Knoll House Hotel

This is a "marmite" hotel. You either love it or hate it. My family love it. As other reviewers have noted it is old-fashioned, and we enjoy stepping back into a simpler age here.

We came first when the children were very small (3 months, 2 and 4) and it was the first time in 5 years that we had actually really relaxed together over dinner. How fantastically reassuring that the baby listening service included actual people, physically outside the door of our room! We have returned every year since.

Now the kids are 8, 10 and 12 we thought we could holiday somewhere abroad for the money - but no, the kids insisted on Knoll House and they were so right to do so. We have all had such a lovely holiday, truly relaxing without any airport stresses. The kids instantly made friends and disappeared. They reappeared from time to time when they were hungry. We did not look at a television or computer for a week. In this day and age, this is a true privilege.

The food is hearty rather than delicate, which is fine. There is plenty of choice. Think decent pub grub with outstanding desserts in the evening.

If you are looking for a 5 star chain hotel, with soul-less glitzy decor and stylish foyer, cordon bleu food, silver service, wide-screen tv in the room, trouser press and glamorous night life, this is not the place for you.

If you value comfort, outdoor pursuits, stunning location, attentive service, and the opportunity to shed the strains of the 21st century then look no further.

We will be back next year!

Great location and facilities, but overall very disappointing given the price. Spent a week there over summer 2010 - too expensive for what was on offer. Not even any child care!!! Rooms small and noisy, bathrooms even smaller and only a trickle of water from shower. For the money should have gone to Moonfleet Manor or Babington House ... Plentiful food but pretty school dinners standard.

Lovely hotel - great facilities and a perfect location.

Fantastically relaxing, an old fashioned holiday that is child friendly without being child obsessed. We have friends whose family has been coming here for 30 years and I can see why. We're off for the second time this summer and can't wait. The family five offer (designed for those with preschool children) is good value. Our five days felt like a fortnight, so cleverly designed is the boarding-school-ish timetable. The lack of flexibility in mealtimes and the lack of kids' clubs means that it won't appeal to everyone but for us the routine was simultaneously reassuring and liberating. Some people will be horrified by the un-boutiquey decor in the public areas, but the room we were in was clean and tastefully decorated. More M&S than Boden, but that's ok by me.

Pros - Fantastic location, good playground, friendly staff
Cons - Dodgy decor, awful showers

Would you like to take the family on holiday to the 1950's? Then this is ideal! It's a family-run, family-focused hotel set in the most stunning seaside location between woods and one of the UK's most beautiful beaches. We found Knoll House to be traditional in every way, and the service is heart-warming.

Facilities for children are wonderful: impressive adventure playground, indoor playroom, children's dining room (home-made fish pies, jam roly poly, bibs, calpol, steriliers, and will puree anything you like for baby), 24-hour access to a kitchen, and staff look after your little ones for an hour a day while you have lunch, They couldn't wait to play with our little ones and planned games to play with them. They also have an indoor pool, and baby listening in the evenings.

There is a separate adults dining room which helps avoid the feeling that you sometimes get in family places - that the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Adult food is also good, generous portions with some very 1970s dishes offered apparently without tongue-in-cheek.

If you want designer chic don't come here, but for me the renovated bedrooms are charming in an understated quiet-quality-over-flashiness kind of way (the non-renovated rooms are just too elderly-care-home for me). You won't find any toiletries or even a TV in your bedroom, and the bathrooms are small and non luxe.

The Family Five offer (off-peak 5-night full board) is actually good value and we found we really got a proper holiday, as if we had a bit of matron, nanny, maid and cook to look after us. A unique place with a good heart.