The best hotels in Scarborough

Scarborough is Yorkshire’s seaside charmer, complete with beautiful beaches, dramatic limestone cliffs, a pretty harbour, natural spring waters, and a castle! It’s the largest centre on the Yorkshire coast, and has been an understandably popular seaside resort since the mid-17th century. It used to be that all the best places to stay in Scarborough were waterfront properties — guesthouses, B&Bs, and large historic hotels — but these days visitors will find far more variety.

Some of our Scarborough collections:

• Scarborough Hotels with Parking

Scarborough Castle is situated on a rocky headland overlooking the sea, with Scarborough Beach on one side and North Bay on the other. In between is Marine Drive, a Victorian promenade where you will find the pedestrian zone and the market hall. The town also has many landmarks from its heyday as a seaside resort in the late Georgian and Victorian eras, including the lighthouse at Scarborough Pier, an Anglican church adorned with paintings by Santa Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones and Ford Madox Brown, the Town Hall, the Rotunda Museum and Scarborough Spa. For families, there is Peasholm Park and Northstead Manor Gardens, where there is a miniature railroad, boating lake, waterslide and outdoor theater. Scarborough also has a Sea Life Centre.

Don't forget that the best places to stay in Scarborough are very busy during the peak summer months. Book early to avoid disappointment!

The Best Places to Stay in Scarborough

For Romantics

• Wrea Head Hall is a grand, Gothic mansion, set in beautiful grounds on the edge of the North York Moors National Park — now converted into a delightful country house hotel with 18 individually decorated rooms and suites. Romantics should book one of the four-poster rooms, or one with a free-standing bath. The communal areas are charming, decorated with antiques, and the fine dining restaurant operates in the original, wood-panelled dining room.

For Families

• The Plough at Scalby is a cosy inn on a picturesque stretch of the Yorkshire coast, with accommodation that includes spacious cottages as well as rooms and suites above the pub and restaurant. The rooms in the inn are decorated in country-chic style with cosy, heather-coloured rugs, four-poster beds and stand-alone baths; the similarly smart self catering cottages sleep between four and eight and are ideal for families or groups. The pub and restaurant offer classic pub fare with a friendly atmosphere.

For Great Value

• Bike & Boot is a fun-feeling contemporary hotel overlooking South Bay. Expect Scandi style blond furnishings and contemporary art work with a cosy, friendly feel. They have a place for your bike, your surfboard, your muddy boots, and your dog, and they’re all about helping you find the local outdoor adventure to suit you. Great for families too.

Best B&Bs

• Tall Storeys is a charmingly chintzy, seven room B&B within walking distance of many of Scarborough’s highlights. The rooms are spread over several floors, and are decorated with antiques and original features, including ornate fireplaces and four-poster beds. Not one for minimalists!

Prefer a Private Apartment or Cottage?

• If you'd prefer the privacy of a self-catering option then browse through the wide variety available online with our partner, Booking.com.

Travel Information

• Scarborough has great rail links. It’s connected to York, Manchester, and Leeds by the TransPennine Express, you can get direct trains from both Newcastle and Birmingham, and the journey from London takes under three hours, when you travel from King Cross, via York. Alternatively you might want to fly in to Leeds Bradford Airport or Teesside International Airport, both are about an hour and a half away by car or taxi, or two and a half hours by public transport. You could also try Manchester Airport, two hours by car, and three and a half by train.
• If you want to hire a car we recommend you visit our online partner, Rentalcars.
• Scarborough’s weather is a touch milder than most of Yorkshire, with temperatures averaging around 20ºC during the summer months. Winters are cool and moist, with averages of around 7ºC, and plenty of atmospheric fog. Spring is a pretty time to visit if you like sunshine, wildflowers, windy walks and not too many people around, but the sea is very cold!

Still not sure where to stay?

• Expand your search to include all of the best places to stay in Yorkshire or the best accommodation for the North York Moors National Park
• Consider one of Scarborough’s neighbours: Whitby or even inland York
• Refine your search by the type of accommodation you’re looking for and consider our Gurus' recommendations for the best hotels on the Yorkshire coast, the best pubs-with-rooms in Yorkshire or the best hotel in the Yorkshire countryside
• Or you could contact one of our friendly Gurus for personalised advice.