Sun, Sea and Rain! A Week in Cornwall

Following my last post 'I'll be holidaying in England this year' I have actually been to Cornwall and very nice it was too! My husband and I re-allocated our flight budget on indulgent hotels and spent many an hour pottering around sea fronts and gift shops.

Our first stop was the Hotel Tresanton in the picturesque village of St Mawes on the tip of the Roseland peninsula, about half way down the east coast of Cornwall. We loved its ambience of understated, traditional glamour supported by exceptional service and scrummy breakfasts. Originally created as a yachtsman's club in the 1940s, the Tresanton is created from a cluster of houses around a central terrace with beautiful sea views. It was transformed into a hotel in the 1950s and was, by all reports, very famous for the next two decades. Purchased by Olga Polizzi in 1997, the hotel received a full re-fit Italian style! I can whole-heartedly recommend it, if you can get in of course.We also stayed at The Lugger in Portloe, actually very close to St Mawes.

The Lugger is also beautifully situated, although more remote without the shops and cafes of St Mawes, and created from a collection of fisherman's cottages. Personally I think the Lugger would actually be a wonderful winter retreat. Low ceilings and roaring log fires (not lit in June obviously) would be so cosy against the crashing waves outside against the imposing cliffs of the bay. Scenic cliff top walks head off in both directions from the hotel and the nearby town of Megavissey is worth a visit too.All in all the weather was not too bad. Whilst I wasn't spending hours on loungers or swimming in the sea, we had only one day of rain and spent that in St Ives between various art galleries including the Tate. I know lots of you look for 'guaranteed' sunshine and Cornwall is obviously not the destination for that. However, I can highly recommend it to anyone who is not desperate for a swimming pool and a sun lounger type holiday. Enjoy!