Another question for John Bull - Portsmouth

Hello John Bull - First let me say Thank you!!! for sharing an enormous amount of info to so many here on CC. Your suggestions made our first visit to Southampton wonderful last year.

Now about Portsmouth! I've printed out your recommendations from other posts for places to visit. My question (finally ) is do you have a recommendation for a place to stay in Portsmouth that will be the best location for sightseeing or does it not matter. We enjoyed our stay at Ennios last year so I value your opinion.

We will probably be in Portsmouth for either one or two days and then to Southampton for the cruise.

We have stayed at the Holiday Inn, Southsea (not HI Express) several times; it's well placed for the sea front and all the tourist sites.

There are several boutique hotels which are more interesting. Number Four Boutique Hotel, for example, https://www.number4hotel.co.uk/ or Florence Suite Boutique Hotel https://www.florencesuite.co.uk/ both of which come well recommended, but you might miss the lift and air con.

I don't know Portsmouth hotels, but the most obvious that immediately comes to mind for convenience to the historic dockyard, ferries & such is the Holiday Inn Express in Gunwharf Quays. A five-minute walk from the dockyard gate and the same from Portsmouth Harbour rail station (for onward travel to Southampton?) & the travel inter-change. Easily walkable, even with rolling luggage. Lots of restaurants right on your doorstep - they're trendy modern chain restaurants, but there are more traditional restaurants & pubs a ten-minute walk away in the High Street / Broad Street area of Old Portsmouth.

Checking www.booking.com to see if there others in the area (there are - mainly apartments but also the Ship Leopard and Keppels Head) I came across this B&B http://www.fortitudecottage.co.uk/index.html

The other area for a base is near Southsea seafront. Hotels like The Queen's (Southsea's best-known) or the H.I. mentioned by Bob. Mebbe avoid Southsea's Premier Inn - not often I try to dissuade folk from staying at a Premier Inn, but this one's right next-door to the funfair. A broader choice of more traditional hotels in Southsea, a more relaxed waterfront, locals' pubs, and independent restaurants in & around Osborne Road.

I'd be inclined to stick to one of those two areas.

JB :)

Thank you Bob ++ and John Bull

I was actually looking at the Florence Boutique Hotels

Thank you both for the info.:)

Fortitude Cottage looks great too. Nice to try something different !

We stayed at The Florence House a few years ago for one night prior to catching a ferry to Normandy. I remember excellent service and a great breakfast. It was not built as a hotel but as a grand Edwardian house, so no lift and some steep stairs in the upper floors. If you want a change from the Hiltons and Holiday Inns, I thoroughly recommend it.

I have stayed 2x at Holiday Inn Express Gunwharf Quay in Portsmouth. A great location right beside the waterfront with restaurants, stores and walking distance to the dockyard.

We have booked 3 nights at the Pier in Southsea for next year. It is well reviewed and seems to be in a good location. I’ll have to wait until next year to give a personal recommendation.

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I'm back with more questions about Portsmouths.

What's to eat?   Any interesting places for breakfast, lunch or dinner?  We will be there 2 nights.  We don't usually eat 3 big meals a day but I'm open to visiting  a great place any time of day. 

John Bull - we really enjoyed your recommendations of Ennios and La Regatta in Southampton on our last visit.

8 hours ago, helpmesailaway said:

I'm back with more questions about Portsmouths.

 

What's to eat?   Any interesting places for breakfast, lunch or dinner?  We will be there 2 nights.  We don't usually eat 3 big meals a day but I'm open to visiting  a great place any time of day. 

 

John Bull - we really enjoyed your recommendations of Ennios and La Regatta in Southampton on our last visit.

Pleased to have helped with your stay in Southampton.

I don't know Portsmouth anywhere near as well, and rarely eat there. But I can think of a few areas where there are clutches of restaurants 

BTW, Portsmouth & Southsea are conjoined cities . Only the locals know where the join is - a property for sale somewhere near the join is Southsea if you're selling, Portsmouth if you're buying. 

So take addresses of restaurants with a pinch of salt.

Closest to the Florence is Albert Road (10 min walk), around the Kings Theatre. Mainly independent family-run places, wide range of prices. Long time since we've eaten thereabouts, so can't recommend. 

Ten minutes further to Elm Grove - more restaurants there, but again it's been a long time since.

But closest, within a minute or two, are

- the Florence Arms gastro-pub

- and Restaurant 27, expensive but top-rated by TripAdvisor.

Right by Fortitude in Old Portsmouth the best bet would be The Spice Island or The Still & West. Both are pubs, food is sensibly-priced  Both have outside tables (to drink, not sure about eating) with great harbour-entrance views. Have drunk at the Still & West a few times, but not eaten at either.

There's a clutch of eateries & pubs around the Theatre Royal on Guildhall Walk

But the obvious place for plenty of eateries together in one place is Gunwharf Quays. 

These are (all?) modern chain restaurants. Wide range of cuisines, popular and attractive development, but not really our scene.

We've eaten quite a few times at Port Solent, mainly the Harvester family pub/restaurant.

Port Solent was "the" place to eat & drink before Gunwharf Quays opened - but it's just outside the city, a 20 minute taxi ride.

My knowledge of eateries in Portsmouth is pretty limited, I've had to use TripAdvisor to jog my memory.

So you'll need to keep researching, or rely on advice from your hotel.

JB 

Thank you so much  once again John Bull.  I'll take a look at Trip Advisor too.  We do like local family run  or chef owned places and have enjoyed some wonderful experiences over the years.  

Your help is always appreciated🙂