We arrived at the Scarlet Hotel in Cornwall just as the sky turned ink blue over gentle waves. Stopping the car in the middle of the deserted road we rolled down the window and simply swooned at our cliff-top view. Below us the beach stretched out, softly hugging the foam crests of the incoming tide. (And then we Instagrammed because you can take the bloggers out of London…)

 Disclaimer: We were very relaxed guests of The Scarlet Hotel but all of our blissful enjoyment and thoughts were very much our own…The Scarlet Hotel

We navigated the curving road around, heading further and further away from the surfing epicentre of Newquay and with one last hairpin bend worthy of Top Gear slow motion panorama, we found our home for the evening. Snugged into the cliffs, the Scarlett Hotel is a peaceful retreat, hiding away from the clanging updates of the world.

#nofilter

It was our last night on our Cornish roadtrip (in addition to our Truro stay we also spent a night in a fairly unremarkable hotel in St Ives but loved exploring the township – more soon, don’t worry) away from the busy streets of London, and it was a lovely high
note to end on.

This adults-only oasis of calm was just what the doctor ordered. The ethos of this hotel in Cornwall is very much comfort and ecological friendliness. Doing away with a traditional reception desk, we were invited to settle on the foyer couches, checked in and were taken on a quick tour of the modern building resting gently on the cliffside.

Then unpacking into our room for a quick refresh after our journey up from St Ive’s (via St Michael’s Mount and Land’s End) we pushed our dinner reservation back to explore the room. A good-sized twin room complete with full bath, walk-in shower/wet room and private balcony, the temptation to sink into our beds was a siren call we gallantly ignored.

Tearing ourselves from our cosy cocoon (the partially frosted glass of the shower/wet room definitely means you need to visit with someone you love – though with such a romantic setting why would you visit with some you don’t like?) we wandered across to our dinner reservation in the hotel restaurant.

At this point I will apologise for the phone photos of our meal – it didn’t seem right to take a noisy camera into the midst of relaxing diners – and the lights were comfortably subdued over our cosy corner table.

Our 3-course meal was delicious and involved a fair amount of indecision over who won ‘best-chosen dish’ but I’m fairly confident my scallop starter and honeycomb dessert won the supporting roles, whilst Sam’s marine-inspired main took the title as a leading light. I’ll blog about the meals separately at a later date as non-guests who fancy a delectable meal can book into an evening of indulgence – or take a leisurely spa lunch – which is best enjoyed with the accompanying flight of sommelier recommended wines.

Cooked in a modern European style with Cornwall at it’s heart, their menus change each day and with the seasons. We tried for ourselves the delicious fare the Cornish county has to offer – each dish was innovative, organic and provided by sustainable growers, fishermen and farmers.

Waking up the next morning, I had my fill of prowling through the sleepy hotel – the sweet staff smiled hello, safely within call should I have needed anything (though pre-caffeine I’m not sure if actual words would have happened) as I wandered through peering out at the murky grey sky.

This beautiful hotel in Cornwall is designed to celebrate the rugged beauty of the coastline, each room is a showcase of the rugged beauty below – with spaces grandiosely framing the ocean and surprising peeps peppered throughout more intimate areas such as the games room, complete with pool table.

And the view from the restaurant, the various lounges and the bar, well it wasn’t so bad really.

If there was one drawback to our stay, it was that we spent too much time exploring the Cornish countryside to really indulge in our beautiful hotel room.

Oh, that, and we arrived on one of Jasper’s home days – he is their canine walking companion eager to wander through the nearby pathways and accompany guests who fancy a handsome fellow on their rambles. #firstworldproblems

Our beds were so delicious that I had trouble luring my Australian out from under her duvet, even after I had dimbled through a few laps of the pool and admired the view. Eventually, though I convinced her to open her eyes through the gratuitous order of piping fresh coffee – (there aren’t supplies in the rooms for ecological/wastage reasons but the team will bring it to the room any time there is a hankering) and requesting our breakfast.

We could have feasted in the restaurant, but chose to laze in our room, soaking up as many droplets of R&R as we could. Cinnamon dusted baked apple with a vanilla cream followed rarebit toastie crowned with a runny egg, and was simply perfect.

Booked prior to our visit, one of the two infamous cliffside hot tubs were booked for a morning soak, but as the raindrops softly pattered away, I was very much undecided on venturing outside.

Ummmming, aaaaaaaaahhhhhing and eventually chickening out I called reception to cancel my morning spot, only to be rightly convinced of going anyway. The wood-fire heated waters were a perfect tonic to the brisk weather and perfectly rounded out our stay. 

Had to do it.

I lingered for as long as I could. Sitting peacefully listening to the waves on the beach below, watching birds repair their winter worn nests, the cool air on my shoulders and a hot pot of fresh mint tea aromatically drifting on the breeze, I felt like the real world was a million miles away from our hotel in Cornwall.

Just that view. Right there.

Alas with a train back to London to catch, we didn’t try the cute-as-pie sauna pod only a few feet over from the hot tubs, but that simply gives us a reason to re-visit doesn’t it?

In stark, delectable contrast to our Truro home from home, the Scarlet Hotel in Cornwall was all things relaxation and intriguingly modern artwork, tucked around corners just begging for investigation.

All in all, our stay at the blissful Scarlet Hotel was spladn, that’s Cornish for gorgeous.

((Pin for later))