Beaulieu Hotel

The room was tatty. The carpet was filthy. Ther was no hot water on our first morning, on the second day it ran out during washing. However he bed was comfortable, the staff friendly, and the meals good. Pity, as the location is wonderful.

It’s a real stretch to call this a 4 star hotel….. and our expectations of an enjoyable stay were sadly not met. Location great, beautiful New Forest heathlands and if you are on public transport it’s a breeze to access, but everything else is average to poor I’m afraid. Firstly a lot of the decor - paint work, furnishing , carpeting etc looked old and stained/dirty although I expect that’s not the fault of the cleaners, just years of no/ minimal maintenance. One area looked recently done but the rest desperately needs a fresh coat of paint, new carpets and stain removal. When you have the number of small children and dogs staying (as they do) wear and tear is to be expected. Room 10 (where we stayed) included. Beds were comfy, clean new bedding etc, hot powerful shower, thank you. Don’t expect any servicing on a two night stay however! Swimming pool, our main reason for picking this hotel, oh my goodness, such a disappointment, tiny and grimy. The duty manager did apologize and said it had been busy but it was the same the next day. Staff, friendly and helpful when you could find them but unable/unwilling to go the extra mile like a 4star establishment might. Example - walking trails, clearly lots of walks direct from the door but could they point me to any? Not really, lots of signs asking guests to download a New Forest walking app where the nearest trail was in Beaulieu - 2-3 miles away. I googled local trails myself in the end but how simple would it be to have a handout ready for guests to use? And how about an OS map that guests could borrow please? The pub next door where food was served was average pub grub with a friendly bunch of young staff doing their best. Breakfast was fine too. All in all this hotel has the potential to be wonderful given its setting and tradition but running it on the cheap with minimal staff has turned it into a steer clear option. I won’t be returning and can’t recommend.

We booked the Beaulieu Inn after speaking the reservations team member Luci. As part of our booking we were "guaranteed" a 4 poster bed and this was confirmed multiple times throughout the phone call, on which we booked and paid. This was a specific request as it was our 4 year olds birthday who has always enjoyed a book about a girl who sleeps in a 4 poster and we were keen to make this experience come true. When we arrived at the property we were told there was no 4 poster beds were available and nothing had been put on the notes. We were put in Garden room 34 which I would not advise booking. It was a warm evening (the rooms have no cooling except for windows both sides) and the rear windows (1 meter from the bed) open next to the rear of the kitchens. Lights, plastic crates stacked, team members hanging outside and general noise were difficult. When it was cleaning up time in the restaurant they then turned on loud music to keep the team going. Unfortunately the rear doors to the restaurant are directly outside the front of the room and a speaker is placed just inside the doors there. This woke the children. The team from the restaurant were polite and did immediately turn it down but this room is very badly positioned and it was not an enjoyable evening. The baby cot was hard, with no mattress provided on top of the kit base provided (we would recommend bringing your own as we were told no mattress was provided or available). The young girl on reception whilst polite was not clued in on any query we had. Andrea in the breakfast team was kind and helpful and the evening restaurant team were diligent and hardworking. The room itself has seen better days. Set in splash marks on the wall to the side of the toilet, woodwork chipping and a general feel that they could be better kept. A mixed review but the positioning of this room is terrible and not what we had paid for.