The Best Hotels and B&Bs to Book Near Arundel Castle

If you like sturdy four-poster beds and all things timeless, ask for one of the traditional rooms at this good-looking, Georgian coaching inn. If your taste is less formal, there are others with a lighter touch: think duck-egg blue modern bedheads and contemporary furniture. Feature doubles all have comfy sitting room spaces, and ground-floor courtyard rooms are best for dog owners – yes, pets are welcome. Perhaps the finest aspect of this place is its location, under the battlements of Arundel Castle. There’s no excuse not to explore the famous medieval landmark after a hearty cooked breakfast.

Choose this pub and you’re a quick and easy five-minute drive from Arundel’s 11th-century castle – although you can get there on foot, through atmospheric woods. It’s a pub with rooms, big on period charm with flagstone floors, low ceilings and dark oak beams. The restaurant gets extra brownie points for its open fire, which ensures long, cosy lunches and dinners. Enjoy the modernised bedrooms, which have raspberry-pink, tongue-and-groove panelling and matching soft furnishings. Guests return again and again for the real ale – and the breakfasts of croissants and cooked local treats.

This handsome, redbrick home is a handy 15 minutes’ walk from Arundel – perfect for little ones with a children’s playground in the large grounds, as well as a ping pong table. Of the three spick-and-span rooms with wooden floors are two tailor-made for families, with pull-out sofa beds. All deliver dual-aspect views of leafy, green woodland and countryside. It’s possible to book the lot – this will give you use of the new kitchen, with its stylish retro Smeg fridge, so you can make your own breakfast. Otherwise, the owners cook up a mean full English or eggs on toast every morning.

In the south-coast village of Angmering, this place lays on the charm, with fancy French-style beds and floral-feature walls. Or how about the four-poster Bridal Suite with its canopied bed? Reputedly built by missionaries in the 16th century, Angmering Manor oozes period detail down to its mullioned windows – while modernity intrudes discreetly, with an indoor pool, sauna and treatment room for a stress-relieving massage before bed. Arundel Castle is under 5mi (8km) away by car – but do explore the pretty village, with its fine church.

The tranquil riverside setting is without doubt the principal draw for guests at this cheerful, custard-yellow pub – some of its simple rooms deliver tranquil views of the water. Downstairs, on the sun-trap terrace, a relaxed brunch is served for late risers – many of whom hang around to lunch on the crowd-pleasing steak and ale pie. The bucket-and-spade pleasures of Littlehampton beach are close by – the perfect day trip for families, as children can play in the sand and splash in the calm shallows.

Stay here and you’re a stone’s throw from Butlin’s Bognor Regis, as well as a short walk from the beach. Spacious, light-filled rooms are meditative spaces with their soothing pale decor and views out over the mature garden. Here, there’s a furnished terrace for sunny breakfasts of croissants. Anyone into wellness will love the sound bath, yoga sessions and reiki and massage, all under one roof. If it’s too chilly for the sea, swim in the hotel’s indoor heated pool. And as soon as the sun breaks through, head for Arundel Castle, a 20-minute drive away.

In postcard-pretty Amberley, mere steps from its castle, this Grade II-listed pub makes rustic touches – open fires, well-worn wooden floorboards, beams – work with modernised rooms of freshly painted teal woodwork and gleaming claw-foot tubs. For dinner, nab a spot with a view of the elegant fireplace and kitchen – or if the weather’s nice, take to the new terrace and walled garden space. A breakfast cuppa and toast will never taste better than it does here, in fresh air at the foot of the South Downs National Park. Arundel is a five-minute drive away for a date with riveting history.