THE NICI is the former Savoy Hotel on Bournemouth's West Cliff, bought from Shearings by the Nicolas James Group, which also owns the Harbour Hotels. Phase one of the refurbishment finished in June 2022. The group presents it as a laid-back luxury resort on the south coast, with 106 bedrooms once the planned extension is counted.
The hotel is on West Hill Road, on the West Cliff above Bournemouth's beaches, postcode BH2 5EJ. The hotel's restaurant Old Harry Rocks takes its name from the chalk stacks of the Dorset coast a short way east, and its terrace looks over the sea.
The concept
The Nicolas James Group first announced a £20 million investment to turn the old Savoy into the first hotel of a new five-star resort brand. Corstorphine & Wright were the architects. A Country & Town House review put phase one at £25 million, and described 73 guest bedrooms, ten of them garden suites with outdoor hot tubs.
Room counts differ between sources: 73 in a 2022 review, 88 in a 2024 wedding magazine, and 106 in the planning proposal, which adds 21 new bedrooms. These figures plausibly reflect different phases. A council report on the next phase allows the hotel to replace an existing extension with a new spa and fitness building, more bedrooms, a rooftop restaurant and a garden cafe. A 2022 review said the rooftop was still to come, and no source found confirms that it has opened.
The interiors play on a Miami South Beach look: a candy-striped retro pool, tropical gardens and palm prints in the rooms, as the hotel's own page quotes The Times. It is an unusual register for an English seaside hotel.
Dining & wellness
South Beach is the hotel's seaside restaurant. Old Harry Rocks, opened in 2024, is a ground-level restaurant described as having about 120 covers and a terrace, serving fresh seasonal dishes. One restaurant guide mentioned occasional teething troubles at the start.
The NICI Spa offers a range of treatments, and the hotel has an indoor pool as well as the outdoor one.
