BBC Gardeners’ World star Alan Titchmarsh owns an opulent second dwelling with a beachfront location within the coronary heart of the Isle of Wight’s idyllic Cowes – and whereas he is promoting his lavish Hampshire farmhouse to downsize, it is thought that he will not be surrendering his beloved bolthole in Cowes. It is the identical location liked by Princes William and Harry, who famously went yacht racing and nightlife-hunting there to rejoice their cousin Peter Phillip’s lavish stag do.
Because the princes know all too effectively, each August it performs host to Cowes Week, one of many oldest and most fabled regattas on this planet. Subsequent yr, it’s going to rejoice its two hundredth anniversary, however I believed I would pay the well-known seaside city a go to forward of these crowds, and discover out precisely what’s so irresistible about it. I checked into the budget-friendly New Holmwood Resort, which is Greatest Western-branded and has a surprising seaside location, whereas these searching for extra of a B&B vibe would love the family-run Villa Rothsay, the place sunsets from the balconies of the Victorian constructing can function each Solent views and an enormous British pleasure flag waving within the breeze.
Unsurprisingly, there is no scarcity of up-market eateries, however the multi-award profitable Asian fusion restaurant Smoking Lobster is one that really lives as much as the hype. After a seafront stroll alongside the promenade to Cowes Excessive Avenue, I devoured the menu.
Though I may eat my complete physique weight in melt-in-the-mouth tempura prawns, there are lots of different menu objects to take pleasure in too, with many diners choosing a tapas-style menu with as much as six small plates tp share between two folks.
The yuzu miso black cod with pickled rice and locally-caught crab didn’t disappoint, whereas one other robust favorite was the Valrhona darkish chocolate mousse with hazelnut ice-cream.
There’s additionally one other department of Smoking Lobster on the opposite facet of the island, on the Ventnor esplanade and it is even been voted the island’s finest restaurant two years operating. If, like Titchmarsh and myself, you’re keen on Asian fusion meals, you will discover True Meals Kitchen on Ventnor Excessive Avenue equally irresistible.
I had one of the best spicy Mai Tai cocktail of my life right here, which was billed as having an added Thai-inspired twist – and the glowing burn in your stomach afterwards would make an ideal winter hotter for anybody visiting within the Christmas season.
The blue cheese ice-cream shall be an acquired style and, like Marmite, you’ll both find it irresistible or hate it, however no-one may fail to fall for the chocolate fondant with caramel, candied hazelnuts and raspberry ripple ice-cream.
A couple of doorways down on the identical road is TV chef Tom Kerridge’s favorite, Stripped Brasserie; Tom visited final yr shortly after the grand opening and praised the delicious regionally sourced substances, whereas the Mediterranean and Romanian-inspired dishes had his seal of approval.
TripAdvisor reviewers rated the venue the No. 1 romantic restaurant for 2025 – and, having checked it out myself, I can verify it’s bursting with recent flavours.
If staying in a single day on this a part of city, one of the best resort inside strolling distance of the meals scene can be The Wellington. Amy Winehouse stayed simply two years earlier than her dying when she headlined at Bestival (held on the Isle of Wight in these days).
Though experiences counsel she was dramatically smuggled out of the resort in a cover the subsequent morning, a bit of worse for put on, the world is famed for having the cleanest air within the nation, so the troubled songstress could have discovered respite from her creating emphysema there.
In the meantime, the resort itself has steps main instantly onto the seashore, whereas all rooms have gorgeous sea views – and a few boast bath-tubs in the lounge.
It isn’t the one facet of city that celebrities have liked, both – in Shanklin, the clifftop Haven Corridor Resort, with its award-winning panorama gardens that proprietor David Barratt proudly declares are one of the best on the island, has been a favorite of Colin Firth.
The BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winner has tried out quite a few rooms throughout the property, however David tells me the Victoria and Albert room is his final favorite; the whole lot in it, from the chaise longue to the chandelier jogs my memory of the royal rooms in close by Osborne Home, the place the late Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had their most prized vacation dwelling in real-life.
Whereas guests to the royal home can trek right down to the non-public seashore they owned, the seaside views on the two-acre Haven Corridor are simply as gorgeous, and may be seen from the bedrooms, alongside flower-filled gardens in many alternative hues.
There is a heated pool, a tennis courtroom and a Victorian model gazebo on the spacious two-acre grounds, making it maybe one of the best lodging possibility on all the island.
For these on a extra modest finances, the close by Clifton Resort – a family-run Victorian mansion on a cliff-top – is an uplifting seaside possibility too.
Whether or not it is following within the footsteps of the royals on the Cowes regatta that captures your coronary heart, visiting English Heritage sights like Osborne Home and Carisbrooke Citadel, or taking a chairlift journey right down to the seashore on the well-known Needles Landmark Attraction, there is a nook that is obtained you coated – and it is no wrestle to see why Alan Titchmarsh selected to make this charming island his second dwelling.
