Location scouts tend to look for one of two things: somewhere that looks designed, or somewhere that looks lived in. Royal Maritime House is the second. It’s a working restaurant on the Ryde seafront, and nothing in it was put there for a camera, which is why it looks right on one.
This is a guide to what’s here, room by room, and the questions worth asking before you book a recce.
The dining room and bar
Deep blue walls, patterned paper, a lot of colourful art and tall windows onto the Solent. It reads as a room people actually eat in, because it is. The sea-view bar has the same outlook, if a scene needs a drink before the table.
The windows look north across the water towards Portsmouth. That tends to mean you aren’t fighting the sun straight through the glass at midday, and the Solent sits in the background of most angles without anyone having to arrange it.
The Cellar
On the lower ground floor are two private dining rooms, The 1945 and The 1982, each with one long table and a view into the wine cellar. The 1982 also has a window onto the kitchen. Chequerboard marble tables, chairs in burnt orange, dark walls and wine racks lit from within. With candles on the table it’s a completely different mood from upstairs, which is useful if you need an evening scene and a daytime scene from one location.
Outside
The terrace runs down to the sea wall with the beach on the other side. There’s a garden bar under a living wall hung with rattan lanterns, a deck with wicker chairs and a palm, and an outdoor kitchen with a ceramic barbecue, built with our partners at Vlaze. In summer the terrace fills with white parasols, which look good from a drone.
The sea wall is the thing photographers find first. A plate, a bottle or a product on that stone, with nothing behind it but water, needs very little else.
Plan around the tide
At low tide the sand at Ryde runs out for about half a mile. At high water the sea comes right up to the wall. Neither is better, but they are different pictures, so check the tide tables before you fix a call time and tell us which one the shot list needs.
Sound
This is a seafront. There are gulls, there are people on the beach in summer, and the hovercraft comes and goes along the Esplanade. Interiors are calmer, and The Cellar, being downstairs, is the quietest part of the house.
When to shoot
The restaurant is open to the public Thursday to Sunday. Monday to Wednesday the house is closed to the public, so those are the days when a crew gets the run of it. If you need a shot of the restaurant full and working, that’s a different conversation, and one to have early.
Getting here
There’s no parking on site, but there are two public car parks within two minutes’ walk, one directly opposite. Crews travelling light can come as foot passengers: the FastCat from Portsmouth Harbour takes 22 minutes to Ryde Pier Head, and the hovercraft from Southsea lands on the Esplanade. Vehicles cross on the car ferries from Portsmouth and Southampton.
What to send us
- The shot list, or a mood board
- Dates, and how flexible they are
- Crew size and roughly how much kit
- Which rooms or spaces you need
- Whether you need food cooked for camera
- Power, parking or access needs you already know about
We’ll tell you plainly what the house can and can’t give you. Rates, crew limits and access details are on the events page, and the enquiry form goes straight to the team.
Questions we get asked
Which days can you film at Royal Maritime House?+
Monday to Wednesday, when the restaurant is closed to the public, are the quietest days. Filming while the restaurant is open needs agreeing in advance.
Is there parking for a crew?+
Not on site. There are two public car parks within two minutes’ walk, one of them directly opposite.
Can we shoot on the beach?+
The beach is public and sits right below the sea wall. At low tide the sand runs out for about half a mile, so check the tide tables when you plan.