A visit to Bournemouth’s Chocolate Boutique Hotel

When I casually announced that my next assignment was to stay at what’s thought to be the world’s only chocolate-themed hotel, my friend’s eyes widened. “It’s like a Carlsberg’s advert, you couldn’t make this stuff up,” she replied.

The Chocolate Boutique Hotel is a tall and imposing Grade II-listed building situated on a hill in the elegant Soho quarter of Bournemouth, a short walk from the town’s golden sandy beaches.

The Milky-Bar creamy exterior with its two large brown stripes leaves you in no doubt that, ‘You have reached your destination.’ I was not certain what to expect from such promises of indulgence but one thing is certain: hotel owners Gerry and Roo Wilton are charming and win their clientele over.  Their hospitality and professionalism is faultless.

A giant chocolate fountain stands in prime position in the hotel lobby. It provides a great centerpiece for parties and has proved popular with corporates and celebrities, even featuring at a Harry Potter film premiere and at one of Jordan’s weddings.

The fountain, bought by Gerry back in 2004 before they became mainstream, is a reminder that the Wiltons are true entrepreneurs who undertook various business ventures before opening The Chocolate Boutique Hotel. As Roo will tell you, with one of her warm and cheery smiles which lights up her eyes, “You’ll see, when you’ll meet him, Gerry is a real character, full of ideas… With Gerry, there is never a dull moment.”

After checking in and helping myself to a few chocolate drops from the large bowl standing on the reception desk, we were given the keys to our room. There are only 13 rooms:  each ‘unique chocolate themed’ and each baring an evocative name such as Maya, Montezuma, Forestero, Criollo or Trinitario.

Upon entering the room – ours was Forestero – the first impression is of a chocolate box: brown cushions on the bed, brown lampshade on brown bed table, brown towels and a brown carpet….. even a brown iPod deck.

Guests could easily overdose on so many chocolate-y hues but no, as with everything else here, at the point of thinking that it is going to be too much, there is something that redresses the balance. In the case of the bedroom what did so was the cappuccino walls, the caramel tiles and the crispy white sheets.

Once in the room, it was time for research. Delving in plastic-wrapped chocolates in the shape of the hotel, starting with the white chocolate, then the milk to finish it all off with the dark chocolate. It is great fun to munch on a representation of the hotel you are staying in!

The very informative pack available on the dressing table, in its brown leather jacket, is a mine of information about chocolate, from facts and figures on the world’s chocolate-producing countries, to the intricacies of the cacao pod. It revealed that “we eat just under 7 oz of chocolate per person, per week” and that “the confectionery industry in the UK is worth over £5 billion of which £3 billion is chocolates.” There is also a history of chocolate and an explanation for each of the room names.

After such hard work, it was time for a drink. We made a bee-line for the bar to be transported back to the 60s and to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The cocktail bar is a curious-looking affair. Picture it: Neon pink lit up wedges, on which rests a bar counter, the lot topped with a transparent dome, itself containing multi-coloured pipes. The whole contraption is linked to a computer which mixes cocktails. Another of Gerry’s business ventures.

Roo presents us with two delicate opalescent Chocktails. Based around crème de cacao, both, vodka and Martini cocktails are potent and delicious. Conversation is flowing and guests are lounging on sofas with something which looks like an adult version of a chocolate milkshake, possibly the Chocky Wocky Minty cocktail.

Now full of energy, we are given directions to the local pizzeria which is a gem. This is when being a Wiltons’ guest makes sense: they know  Bournemouth inside out.

This is an old building:  the windows are rickety and the walls are thin but with an old building comes bags of character. A lot of restoration work has been carried out but Gerry Wilton knows that much much more could be invested. “‘I could invest another half a million pounds to renovate the building further,”‘ he says. “But that would not generate more takings.”

People who book in do so for the experience. It’s fun, it’s romantic and it is extremely well run. Extras, such as a mini chocolate fountain and a bottle of Cava, can be pre-ordered for your room and try the Romantic Package that also comes with two chocolate cocktails and a slab of chocolate with a personalised message “We have had a few guests asking us to write ‘will you marry me?’,” Roo says. I am not sure that I would like to be proposed to via a half kilo of chocolate but I certainly liked to come down for breakfast and be greeted with a chocolate fountain and a chocolate filled pancake wishing me “Good morning” in chocolate letters.

The Chocolate Boutique Hotel also organises chocolate workshops at weekends and team building events on request.