Walking Friends Portsmouth

Annual Walking Holiday

Hambledon Hotel, Shanklin. I.O.W

Another very successful holiday attended by 25 of our members. The hotel specialises in walking holidays called Step by Step but does also cater for family holidays during school breaks. It has been owned by Bill and Jackie Grindley since 2001 and the service they provide is absolutely first class.

Some of our members have been going to this hotel for many years now and eagerly look forward to the next year.  The accommodation is very comfortable with all rooms having en-suite facilities and Jackie provides superb food with plenty of choice.

Being a small hotel there is a limit of 18 people in the hotel rooms but 26 people can be accommodated for meals.  This difference in numbers is overcome by the arrangement Bill has with the Appley Hotel next door. The Appley is happy to provide beds for the ‘extras’ but they are fed and watered by Jackie.

We arrive on Monday and leave on Friday.  Guided walks are provided on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and are led by Bill and local leaders with detailed knowledge of the islands footpaths. Bill provides transport to and from the start and finish points of the walks and also provides first class lunches at a variety of excellent pubs and eating houses.

Each day we walk about 10 miles enjoying the islands spectacular scenery. Bill does not always go on the walk but he always comes out to the lunch venue.  Most people do the full days walk but for various reasons a few return to the hotel after lunch and Bill sorts this out, no problem.

Regular features of the holiday are a light hearted quiz organised by Bill and a visit to the Shanklin Theatre on the last evening for an excellent professional show.  In our experience everybody who attends this holiday agree that Bill and Jackie deserve the consistently high accolades awarded every year by Trip Advisor. Their full bookings throughout the year bear this out, so we always make sure we book early for the following year.

Watch this space for this years report on the I.O.W. holiday