"It was a toss up between San Francisco and the Isle of Wight," says Shuba Rao. Three years after she upped sticks from north London with husband Mark and two kids, she still looks a little shell-shocked that they ended up in the sleepy village of Bonchurch and not California. Just to add to the challenge, they decided to take on a rundown B&B.
Bonchurch Manor is a solid, good-looking Victorian house with sea views, but when Shuba and Mark moved in the inside was a "vision of pink and swirls". They set about transforming it, stripping out the carpets to reveal pitch pine floors in perfect nick, repainting in neutral tones and adding Indian wallhangings and wood carvings. You get the impression it's been an uphill struggle. "Forget John Cleese and Manuel," Shuba writes in her blog, "It is more like Goodness Gracious Me crossed with Peter Sellers's The Party." Which is why I feel bad putting a dampner on their efforts. But it has to be said - Bonchurch Manor is not going to win any style awards. Despite the revamp, the bedrooms still look dated.
What turned our so-so stay into a worthwhile visit was the restaurant. With its menu of south Indian dishes and amazingly good value wine list, The Tiffin Room would definitely win plaudits in London; on the Isle of Wight, where cream teas outnumber vegetable pakoras by about 1,000 to one, it's a revelation. My masala dosa starter was light and perfectly cooked. A sea bass filet came with a generous coconut, tamarind and coriander sauce.
The next day, we discovered that this corner of the island is a bit of a gourmet enclave. Just down the road from the B&B is the elegant Pond Cafe, sister restaurant to The Hamborough, a chic hotel in nearby Ventnor, both part of the "new Wight". Perhaps cream teas are on the wane after all.
· £40-£55pp pn, B&B, 01983 852868, bonchurchmanor.com.
Flagship hostel opens
It's out with soggy socks drying on radiators and in with Internet access, a bistro and en-suite rooms. Edinburgh Central, the Scottish Youth Hostels Association's flagship property, opened this week. Housed in a former office building, it offers 300 beds starting at £15pp per night. syha.org.uk.