The Carlton Hotel has a deserved reputation as one of Shanklin's finest bed and breakfast hotels. Guests enjoy exhilarating sea views, quality standards of service and comfort, delightful home cooked food and the warmest of welcomes. The Carlton Hotel enjoys an ideal location for exploring Shanklin's sandy beaches, the famous esplanade and the charming Shanklin Old Village. For the adventurous, watersports and activity holiday opportunities abound. Also at The Carlton Hotel we have The Deck Tea Gardens located on the clifftop in Shanklin 100yrds from the lift, our award winning gardens are a perfect location to enjoy a spot of lunch with amazing seaviews overlooking the whole of shanklin & Sandown bay. All welcome Food served between 11-3pm
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
The Carlton Hotel is an excellent choice to base yourself in Shanklin and to explore the Isle of Wight. Anne, Bob and all the team are professional, polite, caring and considerate in looking after all their customers no matter if you are staying, dropping in for lunch or a drink. Everyone is welcomed with a smile and outstanding service.
Our party had two rooms both of which were cleaned spotless every day. Our rooms had showers, duvets, tv, coffee / tea / milk and biscuits.
There are hot and cold choices for breakfast, in the dedicated breakfast room, which starts at 8:30am. From cereals, including Kellogg’s Frosties, through to a full English breakfast every meal was cooked extremely well with quality ingredients. All meals were served fresh with a friendly smile by the amazing breakfast team who made sure you started your day fully fuelled.
There is off street parking as well as free on street parking in Park Street immediately outside as well as the surrounding roads. We never had an issue parking.
The is a large open plan area with a bar, tables and chairs as well as comfortable sofas and chairs with more tables for lounging and resting up. There is also a large TV screen to watch the vast selection of terrestrial and subscription channels if you are having a day off from the sun and or sightseeing.
There is a very large decking area with tables, chairs and umbrellas which give stunning views of the sea and passing ships crossing the channel out in the distance. The deck has the sun all day long.
The decking leads down to a large garden with a lawn and well stocked and matured boarders, which has benefited from a lot of hard work and looks simply stunning. Here visitors would have lunch , served till 3pm, and join the residents. The food at lunch is extremely good with generous portions.
At the rear of the garden there is a gate leading to a quiet road which has the entrant 50 meters up the road to a lift that takes you down to the esplanade, sea front, beach, restaurants, bars, attractions, amusements, etc.
Sandown is a two mile flat walk along the esplanade past the beach huts and the town has more shops, bars, restaurants and a pier to explore.
The town of Shanklin is down a hill where a high street with all the usual shops can be found as well as a supermarket (Co Op). Ten minutes in the car away there are Aldi, Lidl’s and a huge Morrisons with a petrol station.
Our stay at The Carlton was peaceful, restful, relaxing and everything was made extremely easy for us to enjoy ourselves by the wonderful team looking after us.
There are very good reasons above and more to say that explains why there were no vacancies when we were there and many returning guests.
Hopefully one day we will join that group.
Well done The Carlton Hotel and thank you for a marvellous holiday.
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip: Visit Osborne House which was Queen Victoria’s holiday home. Book online the day before for the...
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Just returned from a 5 night break at the Carlton Hotel Shanklin . On arrival we were greeted by Anne and Robert the owners Anne showed us around and made us feel very welcome and at home whislt Bob as he prefered to be called took our luggage to our room . This is a family run establisment and nothing was to much trouble in accomadating there guests.Our room had a bay window so we had a lovely veiw of the sea and the gardens. Breakfast was all freshly cookedby Anne . I would recommend this hotel if you need a relaxing break due to its location and beautiful gardens which are maintained to a high standard the lunch time menu was also exceptional and great portion size. We enjoyed our relaxing break so much and being made like it was our own home that we have rebooked a further week in September and look forward to seeing Anne and family again. When you book a stay at the Carlton you also get the option of the Ferry being booked for you at discounted rates which made it so much easier and economical.
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Date of stay: June 2022
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Â Balcony or Double with sea veiw
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This was our second stay this year at the Carlton Hotel Once again nothing was too much for Anne and her family to accommodate us and all the other guests .On this visit we had opted for one of the Balcony rooms wow what a great view over the channel and lovelyl sunsets and sunrise it was worth every penny we paid even other guests we got friendly with wanted to relax on our balcony and came up to take loads of photos. Anne works tiresley to ensure her guests are well catered for and looked after and Bob tends to the gardens to ensure they look emaculate all the time We are already planning to go back next year and look forward to meeting Anne and Family again.
Brian and Chris Carter
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Your adverts mainly focus on the gardens rather than the rooms. Some rooms are shown but these would be the 'better rooms' The awards seen are for the gardens and not the hotel itself. We got addressed on arrival by a male as 'my darlings!' not appropriate!! Breakfast was like an army camp with a hand bell being rung at 08.30hrs, you have until 9am to finish up then they want you gone. On our first morning we were served mouldy toast, we didn't hear a word despite pointing it out, no apology, nothing. While getting ready to go out there was a knock at our room door asking if we will be long as they wanted to clean the room and we were the last one! The room was on the ground floor, the outlook a fencing panel! You could smell mould the minute you walked into the room, this was coming from the bathroom which needed a complete overhaul. The use of objects such as a toilet brush and a loo roll holder to 'hide' bad areas of mould, the shower had very little pressure. The furniture was old and tired. Our kettle leaked, so you ran the risk of being scalded every time you made a cup of tea. Again, despite reporting this, nothing happened equally no apology. We were told on arrival that someone would always be available if needed, except you could never find anyone. In the evening the bar staff were loud and foul mouthed, this went on until well after 2300hrs! The owners daughter was due to get married on the Saturday, family were arriving all through the week, so parking was non-existent, we had to park out on the road. In the morning, after the evenings family gatherings the lounge contained rogue socks, rubbish, juice bottles etc and was a general mess. Maybe you should have closed the hotel to accommodate the family instead of your paying guests! We won't be returning
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Date of stay: July 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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The gardens were lovely, the guest sitting room was nice and big, with tables as well as sofa's and tv, you could eat takeaway in there which was good. But our expensive room was basic and old, the bathroom smelt of damp. The toilet was stained. We left our wet towels on the bathroom floor for changing. We received 1 clean towel the other wet one was hung over rail. I mentioned about an iron and board, Anne said ask me tomorrow at breakfast. As I saw Anne hoovering, I went up and ask about the iron. she stopped and said very abruptly if you need to talk to me ring the bell for staff, even when I apologised, she ignored me. There was a bell rung every morning for breakfast. There wasn't much selection of fruit only grapefruit or prunes for breakfast, everything was brought to you. One morning I had 5 prunes (thats all they gave) and Cereal. I asked for a croissant, the waitress said, I suppose as you didn't have a fry up. I felt uncomfortable there, I definitely wouldn't stay there again and it wasn't worth what it cost. I will definitely go back to Isle of white as it was beautiful and so much to do and see.
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Stay at a different hotel
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The hotel has good points but unfortunately we found the cons outweighed these. Main problem: the shower in the room was dreadful. It was the worst shower we have ever had, and have never been in a hotel with such a poor shower pressure. I understand the water pressure may be low in the area, but it seems like it would be easy to remedy this by getting a plumber or an electric/ power shower. We actually had to resort to calling around the local leisure centres to ask if we could shower there, only to be told the showers were not open, so then we bought large bottles of water from the supermarket and scissors and had to cut the tops off to make buckets, and fill them up just to wash my hair. This is not the quality we would expect from a three star hotel charging £100 per night. We couldn't wait to get home to a good shower and actually left early partly due to this! If you are going to charge £100 per night, you really need to sort the shower out. We noticed another bathroom in the hallway but this was out of order for our stay, so we couldn't try it and see if it was any better. TV also needed tuning but this was easily sorted. On the good side, the tea garden is lovely and really worth a visit whether you are staying at the hotel or not. It is a lovely hidden gem. The staff were very nice and tried to help us and even helped us sort out a different ferry back to Portsmouth, which we are very grateful for. Other good points: hotel has free parking and easy to get to town and to beach, good views from the tea garden, large bedroom and good storage space and big communal lounge if you fancy hanging out there too. Generally quiet at night, although a loud family moved in next door to our room as we were leaving and it's clear the walls might not be thick enough to block out some noise, but I think this is quite standard in most hotels on the island. We did have good nights' sleep and the beds were comfortable. Would not return unless showers were fixed. In case hotel reads this, it would also be nice to have some hand soap in the bathroom too. Breakfast was OK, strange to have someone else pour out your cereal behind closed doors and bring it to you, but I think that's because of covid. Service on second morning was particularly slow but only 1 server and I think she was really busy.
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Date of stay: June 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Avoid room number 9 as shower is not worth using
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The hotel has a good location and a couple of sea view rooms, however it is very dated and I never stayed anywhere where the shower had hardly any pressure. It literally trickled! Having raised it with the landlady was no use, as she clearly did not want to invest in a much needed power shower! Three nights without a satisfactory shower was not what we hoped for when we originally booked this place. We had a sea view room, with very soft twin mattresses, where you can feel the springs! Not a comfortable sleep, I am afraid. Unfortunately the breakfast was very basic in terms of quality and choice. The biggest surprise was when a clanging bell was rung to announce breakfast at 8.30am and you had to be down between 8.30 and 9.00am!! More like a dormitory than a hotel. We will definitely not return and I would not recommend it to anyone who is looking for more than just a good location and a very basic stay.
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Date of stay: June 2022Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Just home from a week stay at the Carlton Hotel. We had stayed at the hotel last year and enjoyed it so much we booked again for this year, and it certainly did not disappoint. We had a sea view room which was very clean and spacious. The hotel has a very good location and not far to walk into Shanklin where you can find many restaurants. Bob, Ann, Leigh and Jay and other members of staff are very friendly and made us feel very welcome. We found that nothing was too much trouble. We thought the breakfast was very good with a good choice of cereals, fruit and cooked options. The gardens are stunning and very well kept. Was a pleasure to sit and relax in the garden.
We think this is a little Gem and would not hesitate to go back.
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Date of stay: July 2022
Value
Rooms
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Visited with family for a few days. On the plus side the hotel and rooms were very clean. The view from the balcony overlooking a well presented garden and the sea were lovely. At breakfast, there was a choice of full cooked English or fish or croissants. I don't eat a full cooked, so one morning after mushrooms and tomatoes, I asked for a croissant. I was told that I either had the cooked or the croissant, so I offered to pay for the croissant. This was refused. Oh dear!!A little more flexibility was needed. I had a single room and when having a shower in the morning to get ready for breakfast, which was from 8.30 til 9am, I was showering at a busy time. The water pressure in my room was low and consequently the shower temperature fluctuated wildly, however the most worrying thing was that it at times, suddenly came through burning hot. There was no cut-out to avoid this happening. I bought this to the attention of the owner, Ann, and when I checked out with her the next day she said that someone had tried it and it was OK. I advised her that it needs to be tested at a busy time, when other residents are showering and that there could be a nasty accident. Anne said she didn't understand or deal with things like plumbing or electrics. I had the impression that this wouldn't get any further attention.
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Date of stay: September 2020
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The Carlton Hotel was a real gem of a hotel, lovely warm welcome by Anne, Bob, Leigh & Jay. We were shown around all the facilities on arrival.
Everything was very clean and really well appointed. Our room was spotlessly clean and very comfortable, plenty of space and a good sized en-suite.
The views from the bar, settee in the lounge, sun drenched deck and garden are breathtaking.
Breakfast was cooked to order and delivered hot and fresh. Lunches in the bar or garden again are all fresh and very tasty.
All staff are very attentive and polite providing exceptional table service and cashless payment accepted for all food and drinks.
Already planning next year's visit.
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Date of stay: July 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Much the same Info here as the other reply, give them a buzz. They have a couple of twin rooms with large sea-view balconies, well worth the little bit extra - and if you're a smoker there's an ash tray on the table outside!
There is some parking (maybe for four cars) but there is on street parking both on the street the hotel is in and in the other side streets. There's no obvious restrictions on on-street parking.
I hope that helps.
There are more places to choose from in the Shanklin area.
LOCATION
United KingdomEnglandIsle of WightShanklin
NUMBER OF ROOMS
11
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