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Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester

3.0 star property

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Photo gallery for Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester

Lounge
32-inch flat-screen TV with digital channels, TV
Lounge
Front of property
Superior Double Room

Reviews

8.8 out of 10
Excellent

Popular amenities

  • Bar
  • Free WiFi
  • Business services

Explore the area

View in a map
32 High West Street, 32, Dorchester, England, DT1 1UP
  • Place, Tutankhamun: The Exhibition
    ‪2 min walk‬
  • Place, Kingston Maurward Park and Gardens
    ‪4 min drive‬
  • Place, Maiden Castle
    ‪11 min drive‬
  • Airport, Bournemouth (BOH-Bournemouth Intl.)
    ‪48 min drive‬

Room options

View all photos for Standard Double Room

Standard Double Room

Standard Double Room

9.8 out of 10
Exceptional
(10 reviews)
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 Double Bed

View all photos for Superior Double Room

Superior Double Room

Superior Double Room

10.0 out of 10
Exceptional
(2 reviews)
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 Queen Bed

View all photos for Standard Single Room

Standard Single Room

Standard Single Room

  • Sleeps 1
  • 1 Large Twin Bed

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About this property

Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester

Georgian hotel in Dorchester with a bar
Along with a bar/lounge, this smoke-free hotel has coffee/tea in a common area and conference space. WiFi in public areas is free. Other amenities include self parking and a front-desk safe.
Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester offers 27 accommodations with hair dryers and irons/ironing boards. Each accommodation is individually furnished and decorated. Pillowtop beds feature premium bedding. 32-inch flat-screen televisions come with digital channels. Bathrooms include bathtubs or showers and complimentary toiletries.

Guests can surf the web using the complimentary wireless Internet access. Business-friendly amenities include desks and phones. Additionally, rooms include portable fans and blackout drapes/curtains.

The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
Our customers tell us they can't get enough of the helpful staff at Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester. During your stay, you're just a quick walk from Tutankhamun: The Exhibition. You'll find features like free WiFi in public areas, plus a bar and a meeting room.
  • Free WiFi
  • Enjoy drinks at the bar/lounge
  • Self parking available for a fee
  • Amenities include a front-desk safe, a meeting room, and conference space
  • Steps from Tutankhamun: The Exhibition and Borough Gardens
As a guest of Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester, you'll find coffee/tea in a common area and a front-desk safe. Event space at this hotel measures 818 square feet (76 square meters) and includes conference space. WiFi is free in public spaces. You can enjoy a drink at the bar/lounge. Limited parking is available for a fee and is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

This Georgian Dorchester hotel is smoke free.

Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transport

  • Parking on site (GBP 10 per day)
  • Limited on-site parking

Food and drink

  • A bar/lounge
  • Coffee and tea in common areas

Conveniences

  • Limited-hour front desk
  • Luggage storage
  • Safe at front desk

Business services

  • 818 square feet of conference space
  • Meeting room

Accessibility

  • If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
  • Handrails in stairways (80 centimetre high)
  • No lift
  • Wheelchair accessible (may have limitations)
  • Wheelchair-accessible lounge
  • Wheelchair-accessible registration desk (180 centimetre high)

More

  • 1 building
  • 3 floors
  • Built in 1756
  • Georgian architecture
  • Smoke-free property

Room amenities

Bedroom

  • Blackout drapes
  • Hypo-allergenic bedding
  • Pillowtop mattress
  • Premium bedding

Bathroom

  • Bathtub or shower
  • Free toiletries
  • Hair dryer
  • Private bathroom
  • Towels provided

Entertainment

  • 32-inch flat-screen TV with digital channels

More

  • Desk
  • Heating
  • Individual decor
  • Individual furnishings
  • Iron/ironing board
  • Laptop workspace
  • Phone
  • Portable fan

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 3:00 PM; Check-in end time: 11:00 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

The front desk is open daily from 8:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Front desk staffed during limited hours

Access methods

Front desk (limited hours)

Pets

  • No pets allowed, but service animals are welcome

Children and extra beds

  • Children are welcome.
  • Kids stay free! Children stay free when using existing bedding.
  • Rollaway/extra beds are not available.
  • Cribs (infant beds) are not available.

Payment types at the property

Important information

Optional extras

The fees and deposits listed below will be charged at the time of service, check-in, or check-out.

  • Self parking fee: GBP 10 per day

This may not be a comprehensive list. Fees and deposits are subject to change and might not include tax.

You need to know

This property is managed by a professional host. The provision of housing is linked to their trade, business, or profession.
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
This property accepts credit cards, debit cards, and cash
This property reserves the right to pre-authorize the guest's credit card prior to arrival.
Cashless transactions are available
The front desk at this property is open daily from 8:00 AM - 11:00 PM.
Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property.
If you cancel your booking, you'll be subject to the host's cancellation policy. In accordance with EU regulations about consumer rights, property booking services are not subject to the right of withdrawal.

We should mention

  • Children stay free in the same room as the parent or guardian when using existing bedding.
  • Registered guests are the only ones allowed to be in guestrooms.

National rating

This establishment has received its official star rating from VisitEngland, the National Tourist Board for England.

Property is also known as

Wessex Royale
Wessex Royale Dorchester
Sleeping Bear Dorchester
Wessex Royale Hotel Dorchester
Dorchester Minotel
Minotel Dorchester
Minotel Hotel Wessex Royale
Minotel Wessex Royale Hotel Dorchester
Wessex Royale Hotel Dorchester, Dorset
Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester Hotel
Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester Dorchester
Best Western Wessex Royale Hotel Dorchester
Wessex Royale Hotel
Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester Hotel Dorchester

Sleeping Bear Hotel Dorchester Reviews

Reviews

8.8

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 299 out of 553 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 193 out of 553 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 38 out of 553 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 14 out of 553 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 9 out of 553 reviews

9.4/10

Cleanliness

9.2/10

Staff & service

8.0/10

Amenities

8.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Colin

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2025

8/10 Good

Henri

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Loved the place. The staff was great. Unfortunately, no breakfast...but I knew up front.
Stayed 5 nights in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Dale

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Apart from noisy creaking floorboards and thin walls, no complaints.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2025

10/10 Excellent

George

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Mark

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

2/10 Terrible

Gary

Business traveller
Its not the hotel its the service fron Trivago! Having paid for a room to be told the room had already gone. Not happy at all!!
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Chris

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

An excellent place to stay.

The Sleeping Bear was an extremely comfortable place to stay. It had recently been decorated to a high standard and everything was well cared for. The staff could not have been friendlier or more helpful.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

4/10 Poor

Traci

Disliked: Amenities
I was disappointed that you were charged £15 for parking. You could not get breakfast in the hotel?
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Rossouw

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Natalie

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very friendly staff and a well looked after hotel, good location for walking into town with nearby restaurants.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2025

8/10 Good

Jennifer

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Only spent one night at The Sleeping Bear but enjoyed it and would certainly recommend. Helpful staff, handy location and good room.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Gemma

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

8/10 Good

Hayley

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Birthday getaway.

Stayed at the sleeping bear as we were visiting lulworth cove for my birthday. Pre paid and booked a parking space at the hotel. Very comfortable bed and unlimited tea and coffee at all hours. Nicely decorated and felt homely and comfortable. A random sock from the previous guest left in our room, although hard to see in the cleaners defence! Good shower and tv in room. Would stay again.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Rose

Quiet, clean, safe & friendly staff. Would 100% stay here again.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Pascale

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Perfect little hotel!

A lovely hotel in Dorchester located on the high street. No restaurant but so many around us that this was absolutely no issue whatsoever! Very friendly staff, hot drinks available for free, cmfortable room, free overnight car park nearby...we had a lovely stay in this hotel and will definitely stay there next time we are in the area!
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Perfect

Great arrived late and keys were left buzzer to get in. All very well organised. Room lovely and fan was on when we arrived as extremely hot. This was a lovely gesture thankyou. 🙂
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Marcus

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Great location for exploring the area

We booked this stay through hotels.com and communications were good, especially the option to pre book parking as spaces were limited in the parking area behind the hotel. Check in was pleasant and we were shown to our 3 nice rooms, all a good size, nicely decorated and with modern bathrooms (although I do loathe shower curtains!) and a nice desk to work at. There were kettles in each room with plenty of tea and coffee options. Although the hotel does not do food there are plenty of options within a few minutes walk and we ate dinner at Kao San Thai, just opposite. There were a couple of guest lounge areas with free tea/coffee facilities and also a bar for the evening. Prices on the Saturday night were expensive but the Sunday night was far more reasonable. Wi-Fi was very good and the rooms were quiet, other than seagulls! The hotel was a good location, both for walking to Dorchester's attractions and exploring the wider area.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Saqib

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2025

10/10 Excellent

Simon

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Fantastic stay.

We had a fantastic time the room was lovely and the staff we very helpfully.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

8/10 Good

Michael

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Andrew, Northampton

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staff are very friendly and helpful. We were staying there for a live action role playing event and the staff were impressed with our costumes. Second time staying here in Dorchester, fully recommend.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

2/10 Terrible

ERICA

Stayed 2 nights in May 2025

8/10 Good

Georgia

Stayed 2 nights in May 2025

10/10 Excellent

Harry

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely hotel, nicely set up and well located for everything in town.
Stayed 1 night in May 2025

2/10 Terrible

Brenda

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I booked here because of the reviews, and I am starting to think these people writing the reviews are either friends of the hotel staff, or they stayed at a different hotel, and gave this one a good review in error. Out of all the hotels we stayed at in the UK, this was the absolute worst. We stayed at a top floor room, that was absolutely stifling, without AC, and had a small window that the fan couldn't even fit in. The bed felt like a cement slab and the foot of the bed was higher than the head of the bed. Most of the room had a slanted wall, which made it difficult to walk around. Parking was ok if you are lucky to get one of the few spots available. The ONLY saving grace of this place was the woman at the Reception Desk. She was WONDERFUL. I get the feeling she is under-appreciated because she was not only Checking people in, but she was also making drinks at the bar. Other than that, I would never stay here again, and the people leaving the good reviews, maybe have lower standards than I do, The price I paid for this place, I deserved better.
Stayed 1 night in May 2025