Hotel List, Best of South England 4/17- updated with some reviews

I am always curious about the hotels utilized by RS tours. Maybe it's because most other tour companies disclose their hotels ("or similar").

Looking forward to your trip report!

Have a wonderful time on your trip Carol, I too, await your TR with anticipation!

It’s always great to have a list of what might be the tour hotels on a given tour. It does seem like it can change from one departure to the next, which is probably why they don’t publish a list ahead of time.

I enjoyed this tour in 2017 and The Three Crowns in Chagford was my favorite hotel of the tour. Absolutely the best breakfast and in particular the best porridge I’ve ever eaten. Enjoy!

Thank you Carol, I’m always interested in the hotels too! I hope you have a wonderful trip!
Lisa

I will be getting my list next week since my tour is a week after yours. A friend took this tour last year and the hotel in Mawgan Porth was a different one.

I suppose you also have your tour roster- I wonder how many people?

A friend took this tour last year and the hotel in Mawgan Porth was a different one.

Last year at least some of the tours went to Housel Bay instead of Mawgan Porth

My hotel list for this tour shows the same hotels for the April 24 itinerary! I’m really excited.

As this is my 9th tour, I’ve learned to check my tour account a few days in advance of the written date RS gives us. Voila! It was there this morning.

Tour composition: 8 couples and 7 singles. 23 total. I know at least 1 person is friends with 2 ladies (mother and daughter) because we communicated via private message on this forum.

I know this is going to be another fantastic experience, can’t wait!

Carol, thank you so much for starting this thread. I have never understood why the RS hotel lists are kept such a mystery. Most tour companies list hotels ahead of time with the disclaimer “ …or similar”. Since I consider the hotels the weak link of the RS model, it is always helpful to have some idea of what to expect. I look them up on TripAdvisor and scour traveler photos. I also read the reviews there, and they are often full of suggestions for restaurants close by, transport, etc.

We are on this tour in September, and will eagerly be looking forward to reading your ( and others) tour reports.

Thank you for this information as my husband and I will be on the May 1 Tour .Getting excited to learn as much as we can about the upcoming tour!

l

The Henrietta House is just around the corner from our AirBnB on Great Pultney St. Looks like a great location

Thank you Carol! My husband and I will be on the May 29th tour. Our first RS tour and we are excited!

Just saw the May 1 Hotel list for this tour
Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, Canterbury
The Three Crowns, Chagford
Bedruthan Hotel, Mawgan Porth
Henrietta House, Bath
Five nights scheduled for the Three Crowns.
We have 24 travelers on this roster for the tour.

@catnay1 - Surely they are not skipping Salisbury?

Salisbury is on the itinerary and it also says we will be sleeping in Salisbury.We will be staying at The Three Crowns in Chagford. Maybe it has something to do with coronation week lodging availability or something else?

Thanks, Carol - I'm enjoying the list of hotels from both you and catnayl and I've never been on a tour (yet). :) I'm sure you will have a wonderful trip and I really look forward to reading a trip report!

I’m on the April 24-May 6 tour and our hotel list is the same!
Can’t wait. Too bad I won’t get to meet any of you but we can share our experiences on the forum.

I’m on the May 15th tour, and still waiting for the list. I’m really excited about this trip!

Checked on the hotel list yesterday for the Southern England tour . The May 1 tour that had four hotels originally now have Deans Place in Afristan and Rose and Crown in Salisbury included. Excited to be staying in these towns.

@catnay1 - The Rose and Crown had the most spectacular breakfast buffet of any of the hotels on this tour. It was pre-covid so not sure what it's like now but even if you are not a breakfast eater you should go, hahaha!!

I'll add another positive review here for the Rose and Crown hotel in Salisbury. Lovely old hotel beside the river. Comfy rooms, great breakfast, as Pam said. The view across the river and the water meadows of the spire of Salisbury Cathedral is lovely.
We have stayed here several times on our own, but have not been on the RS Southern England tour. We would be staying there again in May, except that my husband is having some medical issues, so our trip is cancelled.
It's an interesting walk from the Rose and Crown hotel to Salisbury Cathedral. Up the street, across an old bridge, up a quiet small street with lovely houses and gardens, then through the grounds of the cathedral close. Ancient buildings all around.

The Rose and Crown has several rooms that require one to go up or down a staircase to get to them.
They have a couple of rooms that are on the hallway between the lobby and the other rooms.
For anyone who wants to avoid the staircases, you may want to tell your RS guide ahead of time that you need one of the rooms on the straight and level hallway on the first floor.
These you just walk straight into from the hallway. No stairs. Best for anyone with leg, knee, or balance issues.

you need one of the rooms on the straight and level hallway on the first floor.

Remember, the "first floor" in the UK is the same as the "second floor" in the U.S.

It may be better to ask for a "ground floor" room.

Frank II, thanks.

Henrietta House, Bath, is a Radisson; just remodeled within the last two years I believe.
So perhaps it has new, comfy beds.
I have not stayed there. I was just curious about it and looked at Trip Advisor.

Thank you all for the hotel and food information. Helps so much to hear from others that have visited Southern England!

Henrietta House, Bath, is a Radisson; just remodeled within the last two years I believe.

It is actually two hotels now. After Radisson bought the original Henrietta House they also bought the hotel two doors down and did some remodeling on the original.

Update:
I’ve stayed at the first three hotels now and here is some more information.

Canterbury Cathedral Lodge: cost for a taxi from train station to hotel was just under 7 pounds. Lovely hotel in fabulous location. Mini fridges in room and an amazing (but slow) cook to order breakfast. This hotel was definitely a winner.

Dean’s Place Alfriston: A notable hotel for all the wrong reasons…..Our guide let us know before arrival that Alfriston was picked simply because we needed a night somewhere along our journey from Canterbury to Salisbury. Parts of the hotel are very historic which originally thrilled many of my tour mates until they read the notices in their rooms to be sure not to drink any of the water. The other rooms were extremely dated and electric outlets hard to find. It was one night, we did fine, but it was not a hotel I would choose to go back to.

Rose and Crown, Salisbury. The rooms are spacious with absolutely stunning views of the river (Avon) and the Cathedral beyond. Terraces spread out along the riverside. This hotel does quite a big business in weddings. There were none the weekend were here, but reports were that those can get a bit noisy sometimes. Buffet was quite average, but fine. It is a lovely walk to the cathedral and into Central Salisbury. I would definitely stay here again.

Hair dryer report: all have hair dryers so far

It is really good to have news "from the front".

Thanks (I'll skip number 2 I think)

Carol , thank you so much for the updates ; especially those who will be following on this tour soon.
How has the weather faired for you so far on your tour?
Any places that you enjoyed dining at ?

Weather has been great. I don’t do fancy dining when it is just a meal on my own so I am the wrong person to ask about restaurants. I had a roll, cheese, and some carrot sticks from Tesco as a very satisfactory dinner tonight and a pasty from the Cornish Bakery for lunch……

I’m not looking forward to the hotel in Alfriston. My tour begins tomorrow. Canterbury Lodge Hotel is lovely!

Location, location, location is the Rick Steves mantra so I can’t help but wonder how they got it so wrong with choosing the Bedruthan Hotel as a tour hotel !!

Located on a steep hillside above a lovely cove, it would be a fine location for someone traveling with their own car who could use that transport to go to other interesting locations. We, however are traveling by tour bus……..

If one musters up the energy to walk down the steep hillside, you come to a nice beach and 1 shop and 3 cafes. That is all that is in walking distance for those not prepared to spend their free time doing coastal walks up and down headlands.

The hotel itself is fine. Rooms are a bit compact and I felt like I was walking into a cruise ship cabin initially. They are clean and comfortable. Rick Steves guests do not have view rooms assigned to them, but the view from the breakfast room/restaurant is lovely. There is a mini-fridge in each room and the hotel cafe has higher prices ($30 for a hamburger with fries). The cafe is really the only choice nearby. The hotel does boast a small laundry room with pay washers/dryers. A very generous continental breakfast is offered and if you desire hot food there is a 6£ up charge.

Our guide told us to purchase anything we needed in the stops before we arrived and plans for the bus to have a stop at a grocery today while we are out since this location is so isolated.

Really, the only strong negative about this hotel is the isolated location for those without personal transportation. On a bus tour that matters.

The tour itself is wonderful. Last evening we had a delightful time at a group pub dinner where we had traditional fish and chips and were entertained by a local men’s singing group singing traditional Cornish songs and sea shanties. We did have to drive about 30 minutes away from our hotel to get there…..

I was really surprised to see the Bedruthan hotel on this list for the reasons you mention. It used to be marketed as a family friendly hotel with a creche and kids activities but it seems they’ve changed focus. I wonder if it’s gearing up for a big refit. It used to be fairly upmarket/expensive when it was trying to attract a well heeled family crowd but the building is like a bunker and works against them I feel.

Oh no!
I had almost exactly the same complaints about the tour hotel in Cornwall last spring (Housel Bay Hotel), and was happy to see they were using a different one this year. This one actually sounds worse. I appreciate a lovely location, but it's not everything.

It will be difficult for them to find the right type of accommodation in Cornwall. The towns are small so don’t have a lot of big hotels, and basically anywhere nice in Cornwall is very expensive.

Hello. I am going on Cornwall tour beg. first week in May. It's my first time. Question... does it make more sense to wear my puffer 3/4 jacker or short puffer jacket? i'll take one or the other. Thank you!

I don’t know how cold you run, but by May I am only in short jackets and bigger coats have been put away. Make sure you have a waterproof layer!

Most people on our tour wear layers most of the day. A shorter puffy jacket with a waterproof jacket you can put over it should be fine. Be prepared for some walks on the moors where there is no trail and you are walking cross country. There have been at least three times so far I have been quite glad I brought my walking poles with me.

I'm following and enjoying your thread.
Sorry to hear the bad news about your present hotel!
Wondering.....before this, did you stay at The Three Crowns, Chagford?
It's on your list, and I wondered if you had a good or a bad review of it.

The good news for you is that your next hotel, Henrietta House, Bath, should be good. It's a Radisson (in a historic townhouse) and recently remodeled and furnished with new beds. It's just a couple of blocks from Bath Abbey and some excellent restaurants. Here's hoping it will be a good experience for you.

I had almost exactly the same complaints about the tour hotel in Cornwall last spring (Housel Bay Hotel)

We loved the Housel Bay Hotel last summer. This stretch of the trip takes you to Cornwall and stays on the coast, so I think the options are somewhat limited in terms of towns. There wasn't much in the village near Housel Bay but we enjoyed sitting on the lawn and taking in the sea view at the end of the 2 nites we stayed there. If we're ever in this part of England again I would go back there.

@Rebecca.
The Three Crowns was a fine hotel. Nice rooms and staff. Easy to explore the village.

I don’t want to give the impression that the Bedruthan is a bad hotel. It just has a less than desirable location for a bus tour group. Our guide rose to the challenge today and added a whole other group activity to the tour. We were able to spend time in a location that wasn’t on the itinerary. The sting of not really having anywhere else you can go in the evening is far less when you have a full and satisfying day.

Henrietta House- Bath

This hotel has location down well. Central Bath is just a very short walk away. The rooms vary quite a bit, but some do not have closets or chairs and the space in the room was the smallest yet. The rooms are updated, but I am sure they would be quite warm during the summer, especially on the servant level rooms (third floor). The rooms have a bed, a mini-fridge, a kettle, TV, and a hair dryer. (All hotels on this tour have hair dryers).

My first room had an added bonus of a bug crawling across the bed. I had not unpacked yet, took a picture of my roommate, and headed straight to reception. Our guide was there and made sure I had a new room assigned within seconds 2 floors away. She came and helped me move my luggage and we inspected the new room for signs of bugs, none seen.

I had asked at reception if I could have a luggage rack for my room earlier. I’m packing for my flight home tomorrow and I wanted someplace to put my suitcase. I was told by reception that this hotel doesn’t have luggage racks. Ok, if they don’t have them, what can they do? Imagine my happy surprise to enter my new room and discover a luggage rack……. So far, the management of this hotel has not impressed me in a positive way. They have luggage racks, they just didn’t want to be bothered.

Hi Carol.... wanted to just add i'm going on the same trip as you. It is my first tour and i'm
doing my best to prepare appropriately. See you soon!

Carol Now, I agree about the staff at Henrietta House. None were friendly or even smiled. But, worse than that they had 2 tours arriving that evening and when I arrived the lobby was already crowded with people and luggage at around 1pm. They were telling everyone they would not be checked in until 3pm. The one good side was all of us crowded into the small lobby area had an early chance to get to know one another. The location was good. My room was small with no chair, but the bathroom was probably the best until we got to the Mayfair in London. My biggest problem with the room was the window shutters already had slats missing, in some place more than one together which meant I had to dress in the bathroom or turn all the lights out before I got ready for bed. Not a big issue, but I felt it told something about how maintenance was prioritized.

Thanks for the update on the hotels. I appreciate the fact that you are honest in your reporting—if there is something you don’t like, you tell us.

Thanks for posting. I'm enjoying your hotel reviews almost as much as your trip report!