School summer holidays. The sun is big in the sky, elastic days stretch on for ever, and it’s your time-honoured parental duty to give the children a bucket-and-spade break at the beach. But how should you set about this? Even low-star hotels seem to charge the earth in high season. Cottage rental is all very well, but it’s usually a full week or nothing in summer — and anyway, this is supposed to be a holiday for you, too. Suppose you don’t want to spend every morning making their beds and their breakfasts?

These days, there is an affordable alternative — smart, even sassy B&Bs and guesthouses that have woken up to the renaissance in the British seaside and our clamour for short-break sun. These are places that serve up a proper family welcome in spotlessly simple lodgings — and without a flannelette sheet or fire-breathing landlady in sight.

We’ve found 10 stays in Britain’s best beach hot spots, all for about £100 a night for a family of four. In August. And if that’s still too expensive, we’ve thrown in some snazzy seaside hostelling options, too.

Unless stated, all prices are per night in shared ensuite rooms in August, and include breakfast. Youth-hostel prices are for YHA members; add £3 per adult, £1.50 for under-18s for non-members

THE BEACH HOUSE
West Wittering, Sussex

Susan and Steve Marks swapped the sands of Bahrain for the sands of Sussex a year ago, and they’ve set about filling the Beach House with family cheer. It’s already a West Wittering institution: by day, a quietly hip cafe for tousle-haired windsurfers sipping skinny lattes, by night, an à la carte restaurant with stripped pine, claret walls and children’s portions of the lipsmacking local seafood. The bedrooms are light and unfancy with beachy-bright colours, you can have breakfast on the wooden veranda, and the blue-flag strand is a 10-minute walk away. “In the evening,” says Susan, “pack the kids off to bed and dinner’s all yours.”

At the beach: West Wittering is the best blast of wild seaside in quick-hit range of London. Ninety minutes from town, you’re on a sandy, sporty beach with ample room for both kitesurfing and sandcastle contests, some of it protected by lifeguards, the rest by the National Trust. No amusement arcades, just dunes for jumping off, bike trails along the harbour to Chichester (www.chichestercyclehire.co.uk), and maybe an afternoon of family windsurfing tuition from X-Train (01243 513077, www.x-train.co.uk).

Details: family rooms sleep four or six: £75 for two adults, £15 for under-13s sharing, £25 for older children; 01243 514800, www.beachhse.co.uk.

HAVELOCK HOTEL
Shanklin, Isle of Wight

The Havelock (pictured, above) is a vaguely Italianate villa that harks back to the days when the Victorian gentry repaired to Wight for their three-month summer constitutional. But Julian Chapman runs it with very modern guests in mind: “They want comfortable rooms and attentive service, but they don’t want to be forced to eat in the hotel every night.”

They also want to bring the children: there are nine family rooms here, including the best two in the house, set in the original gentlemen’s drawing room with ornate balconies and picture-window views of the sea. Sunbathe by the hotel’s palm-fringed, pantiled outdoor pool and you could almost be in Portofino.

At the beach: the Havelock is up above the cliffs at the “Old Village” end of town, with its thatched inns, poetry connections and Shanklin Chine (www.shanklinchine.co.uk), a deep-green ravine with a fairy-glen feel. At the bottom is blue-flagged Sandown Bay, the island’s busiest seaside playground, big on watersports, packed with traditional treats and proud of it. For a quieter beach experience, head west, past the endearingly homespun Blackgang Chine amusement park (www.blackgangchine.com), to Compton Bay, backed by billowing downs.

Details: a week for two adults and two children aged 5-14 sharing costs £696, or £780 including car-ferry crossing to the island; 01983 862747, www.havelockhotel.co.uk. But the Havelock doesn’t take under-5s: if you’ve younger children, try the Lake Hotel at nearby Bonchurch (01983 852613, www.lakehotel.co.uk).

LIZARD YOUTH HOSTEL
Lizard, Cornwall

Ah, youth hostelling. Scratchy blankets and scratchy beards; middle-aged men discussing the price of dubbin while rubbing two dominoes together to make a spark. Well, no, actually, it’s not like that any more. The bright, shiny, 21st-century YHA has changed (it had to), and Lizard is among its new wave of “five-star” hostels, featuring family-sized private rooms with double beds and panoramic views.

The location is five-star too, on a clifftop eyrie right next to Lizard Point lighthouse. The building is a Victorian hotel rescued by the National Trust: expect stuccoed ceilings and period wainscoting, plus a spanking new kitchen and snug lounge. This is for adventurous families seeking seaside thrills — who may choose to team it with a tepee stay and windsurfing at Coverack hostel, eight miles up the coast (www.coverack.co.uk).

At the beach: smuggled under serpentine cliffs a mile west of Lizard village (and a 10-minute walk from the nearest car park), Kynance Cove is the sort of beach kids fall head over heels for: sometimes literally, since the breakers can send you into circus-quality somersaults. Crags and caves, hard white sand and a scrumptious turf-topped cafe that only adds to the romance. Who needs an artificial Eden?

Details: family rooms sleep between three and six; adults £15.50; under-18s £10.95 (room-only); 0870 770 6120, www.yha.org.uk. Other seaside youth hostels with great digs for families include Wells-next- the-Sea in Norfolk (£13.95/ £9.95; 0870 770 6084) and Portland in Dorset (£17.50/ £13.95, 0870 770 6000).

LIBERTY HOUSE
St Agnes, Cornwall

Liberty House (pictured, right) has been in the Bareham family since the 1920s. It’s a big ice-cream-slice of a place, with five slate-silled, oak-beamed bedrooms. The breakfast sausages rush from the village butcher to Rosie’s Aga to your plate, and at the weekend, Adam rustles up slap-up dinners: usually scallops or sardines straight off the harbour wall.

But the most delectable treat here is the location: spirited away in a cream-of-Cornish valley that slashes down to the sea. Barn owls make their bed in the old railway arches, herons catch their breakfast in the stream, and Adam says the garden is “big enough to stage a cracking game of family cricket: hit it in the stream and you’re out”.

At the beach: it’s a half-hour streamside stroll to Trevellas Porth, a locals’ hideout with rock pools, snorkelling and Blue Hills Tin (www.bluehillstin.com), where for a few pounds you get to explore the world of the tin-miner. But the little Barehams love nearby Chapel Porth, a National Trust cove with lifeguards and a cafe specialising in hedgehogs — that’s Cornish ice cream wrapped in nuts. The Famous Five never had it this good.

Details: family rooms sleep three or four; £36 per adult, £18 for under-13s, £27 for older ones; 01872 553745, www.libertyhouse.co.uk.

COMBAS FARM
Croyde, Devon

Gwen Adams not only does the best farmhouse B&B in North Devon, she’s been doing it for 51 years. Her 140-acre sheep farm snuggles in a secret valley between the world-beating beaches of Woolacombe and Croyde, and the hospitality is vintage too: wisteria-wisped bedrooms, water from the spring, home-made strawberry yoghurt for breakfast.

Experience has taught Gwen two things: not to do evening meals — “We grew all the ingredients ourselves, and it was murder!” — and that children prefer their seaside holiday to be free-range. No problem: while your striplings are scrumping in the orchard or footballing in the meadow, you can walk up into the fields to catch the sunset and count the stars. Bliss.

At the beach: a five-mile stripe of sand stretches north and south of Combas Farm, so there’s room to find your own acre of private paddling even in highest summer. Croyde is famously surfy, and has good family dining at the Thatched Barn inn. Woolacombe is better for kids, with a blue flag and beach-hut hire (£65 per week, 01271 871260).

If you want hooves with your white horses, Woolacombe Riding Stables (www.woolacombe-ridingstables.co.uk) does children’s lessons, stablehand days and surfside canters.

Details: family rooms sleep three or four; a week’s stay costs £187 per adult; from £93-£140 for each child depending on age; 01271 890398, www.combasfarm.co.uk.

PORTCLEW HOUSE
Freshwater East, Pembrokeshire

Word is slowly getting out about the Pembrokeshire coast. It’s every bit as dramatic as Cornwall, but less crowded. And if you stuck a pin in the middle of the best stretch, it would land on Portclew House. This handsome mansion stands just behind the beach at Freshwater East, with three acres of grassy grounds for romping in — ball games definitely allowed.

Sarah Jackson’s approach to hospitality is to keep it in the family: sons Geraint, Craig and Matthew ferry your “full Welsh” from the Aga to your alfresco table on the breakfast balcony, while husband Stephen is off restoring yet another outbuilding to its original Georgian pomp. The rooms are fairly simple — there’s the odd tasselled lampshade and floral drape — but who needs fancy decor when the view from every window is a masterpiece?

At the beach: with Freshwater East just down the lane, good, clean seaside fun is right on tap. However, you’ll be sharing it with the denizens of the (fairly understated) Trewent holiday village. For shells without chalets, you need Barafundle Bay, three miles to the west — probably the cutest kiss curl of unspoilt sand in Wales. For rainy days and fundays, rollercoasters (www.oakwood-leisure.com) and go-karts (www.heatherton.co.uk) are within easy range.

Details: family rooms sleep three to five; £30 per adult, half-price for under-14s. Self-catering cottages also available; 01646 672800, www.portclewhouse.co.uk.

LLWYDIARTH FAWR
Llanerchymedd, Anglesey

If, as the signs say, Anglesey is the “Mother of Wales”, Margaret Hughes must be the Mother of Anglesey. She’s nurtured five sons, six grandchildren and thousands of bed-and-breakfasters at Llwydiarth Fawr (pictured, above), and won five tourist-board diamonds and the curious title “Welsh Farm Wife of the Year” for her pains.

Her rather august 1820s farmhouse has guest doubles and roomy family suites, all with tasteful Laura Ashley makeovers for 2006. But it’s Margaret’s finishing touches that make the place special: fresh flowers and log fires come as standard, and she prides herself on tailor-making every day of your stay, whether you want to ride, golf or fish (on the farm’s private lake), or simply need tips on where to find the best beaches and bites to eat.

At the beach: 150 miles of choice. For little ones, it’s got to be tot-tastic Benllech, a Victorian resort with donkey rides and safe paddling. For teens, North Wales Wetsuits (07799 406758) does surf hire and tuition at Cable Bay. Everyone in between will love blue-flagged Llanddwyn Bay, and its enigmatic island spiked with cannons and ruined cottages — perfect for playing make-believe.

Details: a family double sleeps four (£85, B&B); suites sleep five or six (£100). Self-catering cottages also available; 01248 470321, www.angleseyfarms.com/llwydia.

THE WATERFRONT
Anstruther, Fife

The restaurant-with-rooms revolution is advancing into all manner of unlikely outposts. Chris and Louise Lewis have turned the old bakery on Anstruther’s rickety-roofed harbourfront into a sharp-as-mustard bistro, with dark chocolate paintwork and lots of oak and slate. Anstruther is one of several dinky fishing villages strung like a shell necklace around the Fife shore, and two years ago, the Lewises added some equally tasty bedrooms overlooking the marina.

Their rather chic setup (plum linens, polished floors and all) still finds room for families: the big rooms have doubles plus bunks, which are specially configured so the children get their own tucked-away tellies for watching in bed.

At the beach: Anstruther itself is more fishing-trawler than shrimping-net, but very charming with it — there are boat trips to spot seals and puffins on the Isle of May (www.isleofmayferry.com). Just round the coast there’s the dignified resort of St Andrews, with its two miles of blue- flagged bucket-and-spade heaven called West Sands. Closer still there’s Elie, a more villagey seaside strip, where little beachcombers can hunt for garnets in Ruby Bay, while more active kids can splash out on canoeing, waterskiing and banana-boating from the watersports centre set in a pier-side granary (www.eliewatersports.com).

Details: family rooms sleep between four and seven; adults £38, children £10-£15 depending on age. The Waterfront also has smart self-catering apartments; 01333 312200, www.anstruther-waterfront.co.uk.

WHITE LINEN GUESTHOUSE
Whitby, North Yorkshire

With their inspired combo of boutique-hotel decor and B&B welcome, Richard and Heidi Thomson are in grave danger of giving the British guesthouse a good name. Richard grew up sizzling sausages at his parents’ Whitby hotel, but travelled the world before returning to take up the toast rack again. His morning menu now runs from the refined (smoked salmon and scrambled eggs) to the rustic (Whitby kippers from the famous Fortune’s smokehouse), and daughter Poppy has the waitressing brief.

Heidi, meanwhile, is in charge of design: 10 crisply trimmed white bedrooms in a restored Georgian shipping magnate’s house with original shutters and chandeliers. Family stays are good value and in short supply, so move fast to bag a few days this summer.

At the beach: Whitby is for people who like their beach holiday encrusted in barnacles — from White Linen it’s a 10-minute walk along the river to the harbour, with its jolly- jack-tar atmosphere. From there, two miles of blue-flag, yellow-sand beach unfurl under West Cliff; plenty of room for extreme Frisbee-throwing in the North Sea breeze. When the tide does for your sandcastles, there is ruined Whitby Abbey (www.english-heritage.org.uk/Whitbyabbey), with its creepy Dracula connections; or the steam train to Goathland — Hogsmeade in Harry Potter (www.northyorkshiremoorsrailway.com).

Details: family rooms sleep three and four; two adults from £70, £10 per child under 11; 01947 603635, www.whitelinenguesthouse.co.uk.

NEWLANDS OF SOUTHWOLD
Southwold, Suffolk

“It wouldn’t be the same without children staying here: they bring the place alive.” So says Penny Ball, all-round force of nature and mastermind of Southwold’s best-value family B&B. Penny has taken a rambling suburban house 15 minutes’ walk from the promenade and bolted on four spotlessly simple suites in a garden annexe — a bit granny-flattish from the outside, but with microwaves, fridges and complimentary cots for babies, they are spot-on for young families.

Penny’s a mad-keen gardener, and in the morning there are both cornflakes and fishflakes for the little ones, so they can serve breakfast to the residents of the garden pond. But Newlands’ clinching attraction is the heated indoor pool, which means your water babies will get to splash even if it’s sleeting.

At the beach: with its retro Victorian pier, Punch & Judy shows and Electric Picture Palace, Southwold is old-fashioned to the point of haughtiness. Your children won’t notice this. They’ll be too busy pootling on the safely shelving beach beside the pier, where sand fights gamely against shingle and there’s a dedicated zone for windsurfers and waterskiers. The Southwold Denes stretch is quieter, while the wildlife park at nearby Kessingland (www.africa-alive.co.uk) makes a stirring afternoon safari.

Details: family rooms sleep three to five, from £85 for two adults, plus £15 for under-10s, £20 for older ones; 01502 722164, www.newlandsofsouthwold.co.uk.

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