Lodges with private hot tubs on the Isle of Wight

Measured edge to edge, the Isle of Wight is barely twenty-three miles across, yet its four coasts hardly resemble each other. Each one suits a different sort of week, and the right lodge follows from the right coast.

The sheltered north-east corner, from Fishbourne round through Ryde to Seaview and Bembridge, is where most of the island's luxury self-catering has settled. This is calm-water country, with sailing dinghies off Seaview and red squirrels in the oaks behind the beaches. The lanes between Ryde and Seaview hold a quiet cluster of hot tub lodges and cabins. A row of eco lodges there looks across the vines of the Isle of Wight Distillery, home of Mermaid Gin, with a pub at the gate and the coast path beyond.

The east coast does the bucket-and-spade work. Ryde's sands go out nearly half a mile at low tide, then Sandown and Shanklin carry the island's family resorts south, with Dinosaur Isle at one end and Shanklin Chine at the other. It is the busiest shore in August and the easiest to enjoy without a car.

The south coast is a different island again, and statistically the brightest. The Isle of Wight regularly ranks among the sunniest places in Britain, and the records get set along this shore. Ventnor grew up on the Undercliff, in a microclimate mild enough for the subtropical borders of its Botanic Garden, while the downs above Chale hold some of the emptiest walking on the Wight. Cottages down here trade beach-on-the-doorstep for big views and proper quiet.

West Wight is the wild end, where the chalk climbs over Tennyson Down and drops into the sea at The Needles. Colwell Bay sits on its calmer shore, a curve of beach huts and shallow water facing the sunset side of the Solent. Stay out west and you swap convenience for space.

Newport and Carisbrooke sit inland at the centre, within reach of every coast. Choose by the week you want rather than by logistics. The island is too small for a wrong answer.

Where the good sand is

The swimming changes coast by coast, and a few of the best beaches never make the postcards. Around the lodges in the north-east, the local swim is Seagrove Bay, and Priory Bay beyond it has no road access at all, which keeps it close to empty even in August. Whitecliff Bay sits under Culver Down at the island's eastern tip, a half-moon of sand at the bottom of a steep path.

Sandown and Shanklin share the broadest sand, backed by cafes and pedalos, and draw the crowds to match. Steephill Cove, tucked under Ventnor, is the opposite, reached only on foot and famous mainly for its crab pasties. Out west, Freshwater Bay is a pebble cove walled in by chalk, and Compton's long beach takes the island's surf, with dinosaur footprints in the rock ledges when the tide drops.

Which ferry for which corner of the island

Three car ferries cross the Solent, and they land at different points around the island, so match the route to the base. Portsmouth to Fishbourne takes about forty-five minutes and docks ten minutes' drive from the lodges around Ryde and Seaview. Lymington to Yarmouth is the West Wight crossing, the one to book for Colwell Bay. Southampton to East Cowes runs nearer the hour and suits Newport, Carisbrooke and the middle of the island.

The south coast is the only part of the island without a port of its own. Allow half an hour over the downs from any of the three, which is no hardship by island standards.

Foot passengers move faster. The catamaran from Portsmouth Harbour reaches Ryde Pier Head in about twenty-two minutes, the hovercraft from Southsea does it in ten, and the Red Jet links Southampton with West Cowes. All three land beside bus stops, and Ryde adds the island's train line. Dogs travel free with all three operators, so the crossing is no reason to leave one behind.

Crossing the Solent without overpaying

Ferry fares move like air fares, and the crossing is the part of a hot tub holiday nobody budgets for properly. Book it the day the lodge is confirmed, not the week you travel. Midweek and early sailings undercut Saturday middays, and outside the school holidays the same route can cost a fraction of its August price.

Watch the festival weeks too. The island books out around the Isle of Wight Festival in June and Cowes Week at the height of summer, and ferry prices follow. The flip side is the shoulder season. Somewhere this sunny, a May or late-September soak is not the gamble it would be further north.

One more lever. Two car-ferry operators serve the island from different mainland ports, so pricing the same weekend from both Portsmouth and Southampton often turns up a cheaper sailing.

Days out that don't need the car

Leave the car at the lodge, or save the fare and come over on foot, and the island still opens up. Public transport here is part of the holiday rather than a compromise.

Trains first. The Island Line runs retired London Underground carriages from Ryde Pier Head down the east coast to Shanklin, the simplest route to the beaches at Sandown and the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary on its seafront. Change at Smallbrook Junction and the Isle of Wight Steam Railway takes over, running under steam through the woods to Havenstreet. On a wet morning, it beats most of the island's paid attractions.

Buses cover the grand houses. Osborne House, Queen Victoria's seaside estate at East Cowes, is a direct ride from Ryde. Buses from every corner meet at Newport, a short hop from Carisbrooke Castle and the donkeys that still work its Tudor well wheel. In summer, the open-top Needles Breezer winds from Yarmouth along the cliffs to Alum Bay, the cheapest scenic tour on the island.

On foot, the shoreline path from Ryde to Seaview passes Appley's folly tower and the old gun battery at Puckpool before dropping onto the sand at Seagrove Bay. From Fishbourne, a wooded track leads to Quarr Abbey, its ruins and its tearoom. Out west, Tennyson Down rewards the climb with chalk-top views back down the whole island.

What the car unlocks is the in-between island. Blackgang Chine, the Victorian theme park hanging off the cliffs near Chale, and the Garlic Farm near Newchurch are both easier with your own wheels. If they matter, bring the car. If not, the fare you save buys a lot of cream teas.

Before you book the crossing

Are the hot tubs included in the price?

Mostly, yes. The hot tub comes with the lodge, heated and maintained between guests. A few of the larger houses treat theirs as a bookable extra arranged with the owner, and one or two add a winter supplement between autumn and spring. The listing always states which, so read the hot tub line before you book, not on arrival.

Do you need a car on the Isle of Wight?

Not for an east-side stay. Around Ryde and Seaview, the train, the buses and the coast path cover the days out, and the foot-passenger crossing costs a fraction of bringing the car. A car earns its fare for West Wight, the fossil beaches and the southern cottages, where the bus map thins out.

Is the island worth it for a weekend?

Comfortably, and the island suits short hot tub breaks. The longest crossing is about an hour, nowhere sits much more than forty minutes from the slipway, and many of these stays take two- and three-night bookings outside peak season. Book a Friday evening sailing and Saturday is a full island day, hot tub at both ends of it.