Photo by flickr user mark.hogan
The Isle of Wight is sheer delight. From the north facing sailing centres of Cowes, Yarmouth and Seaview to sheltered southerly resorts such as Ventnor, Shanklin and Sandown, the island is carpeted with a diverse countryside, part dramatic, part gentle, and has a quirky charm all its own. Beach huts and ice cream stalls, crab shacks and oddball cafes, pretty villages, harbours full of bobbing boats, thatched cottages, cosy pubs, rivers, cliffs and gentle cycleways along disused railway lines: simple, timeless pleasures. There are just four hotels on the island that really stand out for us, but there may soon be more: the island is becoming fashionable once more, though hopefully it will never loose its old fashioned appeal. The order by which the hotels are listed bears no reflection on our preference.
Written by Fiona Duncan
