Tolkien really did sleep here. Well, sort of.

"Probably the Three Cups Hotel's most famous guest was JRR Tolkien. Tolkien and his younger brother Hilary used to stay here every summer with their guardian Father Francis Morgan, a Catholic Priest, between 1905 & 1910. During this period there is even a pencil sketch by Tolkien entitled Lyme Regis Harbour from the Drawing Room of the Cups Hotel which he produced as a 14 year old in 1906. It was also on this picture that Tolkien first used his famous JRT monogram. Tolkien then regularly returned to Lyme in the 1920s & 1930s with his young family and his now ageing guardian. This was during Tolkien's most formative years relating to his popular books The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trilogy which contain many allusions and images relating to Lyme and its surroundings."
Booklet, "Save the Three Cups Hotel"

"JRR Tolkein (sic) wrote part of The Lord of the Rings while staying at the Three Cups, which has been unoccupied for nearly 20 years, and GK Chesterton, the writer, was also a guest."
Newspaper cutting given in the leaflet.

www.savethethreecupshotel.co.uk