Bournemouth's Avalon Beach hotel rated among best in Europe (From Dorset Beaches)

Bournemouth's Avalon Beach hotel rated among best in Europe

8:00am Saturday 23rd January 2010

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THE accolades are rolling in for a small Southbourne hotel.

As well as being voted the eighth best UK hotel in the 2010 Travellers’ Choice Awards, the three-star Avalon Beach has been named Europe’s sixth best family hotel by TripAdvisor reviewers.

I decided to find out the secret behind the Avalon’s success.

When I pulled up outside the Avalon Beach I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. But once I’d stepped through the door I realised this wasn’t just another seaside hotel.

With its understated décor, it looks like an interior designer has just put the final touches to the very comfortable lounge.

Owners Patricia and Paul Martin have thought of everything.

There’s a well-stocked bookcase, free internet access and facilities to make tea and coffee – even chocolate to sprinkle on your cappuccino.

Crisp white linen greets diners whose menu choice includes sea bass fillet, mixed game pie and smoked Scottish salmon.

Classy rooms are spotlessly clean with specially designed mattresses to guarantee a good night’s sleep.

The Martins have had tremendous vision, investing in the hotel trade at a time when many other struggling Bournemouth hoteliers were selling up to developers. The bold move has paid off.

They opened three years ago after transforming the former Willowdene Hotel and a next-door nursing home into a boutique-style haunt as suited to couples as families desperate for a seaside break.

News of the latest recognition for their “labour of love” came through while the couple and their three children were on a skiing holiday in Italy.

Assistant manager Claire Patterson, 24, worked at several four-star hotels before joining the small staff at the 12-bedroom Avalon Beach in June.

She said: “Because of our size we can provide a much more personal service for guests. Our aim is to make their stay as pleasurable as possible.”

Children have their own menus. Guests can use the hotel’s beach hut and there’s a sandpit in the garden as well as an outdoor playroom where children can feed the hotel’s two pet rabbits, Billy and Daz.

Celebrations are on hold until the Martins’ return.

Speaking from Geneva, former quantity surveyor Paul, 47, said the secret of Avalon’s success was simple.

“We know what families want. Seven of our 12 big rooms are family-friendly and we do not increase our prices during the summer holidays.”

Comments in their visitors’ book speak for themselves.

A Shrewsbury couple wrote: “Absolutely lovely, we will return” while Katie, 11, and Elizabeth, six, from Newport, wrote: “We had a great time – we loved the rabbits.”

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