The Swanage Haven

About The Swanage Haven

The Swanage Haven is an eight-bedroom boutique bed and breakfast on a residential road about 300 yards from Swanage beach. It takes adults only, which sets the tone: quiet mornings, unhurried breakfasts and a garden that stays peaceful. The house has been awarded five stars by the AA and holds a green tourism accreditation, and the owners run it themselves rather than through staff.

Bedrooms are decorated in a contemporary style with good beds, powerful showers or baths, robes and slippers, and small extras such as fresh milk, homemade biscuits and proper coffee. Room sizes vary from compact doubles to larger rooms with sea glimpses or garden access; the top rooms are worth the difference if you plan to spend time in them. There is a guest lounge with an honesty bar and a garden with a hot tub, plus a small therapy room for massages and treatments.

Breakfast is served in the dining room and uses local suppliers, with a cooked menu alongside pastries, fruit and yoghurt. The hosts know the area well and are useful on walking routes, tide times and where to eat, and they will store bikes and drying gear for guests who have been out on the coast path.

Swanage is a Victorian seaside town at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, with a sandy bay, a pier and a steam railway running up to Corfe Castle. Old Harry Rocks, Durlston Country Park, Studland's beaches and the Purbeck ridge walks are all within a few miles. The Haven suits couples wanting a quiet, well-kept base near the sea, and walkers doing sections of the South West Coast Path who want somewhere comfortable to come back to.