Set in a 12th Century Norman Manor house in St Martin, Bella Luce Hotel is hidden down a country lane and offers superbly refurbished historic rooms, a stylish outdoor pool, beautiful gardens, and an ESPA spa. It features highly in our best luxury hotels in Guernsey and has some of the best food of any hotel restaurant on this Channel Island.
Why We Love This Hotel
The Bella Luce Hotel in Guernsey is easy to love. It is such a pretty hotel, built out of thick lumps of uneven Guernsey granite, as it was originally a 12th Century Norman Manor house. I can’t think of a more charming and pleasing-looking hotel with its vine-clad exterior and blooming pink Hydrangeas in the driveway. Oh, and did I mention you are a 10-minute walk from the beach?
Location
The hotel is located down a maze of tiny one-way roads to the South of the Island and around 10 minute drive from St Peter Port. As mentioned above, you are located 10 minutes from the beach. The beach is down quite a steep hill and is terribly beautiful in a wild, “Poldark” way. You are also a short walk from some pretty clifftop walks.
Best Time To Visit
The summer months are a popular time to visit Guernsey, and the weather can be a blissful 20-25’C with light breezes, but the bar at Bella Luce Hotel has at least two roaring fires, so it would be the perfect place to cozy up at any time of the year.
How To Get There
The flight is only around 1 hour and 20 minutes from London Gatwick or Heathrow and less from Southampton and Bournemouth airports, or you can take a 3-hour, or so ferry ride on the Condor from Poole (my favorite way to arrive).
Top 10 Best Luxury Hotels In Guernsey
Guernsey is a hidden gem. It is only around 1 hour and 20 minutes from London Gatwick or Heathrow and less from Southampton and Bournemouth airports, or you can take a 3-hour, or so ferry ride on the Condor from Poole (my favorite way to arrive). This island is a time capsule offering an England from Dad's Army with vistas worthy of an Agatha Christie's Marple or Poirot movie at every turn. Guernsey must be on your bucket list, particularly if you have kids and yearn for that perfect Cornish beach. That beach isn't in Cornwall, which is packed full of tourists in the summer.
Style & Character
The interior charm matches the beautiful exterior, with huge open fireplaces and exposed beams all over the place. There are cute unique travel items tastefully dotted around, like historic suitcases and novelty lamps, including a penguin with a hat on and a multicolored dog sitting on the bar. All these kitsch and fun items make you smile as you notice them. The historic flooring is a mix of flagstone, wood, and original exposed tiles, and a whole host of archways and historic passageways are joining the communal rooms.
Service & Facilities
There is plenty to do beyond walking and beaching. Take a bus or a local taxi into St Peter Port, with all its shops and the lovely harbourside. Or simply enjoy the fine dining and relax in the gardens of the Bella Luce Hotel. There are extravagant loungers around the pool if you want to take a dip and don’t fancy walking to the beach, and in the evening, the Bella Luce dining room is absolutely excellent.
The other highlight at the Bella Luce is the ESPA Spa, which is one of my favorite Spa brands and which also supplies delicious amenities in the rooms. This is one of the few spa brands that seem to deliver real results from facials and other treatments. I enjoyed an excellent ESPA facial during my stay, which really plumped up my skin and made me look fresher.
Rooms
Every room and suite at the Bella is unique, having been individually designed and appointed to complement the character of the property. They provide the perfect environment to retreat to for a restful night’s sleep.
We had a Loft Suite, and it was a delightful and peaceful place to relax, with the gentle breeze wafting across the room from the skylight. The bathroom was huge, with a stand-alone bath and walk-in rain shower. The creamy marble tiling and stylish fixtures and fittings were immaculate.
Best Rooms
We stayed in Room 203, one of the Loft Suites, and it was brilliant, with blue-grey walls and carpeting complimenting pretty Delft-blue style curtains. A huge looking glass sat in the corner, straight out of Alice in Wonderland, and there was a writing desk and white flowers in the corner.
Food & Drink
The bar and restaurant are next door to each other with cute historic low ceilings, beams, fireplaces and lots of comfy seating. The bar is the perfect place to while away hours, with sofas around the fire, a stylish bar area, and excellent staff.
The Bella Luce dining room serves fantastic seafood dishes for a surprisingly reasonable price and in a refined setting under the beams. The atmosphere is great, with candles on the tables and excellent food. Head chef Patricio Filipe, who spent four years working for acclaimed chef Mark Hix in the past, sources, forages, and home-smokes the finest ingredients from Guernsey, France, and the UK for his inspired menu.
The crab starter melts in your mouth and is unmissable, the pigeon tastes far better than those mangy birds should (delicious!), and the Pollack and Seabass dishes are a taste sensation. We liked the food so much that we spent one more evening than we intended in the restaurant to take advantage of the fine food and inviting atmosphere.
One of the highlights of the hotel is its Willy Wonka style Gin distillery which bubbles away in the corner of one room. This shiny copper and aluminum (at a guess) human-sized apparatus spouts fine-flavored gins for guests to taste.
The Bella Luce is one of Guernsey’s best hotels and is a deserved member of Small Luxury Hotels. If you are looking for a great bar, excellent food, and peaceful rooms where you will get a great night’s sleep, the Bella Luce is a fantastic choice.
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