The Crab & Lobster

Style

Contemporary rusticity

Setting

Pagham Harbour bird sanctuary

This 16th-century inn on the West Sussex coast has classic rustic-chic looks and a fantastic location overlooking Pagham Harbour and the bird sanctuary. The Crab & Lobster is cosy, welcoming and has all the ingredients you need for a perfect pub stay: flagstone floors and fireplaces, squishy leather sofas, great food, and super-comfy rooms to retire to.

Facilities

Rooms

Four; plus a self-contained cottage.

Checkout

11am; earliest check-in, 2pm.

More Details

Rates include breakfast. Two-night minimum stay at weekends. (Rates increase on bank holidays and during Goodwood events).

Also

Two guests are included in the rate for two-bedroom Crab cottage and after this, extra guests (including children) are charged at £50 a night.

Hotel Closed

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. From 5 November 2023 to 31 March 2024, the hotel will be closed on Sunday evenings and all day on Mondays.

Free Internet Access

On-Site Restaurant

At the Hotel

Small garden, car park. In rooms, flatscreen TV, DVD/CD player iPod dock sound system, free WiFi and broadband internet connection, Noble Isle bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

Standard rooms 2 and 3 are smaller, but have large baths with rain-showers. The Deluxe rooms are slightly larger and have lovely views over Pagham Harbour; room 1 has a bath tub; up in the eaves, wooden-beamed room 4 has a walk-in shower (but may not be the best for beanpoles, thanks to its low ceilings).

Packing Tips

Binoculars for birdspotting; vintage finery for Goodwood Revival; jelly shoes for walking along West Wittering's pebbly beach.

Also

Pets unfortunately cannot be accommodated. A three-night minimum stay applies during the Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival, as well as over Bank Holiday weekends.

Children

Extra beds can be set up in the Cottage and the Deluxe Room for £50 a head, each night; babysitting can be arranged with two weeks' notice (£10 an hour).

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Snag a table by the inglenook fireplace.

Dress Code

Casual cable-knits and sailing clobber.

Hotel Restaurant

With flagstone floors and specials chalked on blackboards in trad-pub fashion, the Crab & Lobster's Modern British menu focuses on locally landed fish and locally reared meats. Look out for the Selsey crab and sardines caught on the south coast.

Hotel Bar

Perch with a pint on dark-leather stools at the polished-pine and brick bar, or cosy up with a bottle of wine in a pair of leather bucket chairs.

Last Orders

The pub is open 11am–11pm; food is served 12–2.30pm and 6pm–9.30pm (9pm on Sundays).

Room Service

None, but there are tea and coffee trays in rooms, and minifridges with complimentary mineral water and milk. Guests' breakfast is served in the main restaurant, 7.30am–9.45am weekdays; 8.30am–9.45am weekends and bank holidays.

Planes

Southampton airport is 30 miles away and roughly 45 minutes by car and train. From here, you can grab a cab or collect your hire car.

Trains

Chichester station is a 20-minute drive from the hotel. Southern (www.southernrailway.com) runs a service directly from London Victoria in roughly an hour and a half.

Automobiles

The drive from Chichester shouldn't take more than 25 minutes along the A27. The A3 will get you to and from London.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

You're spoilt for choice here; go for a lazy amble round Pagham Harbour, spotting fantastically named birds such as wigeon, ruff, godwits and knots (plus a few common or garden gulls). For a bit of fresh sea air, a short drive will get you to the shingly shores of Selsey and the Witterings, to Chichester Harbour, or little village harbours, including Bosham. Goodwood Estate is only 20 minutes by car; as well as a year-round events programme (horse power of all kinds being a theme), there's a golf course and spa. Petrol heads and adrenalin junkies are also catered for, with flying lessons and track days. Check out the Breakfast Club motor meetings on the first Sunday of the month from March to November, and follow up with a peek into the Duke of Richmond's Regency pile.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .