Braye Beach Hotel, Alderney

A nice place for a quiet getaway with beautiful views of the sea. Amazing dinner. Friendly staff.

Flew in from mainland UK by light sport aircraft for the day. 2 electric pedal bikes got us round the island in a couple of hours finished off with a blow out late lunch at the Braye Beach Hotel. Splendid fish and chips sitting out on the balcony with a view of the bay. Brilliant.

The location of the hotel is absolutely stunning with views over the beach and the ability to sit outside beachside. The location is really spectacular. The staff were so friendly and very helpful which was much appreciated. The reason I have rated down on cleanliness is the toilet and sink in the en-suite were dirty from the last guests so I cleaned this myself before I used the bathroom and there was a repetitive noise that would go off and on in the night in the bedroom (sounded like a ventilation system that wasn’t working properly) which meant I slept terribly. The quality of the breakfast was also not good - I can’t eat egg or dairy and all of the hotels I have stayed in recently have used good quality meats which means I can eat them however here I was informed they contained milk which shows they are more processed products so I had incredibly limited options for breakfast. If you have food allergies you may find you have very little choice at breakfast. It would also be great if the cafe area to get coffee opened before 10am as it’s quite late.

The drinks prices are ridiculous. £56 for a bottle of rose and it came straight from the cellar and warm. We left as every table around us was complaining about the prices and it was just a negative vibe with stressed, over run staff. White wine was £21 per glass. I wouldn’t even pay that at a London rooftop bar. Madness after the take over and not shocking it was half empty on bank holiday weekend. Go elsewhere.

We reserved a table outside with a nice view of the bay. We ordered mushroom soap, crostini with prawns and sea bass. Meal was tasty and staff was very friendly and accommodating. All good so far. As a desert we ordered a cheese selection for 14 GBP excl. 12.5% service tax. Very disappointing. Cheese selection just included a slice of what looked and tasted like plain brie and a piece of blue cheese and some dry toast. No further explanations from the waiter. Not a selection what somebody from France or Netherlands expects. For drinks we asked for the beverage chart and the waiter told us that they don't have one but we can go to the bar and see what is available (?). Although we were suspicious on what they were not transparent about beverage pricing we did not want walk over to the bar and ordered some sparking water and two glasses of house wine. When we asked for the bill we noticed that there was a charge of 32 GPB + 12.5% = 36 GBP for two glasses of house wine (?!). When we complained about the exorbitant price the waiter said this was the normal price for house wine. When we complained to the manager on duty that night he said that in fact it was the cheapest wine you could get. When I told the manager that apparently it was my mistake not to ask for the price of house wine before he said 'yes sir'. The combination of not providing a beverage menu and then being charged this amount feels very unfair and is against everything we consider good hospitality and fair business.

My wife and I visited for a couple of nights however we were unable to get a good nights sleep on the first night due to a very noisy group of medics who took over the restaurant followed by grouping around a fire pit on the beach until the early hours. Just when peace was returning they decided to go for a noisy swim at 01.00am! It was a hot evening so we had to have the room windows open so couldn't shut the noise out. On the plus side we can't rate Lisa highly enough. We had a potential problem obtaining our Alderney Coast Path Challenge Certificate having completed the very enjoyable 10 mile walk and Lisa went above and beyond arranging to have one sent to us as we were unable to collect one from the Tourist Information Center having left Alderney on Sunday. Many thanks again Lisa! The hotel is in a great location and we'd definitely return if we ever visit Alderney again.