"Wicked beach, Dad!'
Yes, you can take the kids to the seaside this year - and
it needn't cost oceans of cash.
Vincent Crump finds the very best-value family B&Bs
School summer holidays. The sun is big in the sky, elastic
days stretch on for ever, and it’s your time-honoured
parental duty to give the children a bucket-and-spade break
at the beach. But how should you set about this? Even low-star
hotels seem to charge the earth in high season. Cottage rental
is all very well, but it’s usually a full week or nothing
in summer — and anyway, this is supposed to be a holiday
for you, too. Suppose you don’t want to spend every
morning making their beds and their breakfasts?
These days, there is an affordable alternative — smart,
even sassy B&Bs and guesthouses that have woken up to
the renaissance in the British seaside and our clamour for
short-break sun. These are places that serve up a proper family
welcome in spotlessly simple lodgings — and without
a flannelette sheet or fire-breathing landlady in sight.
We’ve found 10 stays in Britain’s best beach
hot spots, all for about £100 a night for a family of
four. In August. And if that’s still too expensive,
we’ve thrown in some snazzy seaside hostelling options,
too.
Unless stated, all prices are per night in shared ensuite
rooms in August, and include breakfast. Youth-hostel prices
are for YHA members; add £3 per adult, £1.50 for
under-18s for non-members
NEWLANDS OF SOUTHWOLD
Southwold, Suffolk
“It wouldn’t be the same without children staying
here: they bring the place alive.” So says Penny Ball,
all-round force of nature and mastermind of Southwold’s
best-value family B&B. Penny has taken a rambling suburban
house 15 minutes’ walk from the promenade and bolted
on four spotlessly simple suites in a garden annexe —
a bit granny-flattish from the outside, but with microwaves,
fridges and complimentary cots for babies, they are spot-on
for young families.
Penny’s a mad-keen gardener, and in the morning there
are both cornflakes and fishflakes for the little ones, so
they can serve breakfast to the residents of the garden pond.
But Newlands’ clinching attraction is the heated indoor
pool, which means your water babies will get to splash even
if it’s sleeting.
At the beach: with its retro Victorian pier, Punch &
Judy shows and Electric Picture Palace, Southwold is old-fashioned
to the point of haughtiness. Your children won’t notice
this. They’ll be too busy pootling on the safely shelving
beach beside the pier, where sand fights gamely against shingle
and there’s a dedicated zone for windsurfers and waterskiers.
The Southwold Denes stretch is quieter, while the wildlife
park at nearby Kessingland (www.africa-alive.co.uk) makes
a stirring afternoon safari.
Details: family rooms sleep three to five, from £85
for two adults, plus £15 for under-10s, £20 for
older ones; 01502 722164,
www.newlandsofsouthwold.co.uk.
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