Search Your Swanage Hotels

I must congratulate every member of staff for the wonderful experience that guests enjoy at the Grand. My husband and me spent three nights there to celebrate our wedding anniversary on 21st July. From our arrival around 4pm on Friday until our departure on Monday morning, we enjoyed a relaxed and peaceful weekend. The hotel's location couldn't be bettered, and the service and dining were excellent. I can't find enough superlatives to describe how well we were served by everyone (including the room attendant) and how fabulous the food was, including the full English breakfast, which was perfect every time and the best we have eaten anywhere. As for the dinners we enjoyed, they were spectacular. We were both impressed that the menu was limited to a small variety of interesting and imaginative main courses, which meant that we knew whatever we chose would be excellent. And the mango tart dessert was exquisite. The conservatory dining room was a lovely place to enjoy a wonderful dinner, then sit back with a glass of your favourite tipple or a coffee and watch the sun go down over the sea - stunning! The ease of accessing the clean, sand beach was also great and made it easy to give in to temptation and go for a swim. And now for the (tiny) complaint - the tea made with the Dorset teabags was awful, not helped by the semi-skimmed milk. Perhaps the hotel could consider providing the choice of skimmed milk as well - a lot of people drink it these days! And my husband was disappointed that there was not a fridge in the room 😊 Notwithstanding the fridge, we are looking forward to returning to the Grand next year. This is very much a hotel for couples looking for a chilled and peaceful break, a perfect base from where to do as much or as little as you want.

My wife and I have been visiting the Isle of Purbeck for over 40 years and have passed by Knoll House Hotel many times and said that one day we would like to stay there, an offer popped up on Travelzoo so we booked 2 nights half board in September. We found out that the hotel had been recently purchased by the Kingfisher group. I imagine the hotel will have some money spent on it and certain areas do need this but I would hate it if it lost any of its charm. Some of the rooms were really charming with a 1950s feel (I think they call this post-modern!) Our bedroom room was fine, it was clean and so was the en-suite although a bit on the small side, however this was more than made up by the wonderful views from the window, Sandbanks and Bournemouth on one side and Old Harry Rocks on the other - magnificent! The staff were extremely good, from reception through to waiting staff and barman. The food was excellent, no complaints at all. Breakfast was buffet style (not a fan) but there were some choices of freshly cooked dishes, we had smoked haddock with a poached egg which was perfect. For the evening meal there was an excellent choice of courses most of which changed on the following night and what we had was very well prepared and imaginative. Apparently they don't do lunchtime meals at the moment but they have built a bistro which opens soon, we had a sneaky peak and it looks very nice. There are 2 smallish swimming pools, indoor and outdoor but we didn't use them, they supply pool towels which I believe are complimentary. We will definitely came back to Knoll House, it will be interesting to see what changes they make.

We spent our wedding night at Morton's Manor. They gave us a complementary upgrade to the suite with the 4-poster bed which was very comfortable. It has a sitting area and a jacuzzi and there was a bottle of complementary fizz too. Food was really excellent, service prompt and friendly, parking free. The perfect stay at a time that couldn't have been more important. Thank you to all the staff who made our stay so special.