When I arrived here I immediately felt at ease, which is rare for me as a regular travelodge user. This is not a palace, but a comfortable, lived in hotel. All areas of the hotel are clean and tidy, well decorated and comfortable. Although some parts are a little dated, Len and Michelle are obviously working hard to update and make this a more modern hotel.
The room was large and airy, scrupulously clean with a comfortable double bed and more wardrobe and drawer space than my room at home! The ensuite had a large shower cubicle with endless hot water and a modern toilet suite. Again this was scrupulously clean. With a good TV, clock radio alarm clock, free wi-fi and the largest hot drinks selection basket that I have ever found in a hotel, I was more than happy. On top of this, the room was serviced daily.
Michelle is friendly and approachable and makes an excellent breakfast. The choice for breakfast is worthy of a much larger hotel. Pastries, toast, kippers, smoked haddock, and full English are among the choices with cereals and juices as well. I had a cooked breakfast every day and it was consistently good quality and grilled rather than fried.
Access was not a problem. I work into the small hours and was given a set of keys that allowed me to come and go as I pleased without having to bother anybody.
The only down side was the strange smell in the entrance area, but this was not exceedingly offensive, more a symptom of an old building and really didn't bother me.
I had expected Fawlty Towers and got an excellent small hotel and 4 good night's sleep.

OK, let's do the good stuff first. The people were friendly, the room was clean and the bed was comfy.

Now the bad stuff. The main hallway, the stairs and the dining room stink of stale, cheap cooking oil. How much does a bottle of fresh oil cost? Or an extractor fan? The shower in my room had only two positions: freezing cold and scalding hot. It seemed recently installed but had a cheap and nasty (and quite possibly illegal) non-thermostatic mixer, which gave me a nasty surprise by going to scalding mid-shower. Although it's near the beach, the immediate area is definitely rough - I never walked to to from the place without hearing loud alcoholic arguments and fighting in the streets. Feral youths roam, I'm over six feet tall and not terribly nervous, but felt extremely uneasy walking to the hotel the first night and took a taxi the next time.

Breakfast was neither good nor bad. You have to order the day before which is a bit of a pain, and a full cooked breakfast is precisely five items. The quantities of these are quite reasonable, but would it really be too much work to give a better selection - and take orders on the day? Quality was very variable: nasty cheap sausages (ten pence saved there) but good bacon and egg. Hash browns nearly ruined by the previously mentioned stale frying oil.

Now the weird stuff. It's not a hotel - it's a nineteen fifties guest house, with restrictions which I thought had gone out decades ago. The bar is open, dear reader, from 5pm till 5.15pm each day. That's right, just fifteen minutes. At 5.15pm a bell is rung and guests move to the dining room where they sit at their allocated table and eat the meal they ordered at breakfast time. At 5.15pm. Yes, they serve dinner well before six o'clock ... and apparently they can't be bothered to serve drinks (the bar is at the entrance to the dining room) at the same time as food. Maybe it's just too confusing. I should point out that I did not eat dinner there - but with all these restrictions I had no desire to do so, The menu seemed like standard 1970s hotel fare. Has anyone seen a prawn cocktail in the wild anywhere else since the last Wilson administration?

Would I stay there again? Not on your life. The room was OK, but I have no desire to stay in a Butlins Holiday Camp. I was half expecting them to wake me up with a cheerful tannoy announcement at 7.30am before calisthenics on the lawn.

Oh, and they don't take children. Not that I can imagine anyone under the age of seventy enjoying this place. Fond memories of the blitz probably help. Lucky escape, kids.

I booked this accomodation very last minute... selecting a double room for my husband and I, together with a twin room for my mother-in-law (charged a lower rate for single occupancy which was nice!). Our room looked out onto the front garden area and my mother-in-laws had lovely French windows which opened out onto a really pretty garden area to the rear.
The rooms were very large and airy with a small en-suite with shower which was perfectly ample. There was a nice selection of tea and coffee together with a kettle and a decent sized TV in the room. The bed in our room was enormous and incredibly comfortable - the linen used was not the usual cheap and cheerful stuff you get in many B&B's, it felt really luxurious (with lots of pillows - my husband normally has to ask for more, but not here!).
The thing we really liked about this place was the extremely friendly owners - nothing seemed to be too much trouble and, although there was no reception area, we knew they were around 24/7 if we needed them. We really liked the freedom to come and go as we pleased without having to hand keys in, request them back etc.
The breakfast on the morning we left was spot on - we'd been asked to pre-order what we wanted, but were happy to do so as this meant that everything was being cooked fresh to order (as opposed to being mass produced and left on a hot plate).
We didn't have an evening meal because we were only there for 1 night... but we were so impressed with our stay that we are planning to go back next year and stay for longer.
It is always nice to stay somewhere with such a nice, comfortable atmosphere which Len and Michelle certainly provided - many thanks :)

Booked 2 rooms for bed, breakfast & evening meal for a 3 night stay with family. A little strange on arrival as the front door was locked, rang several door bells (most of which appeared to be broken) but finally found the only working one (might be a good idea to provide a notice for arriving guests as to which bell works). Shown to our rooms by a guy dressed in scruffy jeans & none to clean rugby shirt but he seemed friendly enough. The rooms were clean, comfortable & fairly large with a good supply of the usual milk, coffee etc. The ensuite was clean but with a very, very small shower with no room to move. Wanted to have a bath but was informed the shared bathroom suite was broken & could not be used. No soundproofing at all so could hear people talking in their rooms whilst my bedroom, shower and even the guest lounge! Breakfast was ok but the evening meal left alot to be desired, so my advice is not to book the evening meal option. But the strangest thing about this guest house is that there is no reception area or desk, if you need anything you have to ring a bell on the wall in the hall. There seems to be no staff around in the hotel at all day or night only at meal times. and when you checkout there are still no staff around so you just leave your key on a coffee table in the hall and go!
It's not that there is anything greatly wrong with this guesthouse it's just a bit of an odd setup.