Review of Shell House Bournemouth: luxury self-catering with kids

Five minutes into exploring for our review of Shell House in Bournemouth, my daughter turned to me and asked seriously if the owners might sell for a million pounds – not a bad first reaction to our weekend break, a taste of luxury self-catering in Bournemouth with kids.

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Alas, neither she nor I have a million pounds lying around but fortunately a stay at this five-bedroom house costs a lot less than that – plus you’re only a short stroll from Bournemouth seafront and beach, as well as it being a great base to explore Dorset.

Because this holiday house is a real gem for a family break by the seaside – read on to see my full review of Shell House Bournemouth to discover why.

Shell House Bournemouth review: Vital statistics

Part of the small Beach Hideaways collection, the Shell House is one of two properties offering luxury self-catering in Bournemouth – the other, The Beach House, sleeps up to 20.

The Shell House has five bedrooms and normally sleeps up to 12, although there’s an option to add two extra beds and sleep 14.

There are three bathrooms as well – two en-suite and one family bathroom – plus a toilet downstairs, a small garden area, along with well-equipped kitchen, living room and dining room.

It’s dog-friendly as well as child-friendly, if you want to bring your (well-behaved) four-legged friend.

There’s no parking at the property itself, although there’s a car park a couple of minutes walk away which costs £11.50 per day. You can book in 24-hour slots on Ringgo, and there isn’t a no return policy, so you just need to remember to start a new parking session as soon as the first one runs out.

There is also some on-street parking nearby if you can find a space, but do check the restrictions. Alternatively, Bournemouth station is around 5-10 minutes away by car, with a lot of attractions in walking distance of Shell House.

Shell House Bournemouth: self-catering with kids

The first thing you notice as you walk in to the Shell House is how stylish it is. Everywhere you turn, there’s another eye-catching detail, a luxurious touch, an ornament to covet.

Usually if you book a luxury self-catering property, there’s something I wish I could bring home with me – a piece of art perhaps, or in one case an enormously soft sheepskin rug. I think the Shell House might be the first time where I’ve wished I could packed the entire contents of the house into my suitcase though!

There’s obviously been a huge amount of thought gone into the renovation of this Bournemouth house, from the essentials in the kitchen to the design details in the bedroom, the colour scheme, even the choice of artwork on the walls.

After a two-hour drive from west London, and a short walk from the nearby car park, letting ourselves in had gone without a hitch – the check-in details had been emailed over earlier that day.

But being greeted by a series of welcome treats is always an added bonus – a basket in the kitchen was filled with biscuits, crisps and chocolate, while a bottle of rose prosecco rested in the dining room on a gold octopus holder (which caught my eye just as much as the fizz!)

Tempting though it was to sit straight down in one of the comfy seats, open the prosecco and put my feet up, there was a lot more to explore.

Downstairs, the living room has two huge squashy cream sofas, all dotted with throws and cushions, and a series of little tables tucked in the middle.

As we wandered over to check out the TV and some of the other ornaments on the little tables and walls, we discovered there’s even a small passageway running parallel to the hall which takes you back through to the kitchen.

The two armchairs in the kitchen actually became one of our favourite spots, with the spring sunshine streaming in and a little table next to one of the armchairs for a drink and one of our welcome treats.

The kitchen itself has everything you might need – multiplied by a dozen. Browsing through shelves and cupboards, I also came across a gold cocktail shaker and matching ice bucket, a decorative vase which seemed to have been inspired by octopus tentacles, and some pretty glass plates, for starters.

Quite apart from all the practical stuff, plates, mugs, glasses galore (including for white and red wine, beer, cocktails and who knows what else), saucepans, cutlery, chopping boards, sieves, wooden spoons…

Certainly there was nothing that we needed that we couldn’t find: the fridge had milk and orange juice in too, plus there was tea, sugar and coffee pods for the Lavazza machine, as well as various other odds and ends.

The house is similarly stocked with dishwasher tablets and basic cleaning supplies as well, including binbags and washing up liquid.

The oven had no complicated settings and while the dishwasher was slightly temperamental the first time we used it, even that didn’t cause us any problems.

In fact, there is so much in the kitchen, that I completely failed to spot another cupboard for several hours – opening it, it turned out to contain a dog bowl and treats, various tins and other odds and ends.

Beyond that, the dining room was already set for two, although you could easily fit 12 people on the benches around the table for a big family meal.

The toilet is tucked away at the back, while the doors open onto the little garden, with another table, extra chairs and a barbecue for good weather.

The lawn is astroturf, so you won’t be up to your knees in mud if you’re unlucky enough to be staying after heavy rain either.

By this point, we were already thoroughly won over, before even exploring the bedrooms.

During our stay, the extra bedrooms were locked so I didn’t get to peek inside, but there are two further rooms with king beds (each with space for an additional roll-out bed), and another with king bed and two single bunk beds.

However lovely they are, I still think we came off well, with a four-poster bed and en-suite bathroom in each.

The first had a soft purple colour scheme, as well as plenty of the – by now expected – luxury details, along with seaweed-themed art mirroring some of the pieces on the stairs and in the hallway.

The second, meanwhile, had jungle print art and a green colour theme, with curtains drawn back around the four-poster king size bed.

And, like Goldilocks, I tried both to find out which king size bed was juuuust right. With squashy pillows, and a lovely supportive mattress, I slept beautifully in each.

Both en-suite bathrooms had a rainhead shower over a bath (plus a handheld shower, so it pays to turn the knob the right way unless you want to be unintentionally sprayed when you switch it on!) and some lovely Noble Isle toiletries.

There’s plenty of space for your own toiletries around the sink too – one of my biggest bugbears is when there’s room for a toothbrush and not much else.

Plus a separate family bathroom on the top floor with twin sinks and a walk-in shower, so even if you have more people staying, there shouldn’t be much of a wait in the mornings!

As ever, it’s the little details which set the whole place apart – starfish knobs on the drawers, shells dotted around, seaweed artwork, plants (mostly artificial but the kind which are so convincing, you have to rub the leaves to check).

It’s not hard to see why my daughter fancied owning the Shell House and living here permanently!

So are there any downsides? Quite honestly, not many. You do need to factor in the cost of parking on top of the stay, and if you’re planning a longer visit than our weekend break self-catering in Bournemouth, it’s worth dropping the luggage off by the house if you can.

The walk is only short, but it’s slightly uphill – we had no trouble but only needed to bring enough for a couple of days rather than a fortnight by the sea.

The streets nearby aren’t always the most picturesque part of Bournemouth either, but it’s a trade-off we were happy to make for its convenience.

Only a short walk to the West Cliff zigzag path leading down from the clifftop to the beach, you’ve got seven miles of sand to enjoy, as well as supermarkets and plenty of places to eat within walking distance as well.

You can be at the Bournemouth Oceanarium in less than 15 minutes, as well as the pier, while it’s only around 20 minutes to the Alum Chine tropical gardens in the other direction. If you are driving, you can be at Poole in around 20 minutes too.

On gloriously sunny days, it’s tempting to spend your whole time on the sand or out on the water. But on a cloudy March weekend, I wasn’t sorry to be spending time indoors.

With our fish and chips on some of the decorative plates, a great night’s sleep ahead, and plenty of places to curl up and relax, this particular taste of Bournemouth self-catering with kids is easily one of the most stylish ways to enjoy the seaside.

Book the Shell House: luxury self-catering in Bournemouth

You can book Shell House directly via the Beachhideaways website (as well as the Beach House if you’re looking for somewhere bigger).

The property is also available on other websites including booking.com.

For more ideas of the best things to do in Bournemouth with kids, check out my top picks as well as ideas of things to do in Dorset with kids and ideas for Dorset in the rain with kids

Disclosure: My stay at Shell House Bournemouth was free for the purposes of review – all opinions remain my own (and my daughter’s). This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission

Beach image courtesy of Depositphotos, all other images copyright MummyTravels

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