Olga Polizzi's creation is a revelation, a really first-grade British seaside hotel where her talent for hospitality is evident in every perfectly attuned detail, from valet parking to the navy-blue Hunter wellies for guests to borrow. The building, a former yacht club, is unremarkable but you don't notice the 1940s architecture as the 29-room hotel sensibly defers to the glorious view over the quiet bay of St Mawes. The best room is the glass-faced restaurant which opens out onto decked terraces with elegant loungers, blue-canvas umbrellas and potted topiary. The food is exceptional (three courses costs £35 per person), with a delicate touch brought to the freshest seafood, from salt-baked bream to marinated squid salad with caperberries and dill. The guestrooms, all with sea views, feature seagrass matting soft enough to walk about on with bare feet, rose-head showers, tongue-and-groove bathrooms and clotted-cream-coloured linen curtains. The hotel is uncluttered and spacious, even the larger family suites with extra beds, and some rooms have private terraces. Walls and furnishings reflect the Cornish light even in winter, a fine time to come. You can walk out from the hotel and join a quiet footpath within minutes, go rock-pooling, or take the hotel's 48ft, sloop-rigged mahogany yacht out for a day's sailing. In high season, expect lots of plummy accents from London: Tresanton is no secret. Hotel Tresanton was featured in our special feature on UK Hotels and our guide to Cornwall.
COST
Doubles £120-£265; family suites £260-£365
CONTACT
Hotel Tresanton, St Mawes, Truro, Cornwall (01326 270055; fax: 270053; email: info@tresanton.com; www.tresanton.com)
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