The Westcountry stole nearly half of the honours in a recent Times newspaper guide to Britain’s top luxury destinations for beachside escapes. Cornwall’s Poldark coastline grabbed the top two positions with Sky House at St Agnes in first place at its lush cedar clad setting just a short distance from Trevaunance Cove, followed by The Sand House at Portreath in second place. Another prominent Cornish favourite beachside setting was Trevone Farm, near Padstow with its four properties for private rental. In total, Cornwall took the lion’s share with ten out of the fifty beachside locations listed in the guide.
Photo: Bedruthan Steps
The region also featured strongly for top choice of boutique hotels with Cornwall taking fifty percent of the rankings plus a further top favourite in the Isles of Scilly. Results included the Polurrian Bay Hotel, Mullion; the Idle Rocks, St Mawes; the Beach Hotel, Bude; the Godolphin Arms, Marazion (opposite St Michael’s Mount); The Nare, Roseland Peninsula and Merchant’s Manor, Falmouth. Also listed was Karma on St Martins in the Isles of Scilly.
Photo: Mevagissey Harbour
However, this is no surprise to the residents of Cornwall who are already well aware of the many attributes the county has to offer tourists and local people alike. The recent large increase in tourism is no accident but is down to the vision of local businesses and the sheer hard work of owners and staff in building world class destinations for visitors across all sectors. Superb local produce from land and sea coupled with a surge in high quality kitchen skills has produced a gastronomic revolution and all set in a myriad of stunning locations offering a wide choice of accommodation styles. The really pleasing figures relate to the large number of returning visitors, particularly those that have only recently discovered Cornwall for the first time and have fallen under the spell of its enchanting uniqueness of being that much different from the rest of the United Kingdom.