Cornwall - best place to stay?

Cornwall - best place to stay?

Author
Discussion

theplayingmantis

4,401 posts

88 months

Friday 23rd February
quotequote all
The Leaper said:
PurpleTurtle said:
My former in-laws lived in St Mawes, posh Cornwall, very genteel and popular with wealthy second home owners (pricing out the locals, a story worthy of a thread in itself) and sailing types.

Last time I was there Dave Richards of ProDrive fame had just bought the biggest house in the village and used to lease some land off a local farmer to land his helicopter.

If you get as far east as Falmouth from Newlyn you can park and take a passenger ferry trip over to St Mawes for a couple of hours. It's a nice village with a couple of good pubs, then there's a lovely walk up to St Mawes Castle. Sitting up there on a sunny day with an ice cream watching all the yachts and ships going into Falmouth ('the Carrick Roads') is a really nice way to spend an afternoon, and it saves you the big drive round the Roseland Peninsular.

https://www.falriver.co.uk/ferries/st-mawes-ferry

If you're pushing the budget then lunch on the terrace at The Tresanton on a sunny day is rather nice:

https://thepolizzicollection.com/hotel-tresanton/f...

June should be just right - hopefully nice weather but the right side of the holiday season. July and August is full of how shall we say, "a certain type".
I agree, St. Mawes is lovely, but is most definitely "posh Cornwall" and full of holiday homes. Well worth half a day's wandering there. Going by regular ferry from Falmouth is a a great way to arrive there. If you do decide to drive to St. Mawes you will use KIng Harry's Ferry, an event in itself.

Doesn't Dave Richards own The Idle Rocks Hotel at St. Mawes? If not now, he did a few years ago.

R.
St Mawes, isn't just posh cornwall, its more full on than that.

Yes 2nd homes have pushed up prices for locals in lots of places and forced them out, but st mawes is a different planet, no locals live there at all, such do the filthy rich proliferate that there are few if any tat shops aimed at the day tripper, its so far removed its almost as if a completely gated village has been dropped in, which is weird for such a relatively large settlement.

its nice enough scenery wise and on the water around there, but retains none of its cornish character that even such honeypots as padstow and st ives do. There are smaller settlements on the south coast that retain a similar air, particular around helford passage but none to the extent of st mawes, i just find it quite offputting. Although as other have said you can get a very good feed there from the hotels/restaurants mentioned and the bakeries are good, da bara and st mawes.

Also venture there to see supercars/Rolls/ high end bentleys driven exceptionally badly by old codgers or certain other types who cannot reverse (not will not, can not. even more so than the usual tourist) and drive in the middle of the road at you.

paulwirral

3,350 posts

141 months

Friday 23rd February
quotequote all
theplayingmantis said:
paulwirral said:
If you want quiet with a great sunset try and find something in Trevone , it’s ten mins on the bus to Padstow and there’s a decent beach bar and the oldest school pub in the world , it’s not a great pub by the way , but Trevone very nice and a lovely walk along the coast to a few other beaches and restaurants.
We’re spoilt as a mates family own a house there and it’s available to very few people .
Decent, clifftop, Seaview houses went for a comparative there song in the late 80s to late 90's...such a missed opportunity looking back, thanks mr stein.

what pub is that? didn't know there was one in trevone other than that old skool hotel place. we always used to go to the harlyn before its sad (and hideous) fate, or into st merryn after a day on trevone.

My favorite beach in the area once the tide is out a bit, space, a river to dam, exceptional rockpools (for the kids...), cliff walks to the hole or round to harlyn or the pool, decent food at the beachshop, sand firm enough for cricket, pretty, ok surf for beginners. i dont think they pump sewage out there anymore.

Around the corner at newtrain (where the outlet is) near where Mrs Thatcher and Dennis holidayed. be wary of the car park is visiting. the delightful babushka car park attendant of my youth has been replaced long ago with a camera system that gives about 1 minute grace period even if turning around. its almost as notorious in the duchy as the one at fistral.
The hotel is the one I mean , it’s not great but legend has it the family that own it refuse point blank to entertain any offers from developers or celebrity chefs looking to set up a new restaurant.
Mate’s parents bought this house in Trevone and when I stayed I looked and thought I could have one of these , right up until the moment I saw the prices !
I’ll make do with renting mateys .

theplayingmantis

4,401 posts

88 months

Friday 23rd February
quotequote all
geeman237 said:
And just to balance the good with the bad a bit…(and I used to live near one of these towns as a teenager in the mid 80’s)
https://youtu.be/PNqvU0_g6Cw?si=XXxIvtyzOPBTSf4P
Yes St awful is bad and has no redeeming features for a tourist perspective. But really that and the rest of the video is no worse than any other county. I'm curious where this New Quay place is, variously holidayed, lived and visited the county since i was a kid but never heard of that town! sums up the quality of the content creator.

theplayingmantis

4,401 posts

88 months

Friday 23rd February
quotequote all
paulwirral said:
theplayingmantis said:
paulwirral said:
If you want quiet with a great sunset try and find something in Trevone , it’s ten mins on the bus to Padstow and there’s a decent beach bar and the oldest school pub in the world , it’s not a great pub by the way , but Trevone very nice and a lovely walk along the coast to a few other beaches and restaurants.
We’re spoilt as a mates family own a house there and it’s available to very few people .
Decent, clifftop, Seaview houses went for a comparative there song in the late 80s to late 90's...such a missed opportunity looking back, thanks mr stein.

what pub is that? didn't know there was one in trevone other than that old skool hotel place. we always used to go to the harlyn before its sad (and hideous) fate, or into st merryn after a day on trevone.

My favorite beach in the area once the tide is out a bit, space, a river to dam, exceptional rockpools (for the kids...), cliff walks to the hole or round to harlyn or the pool, decent food at the beachshop, sand firm enough for cricket, pretty, ok surf for beginners. i dont think they pump sewage out there anymore.

Around the corner at newtrain (where the outlet is) near where Mrs Thatcher and Dennis holidayed. be wary of the car park is visiting. the delightful babushka car park attendant of my youth has been replaced long ago with a camera system that gives about 1 minute grace period even if turning around. its almost as notorious in the duchy as the one at fistral.
The hotel is the one I mean , it’s not great but legend has it the family that own it refuse point blank to entertain any offers from developers or celebrity chefs looking to set up a new restaurant.
Mate’s parents bought this house in Trevone and when I stayed I looked and thought I could have one of these , right up until the moment I saw the prices !
I’ll make do with renting mateys .
sadly the property boat in that area of cornwall was missed just before the millennium and will never return. there is value in other areas to be had but its very tricky now.
never been in there always a curious place from the outside...its time will come though. inevitable. look at the awfullness that became of the harlyn, and the travesty happening at whipsiderry.

paulwirral

3,350 posts

141 months

Friday 23rd February
quotequote all
paulwirral said:
The hotel is the one I mean , it’s not great but legend has it the family that own it refuse point blank to entertain any offers from developers or celebrity chefs looking to set up a new restaurant.
Mate’s parents bought this house in Trevone and when I stayed I looked and thought I could have one of these , right up until the moment I saw the prices !
I’ll make do with renting mateys .
I’ve just remembered the name , it’s the well parc , there was a family staying there on their holidays when we were there .
Friends joined us for a couple of nights and I took him into the well parc , I did warn him it was like stepping back in time.