Located in Shaftesbury, The Fontmell is in a rural location, within a 5-minute drive of Fontmell and Melbury Downs and Melbury Vale Winery. .This inn is 4.6 mi (7.3 km) from The Art Stable and 4.6 mi (7.4 km) from Gold Hill Museum.
Shaftesbury Abbey Museum and Garden - 8 min drive - 7.8 km
Larmer Tree Gardens - 15 min drive - 9.1 km
Stourhead - 25 min drive - 31.0 km
Longleat Safari and Adventure Park - 37 min drive - 38.3 km
Getting around
Gillingham Dorset Station - 16 min drive
Bournemouth (BOH-Bournemouth Intl.) - 38 min drive
Restaurants
San Tonino Restaurant - 7 min drive
The Half Moon - 7 min drive
Shillingstone Railway Project - 11 min drive
Amy's Fish & Chips - 8 min drive
The Wild Garlic - 3 min drive
About this property
The Fontmell
Inn in Shaftesbury with a restaurant and a bar
The Fontmell offers 6 accommodations with complimentary bottled water and coffee/tea makers. Each accommodation is individually furnished and decorated. Flat-screen televisions come with cable channels.
Bathrooms include complimentary toiletries and hair dryers. Guests can surf the web using the complimentary wireless Internet access. Housekeeping is offered daily and irons/ironing boards can be requested.
Stay in one of 6 guestrooms featuring flat-screen televisions. Complimentary wireless internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming is available for your entertainment. Private bathrooms have complimentary toiletries and hair dryers. Conveniences include coffee/tea makers and complimentary bottled water, and housekeeping is provided daily.
Take in the views from a garden and make use of amenities such as complimentary wireless internet access and barbecue grills.
Enjoy a meal at the restaurant, or stay in and take advantage of the inn's room service (during limited hours). Wrap up your day with a drink at the bar/lounge.
Free self parking is available onsite.
The Fontmell has a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Room service (during limited hours) is available.
Languages
English
Property amenities
Internet
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Parking and public transport
Free self-parking on site
Free off-site parking
Food and drink
1 restaurant
1 bar
Room service available
Family friendly
Rollaway/extra beds (surcharge)
Conveniences
Library
Newspapers in reception
Guest services
Daily housekeeping
Outdoors
BBQ grill(s)
Garden
Accessibility
If you have any requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
This property does not have any lifts
No lift (single-level property)
Step-free path to entrance
Upper floors accessible by stairs only
More
Smoke-free property
Room amenities
Bedroom
Bed sheets
Rollaway/extra beds (surcharge)
Bathroom
Free toiletries
Hairdryer
Private bathroom
Towels
Entertainment
TV channels
Flat-screen TV
Food and drink
Coffee/tea maker
Free bottled water
More
Individually decorated
Individually furnished
Iron/ironing board (on request)
Policies
Check-in
Check-in start time: 3 PM; Check-in end time: 10 PM
Contactless check-in available
Minimum check-in age: 18
Check-out
Check-out before 11 AM
Contactless check-out available
Special check-in instructions
There is no front desk at this property
Guests planning to arrive outside of normal check-in hours will receive an email with special check-in instructions and lockbox information; your host will greet you
To make arrangements for check-in please contact the property at least 24 hours before arrival using the information on the booking confirmation
If you are planning to arrive after 10 PM please contact the property in advance using the information on the booking confirmation
For more details, please contact the property using the information on the booking confirmation
Access methods
Host will greet you, lockbox
Pets
Pets allowed for an extra charge of GBP 15 per pet, per night
Service animals are welcome, and are exempt from fees
Welcoming dogs only
2 total pets
Specific rooms only; pet-friendly rooms can be requested by contacting the property at the number on the booking confirmation
Children and extra beds
Children are welcome
Rollaway/extra beds are available for GBP 30 per night
Payment types
Important information
Optional extras
Pet fee: GBP 15 per pet, per night
Service animals are exempt from fees
Rollaway bed fee: GBP 30 per night
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
Guests must contact this property in advance to reserve cribs/infant beds and rollaway/extra beds
This property accepts credit cards, debit cards, and cash
We should mention
This property does not have elevators
Property is also known as
Fontmell Inn Dorset
Fontmell Inn
Fontmell Dorset
Fontmell
Fontmell Inn Shaftesbury
Fontmell Shaftesbury
The Fontmell Inn
The Fontmell Shaftesbury
The Fontmell Inn Shaftesbury
The Fontmell Reviews
Reviews
8.4
Very good
All reviews shown are from real guest experiences. Only travellers who have booked a stay with us can submit a review. We verify reviews according to our guidelines and publish all reviews, positive or negative.
There is too much information to fit in this review so I have confined to bullet points:
Complaints, based on facts which can all be evidenced with photographs; receipts; and audio files:
- Room 4 was awful. Decoration and fittings in a very poor condition/ cleanliness / state of disrepair. We were moved to Room 5. Allot better but with cobwebs on bedside and main light shades. Lacked a curtain on upper window which allowed light to come in at unwanted times. Walls were paper thin as the music and noise from a party from the adjoining cottage could be heard in our room, as if it was in our room, to the extent that we couldn’t hear our TV over it and couldn’t sleep until after 2am! We complained but the hotel advised that they could not force them to turn the sound down but had asked to no avail.
- At breakfast the milk was served in a dirty / stained jug, which looked like the remnants of gravy. A young and evidently inexperienced member of staff had filled the cafetière too full and as a result the hot coffee sprayed out when my wife depressed the filter mechanism. Luckily it did not scald her but stained her clothes and covered the table. We reported it and we’re move to another table.
- After the calamity of things issues and the fact that we did not sleep, and my wife’s birthday weekend was spoilt as we were too tired to continue the next day, you would have thought that the Manager would at least be there to apologise the next morning and a good hotel would offer
It did not look like the photos.
Breakfast, they brought out my hot food whilst I was still eating my cereal. You could tell the hot food had been sitting around a while, not freshly cooked.
Room not worth the money, very expensive to drink, London prices £5 a pint of larger.
Very disappointing.
Verified traveller
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2021
6/10 Okay
Manny
Travelled with partner
14 Sept 2020
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Lovely quaint pub, good food and lovely staff. Issue with no hot water in the rooms in the evening and a dripping tap that kept us awake... but overall a nice weekend!
Our room was quiet, pleasant, and clean with a comfy bed and the high ceiling the standout feature.
The room had many unique features including a TV from a by-gone era (that's the only critisism but we come to watch TV).
It was so hot in the room (2), window open Made no difference, no fan, noise from heavy traffic.
Booked a week in advance to have dinner, confirmed when we arrived, to find we were not allocated a table for dinner, but expected to sit on low armchairs with a coffee table to eat from.
When food came it was nice though. Just hard to eat! When I asked, I was told I should have booked a table!
Very attractive location and property. Friendly staff and good food - English breakfast was particularly delicious! Room 4 was quite snug but suitable for a short stay - however the bed was extremely hard and that sadly resulted in a really poor nights’ sleep.
Chased in the car park at 7.15am for payment for meal which was not mine, might be good idea for guests to sign for orders made ! No breakfast available until 8am but uncovered and unappetising bowl of muesli given with unrefrigerated flask of milk
Obviously not counting on return customers
One night staying in room 1. It was very noisy. On yelling reception I was informed that this was the extractor system from the kitchen. The room was above the kitchen. The noise would stop after service that evening. It did. Not a great issue as far as I was concerned. Had dinner in the hotel it was just excellent
Staff very helpful and friendly.The evening meal was delicious and breakfast was excellent.
The internet was down the evening we stayed so the staff were under extreme stress because tills and card payments were impossible but they coped admirably.Well done and thankyou.
This is one of the best places I have stayed in for ages! The staff were so attentive and helpful. There was nothing else they could have done to make the stay any nicer!
The dinner we had was delicious and our room was stunning.
I would definitely stay here again and would highly recommend The Fontmell to anyone looking to stay in the area.