Originally we booked two nights at the Retreat guesthouse, in the Ward Suite, however on the drive up to Portsmouth we had a car crash, wrote off the car and had to spend a couple of hours at the hospital. Sian and Mark were wonderful, helping us to find a way of getting to the Salvage yard, and Mark's sense of humour gave us a smile. Having had our first night/day ruined by our car accident we asked to stay an extra night and they did have a room free, the Franklin room. The whole house was decorated to a brilliant standard, each room had its own charm and both the rooms we stayed in were impeccably clean. The English breakfast was amazing, I’ve never seen such wonderful presentation, and it kept us filled till dinner time which was a huge bonus! The choice of cereals was really nice as well. Location was great it was a short walk to Southsea shops and we enjoyed lovely walks along the seafront to get to Portsmouth town centre and Gunwarf Quay. Fell in love with the area and especially the house, it’s just sad to come home!

We stayed here the night after our wedding, for a romantic night without our 3 children and it was PERFECT! The guest house is in a great spot, close to restaurant & bars....only just over 5 min walk to sea. We went to Oddballs for our meal, which I highly recommend.
Mark and Sian were very friendly and helpful.
We stayed in the Franklin room, which had a four poster bed, and was decorated beautifully - no musty fousty smelling rooms here!
Breakfast was lovely...Dorset cereals, fresh fruit and a gorgeous full English breakfast.
We enjoyed our whole stay - it was just what we needed after a hectic wedding day, and a fantastic little retreat of peace and tranquility away from our chaotic life!!!!
Highly recommended!

Well-restored high-quality accomodation, tastefully furnished (no horse brasses or embroidered throws here!) genuinely friendly owners, quiet area, excellent local real ale pub (Hole in the Wall), several good local restaurants, high-quality and filling breakfast. Perfect romantic weekend 'retreat' without the children! Only slight quible was that our last-minute booking via their website wasn't answered - but easily sorted out over the phone.

Steve & Rowena, Lewes East Sussex

The Retreat is by far one of the nicest places we have ever stayed in. Sian and Mark are so lovely and welcoming; the guest house felt a like a home away from home. We stayed in the Ward room and were not disappointed. The room is beautifully furnished and the facilities are better than many hotels that you will come across. The guest house is a comfortable 25 minute walk to Portsmouth and it is located just a few minutes from Southsea centre. Sian and Mark have really worked hard to make The Retreat a wonderful place to stay and we would like to thank them very much for making our trip to the area a very pleasant one.