Best Western New Holmwood (Cowes, Isle of Wight) Hotel Review

I stayed 3 nights at the Best Western New Holmwood, a fairly big hotel in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is on the east coast of the Isle of Wight and the hotel is placed right at the end very close to the sea. Some great views out there!

This is a review of my stay at the Best Western New Holmwood, plus information about my room, the hotel itself, and other things related to my stay.

Note: I paid for the room myself and have not received compensation from the hotel for writing this review. It’s my own thoughts and experiences and I’ve not been influenced in any way!

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New Holmwood Hotel (Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK)

Quick Info

If you’re coming on the ferry to Cowes then it’s very easy to get to the hotel! It’s about a 15-20 minute walk from the ferry terminal on generally smooth streets (some slight hills).

Coming from somewhere else? Keep reading!

The thing to remember is that all the bus routes basically go in a big circle. Most buses meet up at either Newport, Ryde, or Shanklin. More on Isle of Wight bus lines here.

👉Grab an English Heritage pass and get free entry to over 100 historic sites like Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Carisbrooke Castle and Tintagel Castle.

My Room

I booked a standard room with 1 king bed which came with a TV, wardrobe, desk and hot water kettle with tea/coffee supplies. Also an ensuite!

The actual size of the room felt massive after staying in several smaller ones the previous month. I felt very fancy having such a large room!

Like basically everywhere else in England, the fire doors are very loud and when people go through them they slam closed with a very loud bang. I could definitely hear that in my room, and also people talking at normal volume in the hallway sounded like they were in the room with me. I could also hear other guests in the rooms above me. Unfortunately, this noise was significant enough to bother me during my stay, but luckily it didn’t happen during the night at least.

Well, it’s a Victorian-era building! Mostly those don’t have very good sound-dampening.

A huge bed! Supposedly king size, but it could’ve been a hotel version of a queen. It was NOT comfortable: very firm and unyielding, which isn’t to my taste. I did like the lights on either side though.

Basic bathroom with a big tub, heated towel rack, and individual amenities like shampoo and soap.

I did have an issue with this bathroom where the exhaust fan wasn’t super strong, so the condensation from the shower made EVERYTHING inside the bathroom AND BEDROOM wet. I had to open the window to the outside to let it vent out.

Pretty nice view! My room was on the ground floor and this “garden” is actually on a hill. So my window was actually right at the level of the walkway. Luckily it’s one side of the hotel that isn’t used by guests, so I did see some staff walking along it but otherwise it was very quiet.

Room Tour Video

If you prefer video, here’s a room tour I filmed the day I checked in:

I decided I wanted a decent meal instead of just more Tesco meal deals, so I went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. I actually booked a reservation when I checked in and you can see my little name card on my reserved table! Cute!

I got the pork fillet with mashed potato and cabbage, and a lemon meringue with coffee for dessert. It was VERY good, and not at all as expensive as I thought it might be. The staff were super friendly and kept on top of things, and I even just charged the dinner to my room so I didn’t have to bother getting my credit card out.

There’s quite a few lounges and decks for guests (and people visiting the restaurant) to sit and either read or watch the outside. The interior decor was fun, too: lots of ship models and nautical prints on the walls.

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