Is this a country-house hotel or a beach one? Here you get both: a hotel set in 70 acres of land overlooking a private beach. And scrap all notions of Isle of Wight beach boarding houses. Named after the medieval St Helen's Priory and on a site built on by Tudor farmers and Georgian gentry, this is altogether a better class of establishment. You get a feel of it the moment you go through the spectacular stone arched entrance and keep stumbling across it, with old cricket bats and sets of luggage from yesteryear arranged in strategic nooks and crannies. There are open fires, panelled rooms and a fair smattering of beams. Outside lie the joys of a bracing seaside walk and the hotel's nine-hole golf course.

Could I take the children - and the dog? Both are welcome, though pets must stay with their owners in the modern chalet-style cottages which lack the ambience of the main building. The hotel's 18 bedrooms don't match the public areas for luxury and style - think of your granny's furniture and add a chilly draft - but some boast a superb sea view. Room 20 has a definite 'wow factor' with its Chinese/olde worlde décor and stand-alone bath. Elsewhere, the bathrooms are definitely functional rather than luxurious, but then there is the sea and a pool (unheated) outside.

Will they feed us well? The hotel is owned by Andrew Palmer, founder of the New Covent Garden Soup Company, so you can expect a good choice of soups on the menu, but it doesn't end there. You'll struggle to choose from the menu, which includes salmon cooked in mushroom broth and tender swordfish. The chocolate dessert is a challenge for even the most resolute chocaholic, leaving you to flop into the period drawing-room afterwards to recover.

· The Priory Bay Hotel, Priory Drive, Seaview, Isle of Wight (01983 613146) . Prices from £74-£99 in peak season. The table d'hote dinner costs £25.