The Chestnuts B&B Shanklin, Isle of Wight (Hotel Review)

I stayed 5 nights at The Chestnuts, a bed and breakfast in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight. I came just before the busy season (May 2022) so I got a great deal, and decided to stay longer than I might’ve otherwise.

The Chestnuts is in the southern part of IoW and very close to the beach, but I was more tempted by the fact that it’s a bed and breakfast actually run by a family, which is fairly unusual in America. At the time, this was early on in my travels and finding homestays and other cozy accommodation was still new to me!

This is a review of my stay at The Chestnuts, 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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The Chestnuts (Shanklin, Isle of Wight)

Quick Info

To get down to Shanklin, you can either book a taxi, rent a car, or do like I did and take the public bus. If you’re planning on doing that, then taking the ferry to Cowes or Ryde will be easier since the bus stations are closer to the ferry terminal.

There’s a few routes that’ll take you down to Shanklin, including a seasonal bus that runs during the summer months only. Whichever way you take, it’ll be about a 1.5 hour transit time.

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.

🛳️Coming to Southampton on a cruise? Book a private full-day tour of the Isle of Wight including Osbourne House, the primate rescue center, Carisbrooke Castle and the model village in Godshill.

One of the nice things about bed and breakfasts in particular is how involved the owners are in running the place and interacting with guests. The Chestnuts’ owners know heaps about Isle of Wight, including how to navigate the bus schedules, and they were very friendly without being overbearing. It was nice to have quick conversations in the morning and say hello when coming back after a day of sightseeing.

My Room

I booked a single room which came with an ensuite, a TV, hot water kettle/coffee bar, wifi and a heater. It was a tiny room but perfectly fine for one person. It looked like it’d just been renovated so it was fresh and clean.

I visited the Isle of Wight in April and for some reason I was absolutely freezing– I guess it really doesn’t get warm until June or later– so I actually did use that radiator quite a bit.

Standard comfortable bed and pillows, though of course it’s a little difficult to get used to the UK single mattress size. It’s even narrower than a US twin mattress!

Very nice shower with comfortable hot water and good pressure and decent toilet. As for bathroom amenities, this combo hand/hair/bodywash was attached to the wall as shown in the photo.

I had a garden view room! Not a back alley or side of an industrial building for once! So nice!!

This part of the building only had one other room near it, so I only had to hear one neighbor’s noise instead of the whole building. Fantastic!

Ah, a proper English breakfast! Kudos to B&B owners for shoveling this out day after day; I’d be exhausted by the second day, myself, and probably shut the whole thing down.

Breakfast hours were 8:00 am – 9:00 am and you pre-selected what you wanted on a form the night before. The food was put together once you got to the dining room and the eggs made fresh, so it only took about maybe 5-6 minutes to get. This is also the time when the owner(s) came out and chit chatted a bit about what sightseeing stuff I wanted to do, and then when the food is ready they left me to it which I appreciated because I despise talking over breakfast.

The food was very good, especially the eggs and bacon which were from a local farm.

One thing I especially appreciated was the option to get a takeaway breakfast. Very handy if you want to go out sightseeing super early!

There was a few public spaces for guests to sit. The biggest one was the dining area, which is where breakfast was given. There’s also the back garden (as shown in the photo earlier) and a small sitting area on the porch.

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