Bournemouth Carlton Hotel, BW Signature Collection

Enjoyed a lovely long weekend at the Carlton Hotel.
The building is quite grand inside, albeit a little tired. Furnishings very comfortable and in good order. We had a large room with sea view which we enjoyed very much. The room finishing needed a little attention, with some flaky paint and unfinished repairs, but the hotel has recently been taken over and they are making strides to get things up to scratch. The indoor pool was nice. Water was a great temperature but a little shallow at 1.1m
The jewel in the crown was the staff.
Sue - Reception, Alison - Housekeeping, Wayne - Maintenance, Ben - Restaurants all polite, engaging and very helpful.
We will definitely revisit.
Only niggle is the cost of car-park at £20 per 24hrs.

Bournemouth Carlton Hotel, BW Signature Collection
Sea View Double Room
Stayed: Jan 23-24, 2026 | Rating: 1.5/5

Hotel facilities were all closed, room was freezing cold (heaters barely worked—I froze to death while sleeping, shower water was freezing cold with no option for hot water at all, and even the lamp wasn't working), and staff were fine but I didn't feel like it was clean at all.

People in the hotel were kinda racist to foreigners, which soured the vibe. Breakfast was horrible—the coffee machine wasn't working, and options were underwhelming.

Location wasn't too bad (5 minutes from stairs down to the beach on the east side), but everything fun is on the west side. The view from the second floor of the beach was amazing, but that's not enough reason to stay—there's many other hotels that provide the same view.

Overall experience totally not worth £74! Avoid unless you're desperate.

Just back from a 2 night break booked last minute on Secret Escapes. We were a bit concerned by some of the reviews, but we were pleasantly surprised and very satisfied. The only complaint was that we paid slightly more for a sea view ‘suite’. We had room 110, which was large, huge comfy bed, sea view and even a balcony, huge modern en suite BUT just one armchair. It was very comfortable, but it didn’t seem like a suite by my definition. So I asked when I checked out and she said that 110 was actually a ‘superior double’, which I could have booked for slightly less. But for what we paid, £232 for 2 nights DBB, and free parking (normally £20 a night), we didn’t complain. Breakfast was self serve buffet with plenty of choice. Dinner was 2 courses from the set menu, with option of paying extra for some dishes or adding a 3rd course. But a starter and main filled us up, food was delicious with big portions. The hotel seems clean and well maintained, if a little tired in places. All staff were friendly and helpful. The possibly not so good news is that we were told on arrival that, as from about a week ago, it is no longer a Best Western but has been taken over by OYO. It remains to be seen whether they keep it as a hotel or have other plans.

We go mob handed every January. This year just shy of 90 of us......

We stay 2 nights and use one of the reception rooms to have dinner together which all told was very good. Service was excellent, food great and a larger than ever breakfast really made for a wonderful family gathering.

With talk of the Hotel being sold for events be a real shame to have to find another venue as this really does now tick all the boxes in a lovely location for our annual walk to Sand Banks for lunch!

Thanks again to Nicky and all her staff.

This is an old style grand hotel in a convenient location, but is still set in the 1980's 90's.
It really needs a makeover to heating, decor, furnishings, bathrooms etc etc. It must cost a fortune to maintain in its present state.
However I was told it is in the process of being sold to new owners who may have refurbishment in mind
Some examples from my stay...
Water pressure in bathroom varies dramatically
Still asked to book a time for dinner yet the most guests I saw in restaurant at one time was 10.
£10.75 for a large , indistinct, wine and £20 overnight parking maybe south coast expectations but is twice what I pay nearer home.
'Can I have the garlic mushrooms for starter?', .'no sorry , they haven't been delivered today'!!!! No comment.
Chips are the McDs ( where I'd never go) thin chipstick oven type.
Breakfast is normal buffet style and is ample and diverse but quality needs an uplift (certainly when compared to a similar rated hotel I stayed in today) and when it appears there are only 6 guests, is it necessary to still cook and fill every serving tray as this created so much waste.
But over arching all of this, the staff, every member was so friendly and helpful....they made up for a lot

It's my fourth visit as part of a craft weekend. Many parts of the hotel have been refurbished but it still retains a warm oldie worldie feel. My room which was very large with large windows overlooking the sea, was spotless and comfortable. The carpets are thick throughout the hotel and the lounges are light and cozy. The staff are kind, helpful and personable. We ate à la carte one evening and the food was tasty and generously portioned. I ate linguini with peas and asparagus which tasted yummy. The second evening we enjoyed a set dinner and I really enjoyed the hake.

This is the 3rd time we have come to say at The Carlton Hotel and it was just lovely . Our room was spotless and the bed was so comfortable. We had a gorgeous room with a beautiful sea view . We love this hotel and all the staff are so helpful and friendly. We will definitely be booking again . Thank you ☺️

I have just returned from my 3rd New Year’s Eve stay and what can I say it was brilliant yet again.The whole evening was perfect from start to finish the food is excellent and they do so well getting out to 100 + guests .It was nice to see this year Gareth the manager constantly interacting through out the evening with the guests and making sure that the staff all took time out to see in the new year with us all .All the staff make you feel so welcome and take time to talk to you.Our room was perfect and breakfast was perfect too.So well done to Gareth and his team for making sure we had a fab night seeing in 2026.The only negative is the price for parking it would be nice to get discounted rate when staying at hotel

Despite being an elderly solo traveller and and making a very last minute booking, I can't recommend this hotel highly enough. Great location with easy walking or bus to/from the town centre. The large double sea view room was quiet and perfect, the hotel's Christmas atmosphere lovely, the food was out of this world - wide choices, always beautifully prepared and presented and the staff couldn't have been more friendly, efficient and caring. One of my best Christmases ever!

Pre Christmas Break.
Very Enjoyable. Our second visit this year. Sue Receptionist knows her stuff. Very helpful. Excellent upgraded sea view room. Wonderful Christmas Decorations. Good Food. Good Service. Fair Price. Terrific location.
Very, very enjoyable stay. Special treatment being Platinum Members. Complementary Drinks on arrival. Drinks vouchers given, we didn't have our room serviced. Food Restaurant all good, well pleased. 😊 😃

Very impressed service the lady was very plight and smiled every time. And the food was amazing and there was loads to eat.

Was on a coach tour. Room was lovely. Had a problem with a flood in bathroom from shower backing up. The staff were very good and it was soon cleaned up, and everything back to normal. Accidents do happen. Couldn’t fault the service from everyone and will certainly visit again.

Just enjoyed a wonderful Christmas lunch with my group at The Carlton - good food, excellent service, great attention to detail & amazing value. Highly recommended!

Excellent location on the seafront with wonderful views out to sea. The hotel has a very relaxing, elegant environment and has all the amenities you could wish for. The room we had was spacious, comfortable and quiet. Staff are very helpful and polite and couldn't fault the service provided.
Overall very impressed with our stay. The Christmas decorations and arrangement were very eye catching! Very impressed that the hotel has Hypnosis mattresses'!

Just had two wonderful days at the carlton hotel, staff brilliant room spacious and spotless clean,food lovely, reasonably priced, reason for going, went to the pavilion last night to see jools Holland, absolutely fabulous 👌, will definitely,have a visit back

We visited this hotel to use the Crow's Nest Beauty Spa on 8th November 2025. The outside pool had just closed for the winter so that left the indoor pool, gym and sauna for us to use. It was a really pleasant afternoon, the indoor pool is partially inside a conservatory and so was really sunny. The sauna was really hot and we had it pretty much to ourselves. The manager was amazing and couldn't do enough for us - made us feel really welcome. Obviously there are more glamorous and expensive Spas around but for the cost this was well worth a visit. Next time we'll take sports kit and use the gym facilities too.

Afterwards we sat in the hotel bar looking out at the sea with a drink. The bar staff were great and the hotel itself looked clean and well looked after. There's 3 hours free parking which was a pleasant surprise - simply register you car's details inside the hotel.

I had my baby shower on the 2nd of November, and everything was absolutely perfect. The room looked beautiful, and the afternoon tea was delicious — beautifully presented and full of variety. The staff were attentive and welcoming from the moment we arrived until the moment we left, making the whole experience so special and stress-free.

A huge thank you to Nicky, and their amazing team for the outstanding service and warm hospitality. They went above and beyond to make sure everything ran smoothly. We couldn’t have asked for a better celebration — highly recommend!

visited here with my family for one night and i wish we stayed longer! This place is super posh for its cheap price and is well worth visiting. For just 68 quid we got…
A massive room with comfortable beds, decent view next to a quiet road + TWO ARMCHAIRS!!!! NOT JUST ONE BUT TWO!!!!
A bathroom with both a bath & shower + A FRICKING BIDET!!!!!
The most delicious breakfast buffet i have ever had
Free access to both an indoor & outdoor pool, gym and sauna
Incredible service-the staff were so kind to us!
All this i would expect from a hotel that costs at least 250 quid but no! It’s simply one of the best budget hotels i have ever been to!
However, the only reason I’m. Not giving this 5 stars is cause some parts have definitely seen better days. The carpets are fraying in places and the corridor our room was in stank of pee. I feel like this place should have a deep clean, a lick of paint and new carpets before being deserving of 5 stars.
In conclusion, if you are looking for a cheap but high quality hotel, go to the Carlton!

As an Elite rewards member, having stayed at BW hotels for 250 to 300 n8ghts per year, decided to treat to a signature hotel stay. Very Poor experience at a premium hotel.
Stayed first week in October, and got moved to sister hotel, which was almost derelict, as hotel double booked rooms, and gave privilege to a party.
Stayed again end October, and given a very partial sea view room. Heating was not working, but told it was but only comes on 3 hours a day, got moved to different room next morning, to same view, with partial heating, and bathroom very tired, with tepid water for shower. Pool times not open long enough. Very expensive parking.

Visited the hotel for a spa day with my husband. Although the price was cheap, I had expected to at least have the facilities as described on the website. Sadly, there was no jacuzzi (contrary to the two separate signs around the facilities); the sauna was filthy (there was debris on the floor, a paper cup and even an unused cigarette on the bench; the whole place was being painted by a member of staff who had to keep asking guests to be careful of wet paint on walls and moving the chairs around the pools edge to stop towels getting splashed by his paint and the pool had lots of small debris floating in it. The outside pool looked appealing it on a crisp October day was not quite what we were looking for.
Overall the facilities were appalling and definitely not what was advertised. The only saving grace was the massage which made it worth the visit (if not the price).
Disappointed