Kemps Country House Bar Restaurant

Although we only had breakfast the food was great Agnes catered to our needs in a very professional and efficient maner

We had a lovely time at Kemps and the owners John Carol made us very welcome, the food was really good and our waitress went the extra mile to get us what we required.......Our compliments to the Chef as his food was really tasty especially the Duck....The breakfast was to die for full English eggs anyway you want them also smoked salmon, kippers etc.... The rooms were very comfortable with flat screen TV. like home from home. The area was lovely especially Lulworth Cove. Great Pub there. As we visited in November the leaves on the trees were turning a rustic brown red was a lovely sight. I recommend a visit to Monkey World very educational.

I stayed here for three nights at the end of October whilst working in the area, I have stayed at the Springfield Hotel and The Countryman as well as the Rembrandt in Weymouth but this is my favourite so far. The only thing lacking is any fitness facilities. The rooms are good, I had a room upstairs which was a good standard and a good size. I had a problem with the shower one morning as another reviewer mentioned, it seems to run out of water. However after a 5 mins it started working again. I'd heard mixed reviews from my colleagues about breakfast service but I found it to be of a high standard although it was half-term so the hotel was quite busy. Smoked salmon and scrambled egg was excellent. I had dinner in the restaurant one evening, the menu is short (not surprisingly for a small hotel), I had salmon which was excellent, plain cooking well executed. The owner was around and was very friendly. I will definitely stay again.

I stayed here with my partner for one night over the Easter bank holiday weekend. We spent the day in Swanage, about 20/25 minutes drive away. The hotel was really easy to find as it's off a main road but despite this, the room was very quiet and you couldn't hear the traffic. The room we were given was on the ground floor and it was HUGE! I've never seen a hotel room so big! The bed was king size, there was a sofa, chairs and TV, and the bathroom was spacious as well. We were also given complimentary mini chocolate eggs with the tea/coffee making facilities as it was Easter I nice little touch that we really appreciated! We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant as we didn't really have the energy to get in the car and find somewhere else to eat. We were seated in the lounge where we were served drinks and ordered food. We found it a little strange to be seated in the lounge until our food was ready but if you had children with you there were games and books for them to use. The food was beautiful and it was a large portion! The bed was comfortable although there was a strange ticking noise that went on through the night. We told the hotel staff in the morning and they were very apologetic and promised to check it after we left. Breakfast was included with our room rate and offered both cooked breakfast and cereal/fruit options. The staff were very accommodating of different dietary requirements. Overall I really enjoyed our stay here and wished it could have been for one night! The room was brilliant and such a good size. The food was excellent as well. The staff were friendly and accommodating although there only seemed to be two people working there so the woman looked a little stressed! This hotel is a good distance from local attractions and would be a good base for visiting Swanage, Corfe Castle and Lulworth Cove.

The good, the bad and the ugly. Lovely bedroom, comfortable bed but pillows like hardboard! shower not working so decided on a bath as arrived soaking wet after being caught in a downpour. It was lunchtime and used the last of the shower gel to make bubbles but realised just before I jumped in that the hot water had run out. Not happy! A light over the mirror in the bathroom would be a big improvement and a towel big enough to go round and cover me! I am not big but they were hand towel size for me. Such a small thing that makes it feel less luxurious and would be cheap to put right. Plenty of drawers and wardrobe space. Good TV channels but volume restricted to quite a low level if there is any other ambient noise from a neighbouring room for example. Still, I really liked the room. The restaurant is a different matter. It is tired and very old fashioned. The windows in the conservatory where I was seated are not double glazed. There was rotten wood in places. Above my head was netting which was grey and in dire need of a wash as it was holding a number of dead flies and other insects (see pictures). The evening menu was very limited and very old fashioned and the breakfast also very out of date nowadays. No good hotel is serving breakfast like that any more and a limited choice of cereal and juice (2) no mineral water or fresh fruit salads or croissants etc, just tinned fruit. No healthy option, no granola, no fat free alternatives or yoghurts that I could see. This is a lovely old house with a newer block of 12 bedrooms on the side of it. Those rooms are bigger. I will stay here again but I will ask for the better room/s and try and get a deal as very expensive for what I got!