Broad Street, Lyme Regis · Hotel
A former 17th-century coaching inn on Lyme Regis high street, a few minutes above the Cobb, with an indoor pool and sea-view rooms.
The Royal Lion occupies a former coaching inn on Broad Street, the steep main road running down through Lyme Regis to the seafront. The frontage is old and the building has grown outwards behind it, so the character varies considerably between the original rooms with beams and sloping floors and the more conventional additions to the rear. It holds a three-star AA rating and is consistently among the better-reviewed hotels in the town.
Rooms range from compact standard doubles to larger family rooms and a handful with sea views and small balconies looking down towards the bay. Furnishings are traditional rather than contemporary. Some rooms are up several flights with no lift access to every floor, which is worth checking when booking if stairs are an issue.
Facilities are unusually good for a town-centre hotel of this size and include a small indoor swimming pool, a sauna and a games room, all of which earn their keep on wet afternoons. There is a bar and restaurant on site, and private parking behind the hotel, which is a genuine advantage in Lyme Regis where public parking is limited and expensive through the summer.
The position suits fossil hunters and coast path walkers. The beach, the Cobb harbour wall and the Lyme Regis Museum are all a short walk downhill, and Charmouth's fossil beaches are a couple of miles east. The walk back up Broad Street is steep enough to be noticeable. Families and couples both use it; expect a busy, traditional seaside-town hotel rather than a quiet retreat, particularly in August.