I recently had the opportunity to travel Sandbanks, a small piece of land that projects out into the English Channel at Poole in Dorset, England. Dubbed as Britain’s “Palm Beach”, this beautiful piece of land is ranked fourth in the world for having the highest land value. The area has some of the most exclusive homesteads in England, while its waters are widely used for water sports, yachting and sailing.

Sandbanks has three hotels, one of which is the Haven Hotel, constructed in 1887. The Haven was built on the site of another hotel called the North Haven Inn. It was the first hotel to be built in the Sandbanks in 1838. It is historically important for being the first hotel to have a wireless transmitter in 1899. Guglielmo Marconi carried out some of his first wireless telegraphy experiments from the Haven, and today, the hotel pays homage to Marconi with its Marconi Lounge, in which photographs and information on these experiments is on display. The Haven was purchased in 1976 by the hotel chain FJB Hotels.

The hotel reminded me of an old-style resort hotel with beautiful furnishings and decor. I thought the history behind the hotel lent it a certain ambience that could not be missed, but having stayed there once, I wouldn’t recommend staying there again.

The room price far exceeds the services that we received there. We had booked a room with two twin beds and when we arrived, we realized that we would have to move the furniture around on our own. The shower in our room didn’t work properly and despite our complaints, it was never fixed and we had cold showers for most of the weekend. The hotel obviously uses its name and place in history to charge outrageous sums of money for meals and snacks. I was quite surprised to see that La Roche restaurant is a critically acclaimed restaurant with two AA red Rosettesa for the sixteenth year in succession. I think the restaurant depends a bit too much on those awards speaking for themselves, as I found the food overpriced and not particularly tasty. Nevertheless, the location is stunning and the beautiful daytime and evening views certainly helped to take the edge off of my disappointment over the quality of the food.

All in all, I would not stay here again. At $160GBP ($252USD) per night, I would rather spend my money elsewhere.