Guest User
April 9, 2024
Had a wonderful stay in a superior twin room in the main castle building, which was extremely comfortable, character-full, well-equipped and fairly large. We stayed on a dinner, b&b basis, which was relatively good value. As another reviewer has said, you are actually staying in a tudor castle and therefore it is not a very accessible building, there are cobbles and uneven floors to be navigated. It is a (steep and uneven) 5-minute walk down to the town, harbour and ferries, and less than 10-minutes in their own private transfer vehicle to the airport. The conservatory restaurant had not yet opened for the season in early April but we ate incredibly well in the main restaurant. The menu changed completely every day, had several fish dishes daily which were both superb tasting and beautifully presented, and also alternatives such as chicken, pork or rabbit for eg, and all were executed very well. We didn't think the desserts quite lived up to the savoury dishes but they were fine should you have a sweet tooth - it's a 4-course menu so we were happy to give them a miss after the first evening. There's a fairly extensive and well selected wine list. We didn't care much for the bar, which is in the dungeon (!) I'm not sure if it is always like this, but it was very damp, and damp-smelling when we were there, so not somewhere I would choose to linger. The barman, Kyle, was great though, and drinks can be brought up to the lounge on the first floor. The staff were fantastic and I believe most change every season as the hotel is closed over the winter, so this is only relevant if you are staying in 2024, and there were still more staff arriving day-by-day as we left. A big call out should go to the restaurant manager, the blonde lady whose name we forgot to ask (sorry), Molly, who was incredibly friendly and attentive, and Esme and Eloise who were also delightful. In all honesty, they were actually all great. The reception team, Sarah and Chloe, were super-helpful and friendly, as well as efficient. We were delayed departing from St Mary's for two nights owing to a massive storm, and they sorted everything out for us with no fuss. The bed itself was superb, we both had a really good night's sleep. I had two small gripes about the room - the shower was over the bath, which I understand couldn't be avoided if you were to have a bath in the room as well, however it had a shower curtain which is just horrible and could easily be replaced by a screen of some sort. The other thing was that although there was a hairdryer, it had definitely seen better days and was not very powerful. I would stay here again in a heartbeat. Great service, amazing food and incredibly atmospheric in a very special location.