Sarah Merson and family check in for a luxury stay at the Bedruthan Hotel and Spa...
Behind the unremarkable façade of an office block of a building lies The Bedruthan Hotel & Spa, a swish family friendly affair with some of the best views of the North Cornish coast.
It’s early on a Friday evening when we - my husband, three children and I - arrive here for a sneaky, mid-term weekend break. Only too ready to kick back we head straight to our room, a Sea View villa, which comprises a hugely spacious king-sized bedroom with it’s own bathroom and a separate children’s room with two sets of bunk beds and a further bathroom. Set high above the cliffs at Mawgan Porth, the hotel, and our room, overlooks the magnificent golden beach. The children can’t quite hide their excitement as we all stand at the full length glass doors that give direct access to a small terrace and beyond to an open grass area complete with lots of enticing play equipment.
In fact, Bedruthan Hotel boasts just about everything a child could wish for, and over the course of the weekend we experience most of it. We dine in the Wild Café; it’s brightly coloured, artsy furnishings and laid back, fun vibe complimenting the relaxed approach to practical family dining. It matters not if your child isn’t demonstrating the most perfect table manners here. The expectation from both the hotel staff and other guests is a realistic one. The menu, though, is in no way typical family fodder.
Driven by the seasons and inspired by specialist Cornish farmers, growers and fishermen, an interesting mix of both the traditional and more flamboyant, is on offer. And it’s all good, really good, especially the award-winning Cornish sausages on the breakfast buffet, of which, our youngest consumes an exceptionally large quantity of! At dinner, I’m delighted when our eldest son tucks in to Cornish crab bisque and our daughter acquires a taste for oak-smoked salmon and fennel salad. Open throughout the day, The Wild Café is big on home-made cakes too and offers picnics, particularly in high season when guests are out and about.
Food aside, Bedruthan hotel boasts a number of other delights. There’s an outdoor pool surrounded by brightly coloured loungers, which looks like fantastic summertime fun. We opt for the indoor pool, with escapist sea views of it’s own, and even manage a quick adult-only visit to the spa with its giant hydro pool, eucalyptus steam room and cedar wood sauna. The best (for me) is yet to come when my husband and I are treated to a kundalini back massage, a gentle and nurturing treatment, which sends me off into a heavenly dream-like state. We also visit the sensory spa garden, a seven-stage experience designed to detoxify and renew. Apprehensive at first about being outside in a crisp autumn chill, the sauna and wonderful cedar wood hot tubs warm both body and soul while the wet scrub of oil, seaweed and salt leave the skin feeling silken. We even take the cold drench challenge, which certainly leaves us tingling and alive!
Best of all perhaps, the children don’t mind that we might have been having fun without them, they are fully immersed in the 5-aside grass football pitch, tennis courts and the adventure playground. For younger ones there’s even a soft play room complete with ball pits and slides, and kids clubs for all age groups.
We take a bracing walk down to the beach before returning to the hotel lounge where we linger a while with afternoon tea and the weekend papers. The children play endless games of pool and by early evening there’s a disco. Throughout the year there are various workshops and courses as well as art and design fairs, a pottery studio and the hotel even has its own art gallery.
Overall, the hotel is comfortable, perky and practical with loads of colour, room to breathe and bags of activities to keep everyone happy whatever the weather. And it’s highly informal; the fact that the reception is nestled in the heart of the building, rather than awaiting you as you arrive, is testament to this. Apart from the Tranquillity Lounge and the Herring restaurant, both of which are for adults-only, our children love the fact that they’re free to roam at will.
Bedruthan Hotel, owned by two generations of one family, is something of a holiday haven for every age group. We love it.
Tel: 01637 861200
