Alexandra Hotel and Restaurant

About Alexandra Hotel and Restaurant

The Alexandra stands on Pound Street on the hillside above Lyme Regis, with lawns dropping away towards the Cobb and Lyme Bay beyond. The house was built in 1735 for the Dowager Countess Poulett and became a hotel in 1901; it has been independently and family owned for decades, which shows in the way it is run. Inside it is comfortable and traditional rather than fashionable, with a bright lounge and a terrace that fills up whenever the weather allows.

There are 25 bedrooms, no two quite alike, split between the original house and later additions. The best have large sash windows framing the sea view and the gardens; smaller garden-side and courtyard rooms cost less and are a sensible choice if you plan to be out all day. Furnishings are classic, with good beds, and several rooms suit families.

The restaurant looks straight out over the bay and uses West Dorset and Lyme Bay produce, with plenty of fish and shellfish landed nearby. Cream teas on the lawn are something of a ritual in summer. Other facilities are modest but useful: a small gym, a treatment room, free parking and gardens big enough to sit in without hearing anyone else.

The location is the main draw. It is a five-minute walk downhill into town, to the beach, the Cobb and the fossil-hunting stretches towards Charmouth, though the return climb is steep. The South West Coast Path passes close by. The hotel suits couples and older visitors who want a calm, well-run seaside base with a proper dining room, and walkers who value a hot bath and a view at the end of the day.