We visited in late July for a family celebration and stayed for 3 nights. We had a standard double room and were on the top floor in a dual aspect room overlooking the sea and the golf course.
Our room was comfortable enough and tastfully decorated, although the bed was a little hard for my taste and the ensuite shower room whilst spotlessly clean, with a good powerful shower was incredibly tiny.( particularly for my 6'8" partner! ) Stricly one person at a time in there! My only other criticism of the room is that there were not many hangers in the wardrobe and a couple of them were broken. My parents who were staying at the same time and had one of the more expensive rooms, it was massive by comparison with a large bathroom and a sea view.

Our hosts Clinton and Lisa were welcoming enough, although I did find the policy of not being allowed a front door key or to take one's room key rather irritating. This policy is more Bed and Breakfast than Hotel in my opinion.....As our teenagers and the rest of the family were staying in a house down the road, we had a some late nights and had to ring the bell to be admitted every time, which made us feel somewhat ill at ease and a bit of a nuiscence ... Also little notices "Keep off " "Guests only beyond this point" in the garden did remind me a bit of Fawlty Towers.

On the plus side breakfast was superb beautifully cooked and very tasty served in a communal dining room. The hotel also cooked and served our celebration dinner for all the family which was delicious (21 of us the maximum I would think!). There were clean plates all round and excellent service. The food was beautifully presented and cooked by Clinton.

On arriving at this hotel we were greeted with a cool reception by the hostess, although the host was slightly more welcoming offering to take our bags up to our room.

As the owners do not allow guests the key to the front door, you have to ring the door bell every time you want to come in, even if you are just popping out to the car and have left the door on the latch when you return you find it has been promptly closed behind you! This felt intrusive and like you were being an inconvenience and every time you rang the door bell you were greeted in a less than friendly manner making one feel quite uncomfortable at times.


The room we stayed in was beautiful costing us £150 per night including breakfast. The bed was comfortable and the bathroom was huge, both were clean and tidy. The rooms were replenished daily with fresh bottled water. Breakfast was served in a communal dining room and the younger girls waiting the tables were accommodating and fairly cheerful. As the hotel is at the end of a long and pot holed drive we were given an alternative route for access which we used without a problem. The hotel feels quite remote with stunning sea views, so ideal for people wanting to get away from it all.

The hotel has a no pets policy as they have their own friendly elderly dog "Lucy". There is also a cat in the house who was seen walking along the tables on one occasion in the dining room. Neither do the hotel allow children guests under the age of 14 yrs. Like previous reviewers we found the no red wine in the bedroom policy slightly strange, and this put us offf using the self service honesty bar.

Although the views and rooms were lovely, we would be very unlikley to stay here again due to the unfriendly reception, and operational policies.

To refer to this accommodation as "Fawlty Towers" would be unfair and extreme, but the “Tea Rooms Closed” sign swinging forlornly in the wind as we arrived seemed to be some kind of portent.
The place is run with a certain cold efficiency and we found it to be clean and quiet; the room being comfortable if somewhat small. Plenty big enough for two adults however.
We were lucky that, notwithstanding the wind, the weather was reasonably warm. I would hate to have stayed on a cold day as the little electric heater lurking in the bottom of the wardrobe seemed to be hoping desperately that we wouldn't get it out and make it struggle.
Romney Bay House is not, in our opinion, a hotel in the accepted sense, although it has very obvious pretensions to being such, as reflected in both its room prices and the cost of the no-choice, set-time evening meal - £45 per head plus drinks when we enquired. We declined, which was just as well as we had been told that we were probably too late to have booked for the first two of our three-night stay anyway.
As a B&B it functions well enough, if you don't mind being made to feel that perhaps you are not as high up the social scale as the owners' preferred clientele. The Porsche and Bentley Brigade (whom we observed being welcomed on the step and assisted with their bags) were clearly in evidence during our stay and we were told when we booked that the discount on offer was not usually offered (?!) unless someone asked about it. Which we had. No doubt that had blotted our copybook.
Having to remember to leave a note each evening to confirm our breakfast preference, which didn't change (and being ticked off for forgetting), having to be in by lock-up or risk a cold night on the beach, and not being permitted a front door key (in case we ran off with the wooden table thingy just inside, presumably) all contributed to making the stay rather less relaxing than we had hoped. One was constantly cautious of putting a foot wrong.
We didn’t make use of the so-called “honesty” bar, partly because it was not the sort of space that might induce one to sit and relax, but also because, within five minutes of our arrival we had received strict instructions as to what drinks could NOT be taken to our room, in case they got spilled on the curtains. Of course we, being from the wrong side of the tracks, had been simply itching to re-paint the bedroom with several bottles of claret.
On the upside, the cooked Full English breakfast was excellent, the bed, though firm, was comfortable and the little shower room was spotless and as well laid-out as it could be, given the architecture. The location still retains some of its spectacular wildness from the time the house was built and the house’s closeness to the sea is wonderful.
But it’s a shame that there is virtually no reference to the house’s historic beginnings. Although mention is made in the advertising blurb, we could find no reference to its famous first owner or early guests. That, along with the probably very necessary (and not cheap) upvc replacement windows, the derelict tennis court and the slightly worn and in places, loose stair carpet made the place feel more functional than welcoming.
Overall, we had no cause for immediate complaint but, from the peremptory, “Yes?” when we arrived to the, “Oh. You’re doing it THAT way are you?” when we came to settle up in cash, and the complete lack of interest in whether we had enjoyed our stay, we were under the distinct impression that we had been tolerated, having slipped in under the radar, rather than being valued guests soon to be welcomed again.
It is very unlikely that, under the present management, we would stay there again.

Excellence service and food (and this is from someone VERY fussy). It is a quick journey from busy London life and as soon as you get there you can relax. The sea views from the rooms are amazing and add to the tranquility. A great hide away that has never failed to impress. You can book all 10 rooms for brilliant celebrations or business events.