Sandringham Hotel

We booked three nights at the Sandringham Hotel through Booking.com for a family holiday, and it was the worst holiday experience of our lives. Customer service was extremely poor from the start and at times felt outright racist. The hotel was filthy, old and badly in need of renovation. There was no fridge in the room, so we couldn’t safely store or warm food for our young children. When it rained, water poured into our room overnight and soaked all our trainers. Green algae and brown mold spread inside and onto the shoes, which are now ruined, dirty and impossible to clean. There was no air conditioning, and the nights were unbearably hot. The only option they offered was an old, dusty fan that barely worked. Housekeeping was shocking too: during our stay, the bedsheets, pillows and towels were never changed. The whole place felt unclean and unhygienic. It failed on cleanliness, service, maintenance and basic care for guests. I’d never recommend the Sandringham Hotel to anyone. If zero stars were possible, I’d give them. Diabolical, horrific and a complete waste of money. Avoid it at all costs.

The location is great, but the hotel room cleanliness and management’s behaviour were awful. The female owner or manager, whoever she was, was disrespectful and extremely rude. Her attitude was disgusting, and she generally didn’t care about our concerns with the room. A waste of money. Her behaviour ruined my first visit to Isle of Wight.

We came for the IOW Festival, and it was our first time on the island. Before booking, I had some questions and the staff were lovely and helpful on the phone. The gentleman at reception was also lovely and gave us useful information about places to visit and where to park. Everyone was warm and welcoming, and I’ve never had such nice service at a hotel. Even the cleaning staff said hello and asked how our stay was going. They checked in every day to see if we needed anything or wanted the room cleaned, and they did a lovely job. The hotel is right on the beachfront, with a nice bar area to relax in, plus a swimming pool and hot tub. We were the only ones using the pool while we were there, which was lovely.

The beachside location was a real plus, and the free ferry travel helped keep the holiday affordable. We also found the staff very friendly, the hotel clean, the beds comfortable, and the lounge a nice place to spend a relaxed evening. The hot tub was good, but the pool felt nowhere near the stated 28 degrees, more like 2.8. Breakfast cost a lot for what we got, so we walked along the seafront to the Premier Inn and had a much better meal for less. We skipped dinner at the hotel too, since the menu looked limited and pricey.