'This city draws me in. I've been visiting here for the better part of four decades now, and I think it's fitting I make it my old age abode.
J.R.R. Tolkien, among the most famous of British authors of all time, had this to say of Bournemouth “ a city that has grown in stature, popularity and standard of living quite significantly in last one century or so. Bournemouth is best known as a sleepy coastal town in South England that presents its visitors with perfect opportunities for tanning, sunbathing and sea-swimming. Since tanning is still something that English people can't get enough of, the touring value of Bournemouth immensely increases in that respect.
Today, Bournemouth is known as a bustling tourist town that has a lot more to offer than just a stretch of beaches. Hotels in Bournemouth, ranging from modest bed and breakfast outfits to opulent luxury establishments, have evolved along with the city itself, and can easily be used to gauge the tourism progress that Bournemouth has made.
Hotels for a Tight Budgeted Tourist
Staying in Bournemouth can be a pretty harrowing experience if you are at a loss in regard with finding a suitably affordable hotel to stay at. Even though there are quite a few Bournemouth hotels that offer nightly accommodations, the price of the overall difficulty of the endeavour goes suddenly higher when you try to book a fully-fledged hotel for a long period. As experienced tourists and travelers know quite well, that it is undue and in a way, unfair to expect top quality accommodation from cheap hotels.
This is, however, not at all to say that you will have to make do with terribly kept places in Bournemouth “ far from it. Most of the hotel establishments in Bournemouth are fairly well-maintained, regardless of the price range they offer. Rudimentary amenities like comfortable linens, television, private parking, complimentary breakfast, high speed internet, doctor on call, free airport pickups and drops, various ticketing arrangements and others are often included in the package of even the cheapest of establishments.
Maximum Comfort and Luxury
Being a famous tourist destination, Bournemouth has many luxury hotel establishments that are quite eager to please their patrons. Green House, Connaught Lodge, Norfolk Royale, Marriott, Hyatt, Carlton, Hallmark are some of the famous luxury Bournemouth hotels that are quite difficult to get a hold of “ especially during peak summer months.
These luxury outfits provide a number of amenities and facilities that other relatively reasonably priced outfits cannot really compete with. From Victorian butler experiences to Edwardian peerage experiences, you can get a taste of traditional English hospitality when you stay at one of these grand luxury establishments.
Keeping in line with the theme, there are many former aristocratic mansions turned into tourist lodges that are worth spending a night or two in.
Boutique and Independent Hotel Options
For tourists who love the feel of being pampered in a hotel along with the feel being at home, there are many boutique and independent establishments in and around Bournemouth that manage to reach closer to the middle ground. These establishments are typically houses turned into lodges and temporary guest houses. They are not only quite pleasant to experience, they are also fairly cheap. Considering these aspects, it wouldn't be an entirely bad idea to lodge with one of such independent or boutique establishments “ particularly if you want to experience the real people of Bournemouth, and you are planning on staying for long.
Bournemouth also has a very unique and special kind of accommodation facility “ summer houses and beach shacks. Available on a nightly basis, these summers houses and shacks can be a great way of staying in the proximity of the Atlantic and just about having a perfect night.
What Should I Know Before Sightseeing in Bournemouth?
Bournemouth's claim to fame is scenic beauty and a peculiar geographical location. Located at the southern tip of England, Bournemouth enjoys unusually warmer climate than most other parts of the country. Along with the climate, Bournemouth also enjoys a very pristine stretch of white sand beaches that are longer than seven miles when measured from end to end.
Bournemouth also happens to be the only place in England that's naturally suitable for water and wave sports like surfing and wave boarding. Bournemouth beaches are usually considered to be very calm and are known to be very friendly towards even the worst of swimmers. The beaches do not have alarming slopes and water levels near the coast are pretty shallow.
Two cathedral churches present in Bournemouth, St. Peter's and St. Stephen's are among the most architecturally accomplished structures in the UK. They are also frequented by thousands of tourists who flock to Bournemouth during summer months.
To summarize this point, the only thing you need to know before sightseeing in Bournemouth is the fact that you will need a lot of sunblock, and suntan!
Transportation in Bournemouth
There was a time in 1940's, when Bournemouth used to be the only international airport on English soil. Today, Bournemouth has lost that status to many of its competitor cities. However, Bournemouth is still well connected by air with most of the major European cities. Domestic air services connect Bournemouth with all major UK cities. Along with air travel, Bournemouth is connected by a network of state and national highways to midlands, east and west. Bournemouth railway station gained prominence during the World War II, and today, is one of the most important southern junctions in England.
Around Bournemouth, transportation is not that much of a problem as an extensive network of local authority run buses make all nearby places easily accessible. If you are staying at a hotel in Bournemouth (cheap hotels withstanding), you can also opt to get private transportation with some mediation from the hotel management.
Thus, it can be inferred that there are quite a few types of hotels in Bournemouth that you can choose from to reach that elusive balance between enjoyment and affordability!