To be honest, my wife and I were not sure we'd done the right thing when we booked 4 nights at The Castleton, as the owners were new to the place and new to the business.
We needn't have worried, as Julian and Maggie were extremely welcoming and very keen to ensure that our stay was comfortable. We are great ones for 'detail' – it's the little things that help to make such holidays successful – and The Castleton's proprietors made sure that everything was perfect. The food (breakfast) was excellent, the decor fresh and clean, the staff friendly and accommodating. The position in Swanage is very good, ten minutes stroll alongside the beach into town.
We've stayed in scores of B&Bs and hotels, found quite a few wanting, but it really is hard to think of anything bad to say about this place - if I had to, I guess that in high season parking might be an issue, but that would apply to many such places.
Overall, this place is excellent & highly recommended.
(We will be going back – there is far too much around Swanage and Purbeck to visit in just 4 nights.)

The Castleton is a superb B&B / guesthouse we fell upon, looking for a peaceful weekend in the Swanage Bay area.
We were welcomed by our hosts who were a delight and for whom no request was too much trouble. The attention to detail was a joy and the breakfast truly delicious. We will be back. Thank you to our hosts, Maggie and Julian. We understand they have only recently taken over at The Castleton. They are to be congratulated.

So many small hotels fail to live up to being anything special, so imagine our surprise when we stumbled on this little gem. Our hosts, Julian and Maggie went out of their way to insure that we were comfortable. Our beautiful, clean room was filled with extra touches, such as the well - stocked hospitality tray which included bottled water. We also had a DVD player and were invited to borrow books and DVD’s from a large selection in the comfortable lounge. So many places let themselves down with low quality breakfast ingredients; not so here, as the breakfast consisted of locally sourced free range eggs, bacon and quality sausages.
To add to our delight we were able to enjoy one of the best restaurants we have ever been to, only two minutes walk away. Our only regret was that we did not stay long enough.

As a family we have know stayed at the Castleton twice already this year. (it is that good). The whole Hotel is spotless. We have stayed in two differant rooms and both were well decorated and very well equipped. (our eight year old loved the powerful shower in the rooms), we had a seperate bedroom with a connecting corridor for the children which they thought was great.
(room 9). The owners Maggie and Jullian are both friendly, helpfull and made us feel very welcome from the miniute we walked in the front door. There is a very relaxing lounge with TV and Games for all the family to use. In the morning you could not fault the full english breakfast useing some local produce. The whole family are looking forward to staying again soon.