Buckler's Hard, Beaulieu - Ouch!

Little Grebe said:
Agreed on the walk
From memory next winter's work extends the marina.
In terms of the pub - part of the poor reputation it 'enjoys' on this forum comes from a member who last visited there in the 1980s
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I haven't been there for a few years but the showers had been done and were very good. The pub is reasonable but the food menu choice seemed poor and expensive and the food I have seen served over the years has never tempted me to eat there. I think that their main money is made during the day by those visiting by car, so the evening trade from visiting boats is a minor part.
 
The pub is unremarkable (service, quality of food and beer and general ambiance) and it is the only place I visit where I always eat on board. The showers are indeed very good but I'm afraid £50 to tie up overnight is just not good value and they will have one customer less this year.
 
Little Grebe said:
Agreed on the walk

From memory next winter's work extends the marina.

In terms of the pub - part of the poor reputation it 'enjoys' on this forum comes from a member who last visited there in the 1980s
Click to expand...

To be fair to that member, it was pretty poor in the 90's as well.

Miles better in 2018 though. Difficult to choose between there and the George in Yarmouth for best Virgin Mary around the Solent.
 
I was there by car not too long ago. £14 for a burger. Hmm not even a great burger either. Just saying not a meal I’d easily be convinced to repeat.
 
bit sad at loss of midriver pontoon which we loved -why- well it was quiet - easy to inflate dinghy on pontoon and you could putter ashore in tender if you wanted to use facilities (which are very good) or go for walk - strongly recommend lovely stroll to village and ice creams etc and it was also reasonably priced - generally space to meet up with friends or as needed raft up -new development seems to have removed this option and cost of marina to us rule out quiet weekend visits - am hoping they will have some visitors moorings available within putter ashore range and at ok price - not clear to me on their website where the visitors moorings at c£2 m are positioned - fingers crossed as would very much like to continue to visit
 
The eight moorings £10/night are just downstream of Needs Ore Point by the sailing club. For those those just round the corner running towards RSYC the increased rate applies. (This came as a nasty surprise to me when I first visited!)

I haven't been upstream of the old island pontoon so I can't comment on whether any visitors moorings are located there but it looked to mostly for residents.
 
I have no idea of the cost but locally Santa Catalina Island is a similar profiteering game.

Much of its services and attractions are owned by one company but the biggest 'con' is that for any event, holiday or similar the hotels and camp sites all insist on a minimum 3 day stay.

I think I heard prices of $40 a night for the camp sites but can't remembe for sure

W.
 
I have always found bucklers hard/Beaulieu to be one of the most delightful places to visit in the Solent , always interesting vessels to see ,terrific views ,great walks , and the master builder has never failed me in 35 years of visits both by road and sea . Why is it that people fail to realise that experiences have a price ,most of the time worth paying . I shall continue to visit this lovely location and suggest, that those who have not yet done so give it a try rather than be Influenced by others who have failed to appreciate the location or have some time in the past had a poor experience.
 
To be fair, the Beaulieu is a lovely river and Buckler's Hard is fine. Yes its become a bit dear, like lots of other places, but nothing in life is free and the fiefdom has invested a lot of money in recent years in upgrading the infrastructure and facilities.

The Master Builder's pub food is good enough (most of the time) although verging on the expensive for what it is. I've never eaten in the fancier restaurant end of things.
 
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