The Royal Hotel can host weddings of up to 150 guests at dinner, ceremonies of up to 120, smaller celebrations of 40, as well as conferences, meetings and exclusive hire of the entire hotel and grounds. It is a 51-bedroom hotel in Ventnor, on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, with landscaped subtropical gardens and a restaurant awarded two AA Rosettes.
Seminars and company events
The hotel sells conferences and meetings in its function rooms, with high-speed wifi and catering from its own kitchen. Because the bedrooms, the restaurant and the meeting rooms are under one roof, a company can run a residential meeting of one or two days without transfers, and finish with dinner in the Geranium Restaurant. For a larger program, the whole hotel and its grounds can be booked for exclusive use. Dinners, coach groups and memorial gatherings are also part of the events offer.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are a core part of the business, with an events manager who plans each one with the couple. The Geranium Restaurant takes up to 120 guests for a ceremony and up to 150 for the wedding breakfast, and its French doors open onto a terrace and the gardens for drinks and photographs. The Albert Room suits smaller weddings, with up to 40 guests for both the ceremony and the reception, and also opens onto the gardens. Exclusive-use packages can be arranged for couples who want the hotel to themselves.
Rooms and capacities
The Geranium Restaurant is the largest room: 150 seated for dinner and 120 for a ceremony only. The Albert Room takes 40. Layouts for conferences and meetings are agreed with the events team.
Accommodation
The hotel has 51 bedrooms, in Classic, Deluxe, Premier and Family categories, with dog-friendly rooms as well. This allows a wedding party or a conference group to stay on site, and exclusive hire covers every room.
Catering
Catering is in-house. The Geranium Restaurant, led by head chef Tom Axford, holds two AA Rosettes and has won the Beautiful South award four times. It cooks with seasonal produce from the island and serves lunch, dinner, a Sunday roast and afternoon tea, seven days a week. Wedding and event menus come from the same kitchen.
History and setting
The hotel's afternoon tea is said to have been enjoyed by Queen Victoria, who spent long periods at Osborne House on the island. The building stands in its own subtropical gardens in Ventnor, a Victorian seaside town known for its mild climate and terraced streets above the sea.
Getting there
The Isle of Wight is reached by ferry or hovercraft from Portsmouth, Southampton and Lymington. From the ferry terminals, Ventnor is a drive across the island, and the nearest rail station is Shanklin, on the Island Line from Ryde Pier Head.
