinn). Bed and breakfast from £80 per double per night.
5.White Horse, Norfolk
From the coast road, the first glimpse of the White Horse is of its new extension. Don't be put off. Step inside to find a light, airy space with pale-wood furnishings and seaside colours of pale ochre, blue and lavender. Join the locals in the front bar by the open log fire or take a table in the conservatory, with its spectacular views towards Scolt Head Island. The food is a surprise: zippy and modern, and a long way from traditional pub grub. Eat cockles, mussels and oysters gathered from the beds just outside, salmon fishcake with spinach and sorrel sauce (£9.25), or pork with apple crisps (£11.15). The 15 modern en-suite rooms have wireless broadband. The split-level Room at the Top has a telescope trained on the marshes.
White Horse, Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk (01485 210262; www.whitehorsebrancaster.co.uk). Bed and breakfast from £55 per person per night when two share.
6. Harbourmaster Hotel, Wales
Throw open the sash window, gaze out at bobbing boats below - and the long drive to west Wales will suddenly seem worth it. Inside this grand three-storey stone building at the end of a row of Georgian houses, the modern tapas bar styling is a surprise. Relax on sofas around chunky wood blocks and try tasty tapas such as grilled aubergines with pesto (£5.50) and crevettes in chilli butter (£7.50). The restaurant, decorated with modern light-wood furniture, may offer lemon sole with sweet potato chips and red pepper coulis (£14.50) or chargrilled Welsh black beef fillet (£15.50). Nine en-suite, harbour-view rooms have the same cool style.
Harbourmaster Hotel, Quayside, Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales (01545 570 755; www.harbour-master.com). Bed and breakfast from £95 per double per night.
7. Londonderry Arms Hotel, N Ireland
Winston Churchill liked this hotel so much he bought it. This old coaching inn on the scenic Antrim coast road is an ivy-clad Georgian building now furnished with 19th-century furniture and modern sculpture. Bar snacks include homemade pâté (£4.75) or cod with homemade tartare sauce and chips (£7.95). Inthe restaurant, three courses cost £22 and may include local wild salmon, scallops, lobster, or lamb. The 35 en-suite rooms have been refurbished. If Sir Winston's room, 114, is taken, go for a Georgian-style room at the front with sea views to Scotland.
Londonderry Arms Hotel, Harbour Rd, Carnlough, Ballymena, Antrim, Northern Ireland (0282 888 5255; www.glensof antrim.com). Bed and breakfast from £85 per double per night.
8. The Drunken Duck, Lake District
A great setting, wonderful food and stylish accommodation, The Drunken Duck has picked up more than a few fans - and awards - over the years. Set above Lake Windermere, with stunning views of the fells, this old coaching inn has been hosting guests for 400 years. Today, visitors can pull up a chair in front of the wood fire or book a table in the restaurant for imaginative fine dining, such as pan-fried wild halibut with a girolle mushroom and spinach tartlet and potted Flookburgh shrimps (£15.95). The 16 rooms mix antiques and contemporary design.
The Drunken Duck, Barngates, Ambleside, Cumbria (015394 36347; www.drunkenduckinn.co.uk). Bed and breakfast from £120 per double per night.
9. Olde Ship, Northumbria
At this veritable museum of nautical nick-nacks, you can sit by the open fire at dusk and watch the Longstones lighthouse flash. The food ranges from home-made soup (£3.50) to grilled lemon sole (£8). The pub has been owned by the same family for almost 100 years, so the 18 bedrooms are hardly state-of-the-art. But they're clean, cosy and en-suite. Ask for one of the rooms with a sea view or Chapel Row Cottage, a self-catering house for two.
The Olde Ship, Main Street, Seahouses, Northumbria (01665 720200; www.seahouses.co.uk/). Bed and breakfast from £50 per person per night, self-catering cottage from £275 per week.
10. Plockton Hotel, Scotland
An epic drive through the Highlands deserves a grand ending, and when you arrive in Plockton you'll find it right by the waterside - a brilliant pub with great food and rooms overlooking the sea loch. The hotel is converted from an ancient terrace of fishermen's cottages in this picturesque National Trust village, the last stop before the Isle of Skye. Seafood is the speciality, including prawns or Skye mussels (£6.25). Heartier fare includes local venison casserole (£7.75) and haggis and whisky (£3.95). Most of the 15 neat and en-suite rooms overlook the loch. Book the one with the balcony and woodburning stove.
Plockton Hotel, Harbour Street, Plockton, Wester Ross, Scotland (01599 544274; www.plocktonhotel.co.uk). Bed and breakfast from £45 per person per night, when two share.
1. Halfway House Inn, Cornwall
A traffic-free village with pastel-coloured houses lining steep winding streets, Kingsand is more like a chic Mediterranean resort than the eastern edge of Plymouth Sound. The stream behind the Halfway House used to mark the border between Devon and Cornwall - hence the name. Inside, there's a cosy bar with a huge fireplace and vaguely Victorian furnishings. Last time I visited, a fisherman staggered in with his day's catch in a dripping cardboard box. Specials are chalked on blackboards and the choice includes lots of seafood, for example scallops in white wine, cream and tarragon sauce (£6.25) and local crab salad (£9.30). The atmosphere is contagious; every Wednesday the local male voice choir sings for a supper of sausage and chips. There are six en-suite rooms, decorated in cottage style with pine furniture.
The Halfway House Inn, Fore Street, Kingsand, Cornwall (01752 822279; www.halfwayinn.biz/). Bed and breakfast from £65 per double per night.
2. Andrews on the Weir, Somerset
This stylish restaurant with rooms is tucked away next to a tiny harbour at Porlock Weir, about a mile from the main Exmoor coast road. The backdrop of steep densely wooded slopes leads up to the moor, and the foreground is a huddle of old buildings around a tiny stone harbour. Chef Andrew Dixon serves up top-quality food here: Lynmouth Bay lobster, asparagus, avocado and potato salad with mango are on the £35 three-course menu. Five en-suite bedrooms have great views, although they are decorated in a strange mix of styles.
Porlock Weir, Somerset (01643 863300; www.andrewsontheweir.co.uk). Bed and breakfast from £85 per double per night.
3. Spyglass Inn, Isle of Wight
I've visited this pub three times this year already and I live 150 miles away. I can't think of a better place for a weekend lunch, lounging on the terrace with the waves lapping the shore below, gazing across Victorian Ventnor's sandy bay. Big portions of pub food include homemade fisherman's pie (£8.25), seafood chowder (£5) and seafood casserole (£8.75). Crash out in one of the three self-contained suites upstairs, each with en-suite double bedroom, kitchen area (supplied with breakfast ingredients), and balconied lounge.
The Spyglass Inn, The Esplanade, Ventnor, Isle of Wight (01983 855338; www.thespyglass.com). Bed and breakfast from £60 per double per night.
4. Bell Inn, Suffolk
This 600-year-old pub near the village green, just a pebble's throw from the beach, has all the original features you could desire. The food is just the ticket, too - look out for shredded sticky pork belly with apple chutney (£4.95) or grilled skate wing with herb, lime and caper butter (£8.95). There are six cottage-style en-suite bedrooms, most of which overlook water. The Sea View Suite has a king-size bed and the best view.
The Bell Inn, Walberswick, Suffolk (01502 723109; www.blythweb.co.uk/bellinn). Bed and breakfast from £80 per double per night.
5.White Horse, Norfolk
From the coast road, the first glimpse of the White Horse is of its new extension. Don't be put off. Step inside to find a light, airy space with pale-wood furnishings and seaside colours of pale ochre, blue and lavender. Join the locals in the front bar by the open log fire or take a table in the conservatory, with its spectacular views towards Scolt Head Island. The food is a surprise: zippy and modern, and a long way from traditional pub grub. Eat cockles, mussels and oysters gathered from the beds just outside, salmon fishcake with spinach and sorrel sauce (£9.25), or pork with apple crisps (£11.15). The 15 modern en-suite rooms have wireless broadband. The split-level Room at the Top has a telescope trained on the marshes.
White Horse, Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk (01485 210262; www.whitehorsebrancaster.co.uk). Bed and breakfast from £55 per person per night when two share.
6. Harbourmaster Hotel, Wales
Throw open the sash window, gaze out at bobbing boats below - and the long drive to west Wales will suddenly seem worth it. Inside this grand three-storey stone building at the end of a row of Georgian houses, the modern tapas bar styling is a surprise. Relax on sofas around chunky wood blocks and try tasty tapas such as grilled aubergines with pesto (£5.50) and crevettes in chilli butter (£7.50). The restaurant, decorated with modern light-wood furniture, may offer lemon sole with sweet potato chips and red pepper coulis (£14.50) or chargrilled Welsh black beef fillet (£15.50). Nine en-suite, harbour-view rooms have the same cool style.
Harbourmaster Hotel, Quayside, Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales (01545 570 755; www.harbour-master.com). Bed and breakfast from £95 per double per night.
7. Londonderry Arms Hotel, N Ireland
Winston Churchill liked this hotel so much he bought it. This old coaching inn on the scenic Antrim coast road is an ivy-clad Georgian building now furnished with 19th-century furniture and modern sculpture. Bar snacks include homemade pâté (£4.75) or cod with homemade tartare sauce and chips (£7.95). Inthe restaurant, three courses cost £22 and may include local wild salmon, scallops, lobster, or lamb. The 35 en-suite rooms have been refurbished. If Sir Winston's room, 114, is taken, go for a Georgian-style room at the front with sea views to Scotland.
Londonderry Arms Hotel, Harbour Rd, Carnlough, Ballymena, Antrim, Northern Ireland (0282 888 5255; www.glensof antrim.com). Bed and breakfast from £85 per double per night.
8. The Drunken Duck, Lake District
A great setting, wonderful food and stylish accommodation, The Drunken Duck has picked up more than a few fans - and awards - over the years. Set above Lake Windermere, with stunning views of the fells, this old coaching inn has been hosting guests for 400 years. Today, visitors can pull up a chair in front of the wood fire or book a table in the restaurant for imaginative fine dining, such as pan-fried wild halibut with a girolle mushroom and spinach tartlet and potted Flookburgh shrimps (£15.95). The 16 rooms mix antiques and contemporary design.
The Drunken Duck, Barngates, Ambleside, Cumbria (015394 36347; www.drunkenduckinn.co.uk). Bed and breakfast from £120 per double per night.
9. Olde Ship, Northumbria
At this veritable museum of nautical nick-nacks, you can sit by the open fire at dusk and watch the Longstones lighthouse flash. The food ranges from home-made soup (£3.50) to grilled lemon sole (£8). The pub has been owned by the same family for almost 100 years, so the 18 bedrooms are hardly state-of-the-art. But they're clean, cosy and en-suite. Ask for one of the rooms with a sea view or Chapel Row Cottage, a self-catering house for two.
The Olde Ship, Main Street, Seahouses, Northumbria (01665 720200; www.seahouses.co.uk/). Bed and breakfast from £50 per person per night, self-catering cottage from £275 per week.
10. Plockton Hotel, Scotland
An epic drive through the Highlands deserves a grand ending, and when you arrive in Plockton you'll find it right by the waterside - a brilliant pub with great food and rooms overlooking the sea loch. The hotel is converted from an ancient terrace of fishermen's cottages in this picturesque National Trust village, the last stop before the Isle of Skye. Seafood is the speciality, including prawns or Skye mussels (£6.25). Heartier fare includes local venison casserole (£7.75) and haggis and whisky (£3.95). Most of the 15 neat and en-suite rooms overlook the loch. Book the one with the balcony and woodburning stove.
Plockton Hotel, Harbour Street, Plockton, Wester Ross, Scotland (01599 544274; www.plocktonhotel.co.uk). Bed and breakfast from £45 per person per night, when two share.
