FAMILY STAY AT THE BEDRUTHAN HOTEL

I’ve driven past this hotel many a time over the years and gasped at the 1960s architecture perched above the village of Mawgan Porth… Imagine my surprise when I started researching somewhere to stay in Cornwall that was family friendly and time and again the recommendation was to look no further than The Bedruthan Hotel & Spa. I’ll be honest, I did look a little further, but on paper it’s pretty unbeatable if you’re looking for something family friendly. And the view from the hotel, is spectacular!

We booked the ‘baby came too’ package which made life incredibly simple, as well as relaxing and enjoyable for all of us. It’s a dinner, bed and breakfast rate with 2 hours of childcare included each day, one evening of babysitting, a baby listening service and an hour in the sensory spa garden. It was, happily, a little cheaper than a similar ish package just down the road at its competitor hotel.

We booked what the Bedruthan calls a villa. Counting the pushchairs outside these alongside the ‘shush baby sleeping’ signs, I’d say this is where families tend to stay, with the main hotel block being quieter. A villa is a junior suite and is set up well for a small family. One walks into a kind of ante-chamber part of the room which has 2 bunk beds and, in our case, also a cot bed.

The bathroom is off this room, and thankfully it has a bath so bedtime routine we could do as normal. Through the doors (or over the shelving) is the main part of the bedroom with a super king-size, desk and chairs in front of a picture window to the garden and sea beyond.

There’s plenty of space in the suite, I don’t pack lightly when travelling with the little one and we had space! The bunk beds became excellent storage shelves for us! That’s in addition to the many cupboards. I didn’t like the cupboard design much, a bit conferencecy. But on reflection, good quality and hence very practical for boisterous toddler guests!

The room has a little fridge – my only complaint is that it’s just too small in a family hotel to be useful. We needed to store his milk (easy to get either from the hotel, or the shop in the village) as well as bits and bobs of food and fruit that we bought to go alongside the hotel food. There wasn’t quite enough space.

The room divider we found really useful. At bedtime we rolled down the blind and partially shut the adjoining doors and it would plunge the baby room into darkness and we could continue to exist is our part of the suite. Although as you can see, he did like to nap on our super-comfy bed too!

The villas open out on to terraces and then onto the garden area. We didn’t have good weather during our stay, and when it was fine we were on the beach. But we did still use the garden – the little one always needs fresh air and as walking is fairly new to him he loved the space! And the view from the Bedruthan is spectacular come rain or shine, and sunset is there to be seen.

Food and drink was excellent. It all comes with a stunning view too! On the drinks menu was my favourite Camel Valley sparkling rose by the glass as well as other Cornish tipples. A great wine list, and there looked to be a good choice of local gin too. We didn’t spend much time in bar as that’s for adults only. There is a far larger lounge area adjoining it for families, with plenty of sofas, a fireplace out of reach of wandering babies and a play room hidden in the corner!

The food offering is hearty and delicious. At breakfast, lunch and tea the families are in one part of the restaurant, so there is quieter space for other guests. The hotel has bibs, plates, bowls, cups etc for the little ones too which saves on the amount of washing up I needed to do. Breakfast is buffet style and we always found plenty for us and the baby.

On two evenings we ate in Wild Herring. I loved this for a few reasons. It was 50 paces from our bedroom and so if either the babysitter or the baby listening service buzzed, we could have been back with baby as quickly as we would at home. On the night we used baby listening we also had our Wifi monitor on the table as it was the first time we’d done this and I was a little nervous. There was nothing to worry about. Other people’s buzzers were vibrating from time to time, it does work and the old hands were clearly comfortable doing it. We revelled in being able to have two date nights in a row, as many as we’d had in a whole year running up to the trip! The food was excellent. 5 or 6 choices for starter and main course. All excellent, local, intricate and tasty. The staff are clued up on allergens and dishes can be easily adjusted if you need them to be.

But these days, holidays are as much about the baby as they are about us. And thankfully, all the good stuff above for us is matched by good stuff for him!

I suspect that there were 3 things out baby that came too favoured, maybe 4. Firstly the soft play. It is as big as one you would pay to visit, and as good. Ball pits, slides, a climbing frame, vehicle rides. The little ones mind almost exploded when we arrived after 3 hours in the car and were taken here as our room was readied! So did mine – I didn’t know the hotel had one, hallelujah!

His second favourite place was the pool – plenty warm enough to spend some time in there together. There’s a paddling pool and a normal pool. We had a great splash about together. It wasn’t busy even though it was a rainy day. They also stock Green People which makes me happy! And come to think of it the hotel shop (for adults though) has some gorgeous things to buy too!

Third I would say are the play areas dotted around the grounds, we didn’t find swings, but we did find a LandRover and a digger so he was happy.

And fourth, the childcare – Baby Bees. It’s kitted out as well as any nursery and the staff are fantastic. We left him here twice – the first time he had 1:1 care and happily played solidly for 2 hours with enough toys for an army of children. The second time he had a bit of a fever but we needed to leave him as we packed up the car to leave. They took good care of him and he even had a little snooze.

And while baby has all these facilities you’ll be glad to know there’s some fun adult only ones too. The spa is lovely. We had an hour in the sensory spa garden included in our booking rate and we really enjoyed it, while the baby was in childcare. So good it was inclusive as if it hadn’t been we probably would have neglected to let ourselves relax so much! I hadn’t read about the sensory garden and was very impressed. A quiet outdoor corner near the outdoor pools has been transformed into a haven of peace and quiet.

Over the hour you’re guided through different areas that do good things to your skin. A dry rub, then a shower. Onto the sauna for 15 minutes, followed by an ice bucket of water over your head (so it is quiet apart from this moment). Then straight into 3 different temperature hot tubs one after the other. A wet rub and shower and finally a warm foot bath and some herbal tea by the fireplace. It was relaxing and a little slice of life before baby, such a treat to be able to fit this in and the hotel were very good to arrange this around meal times and childcare times. I also had a relaxing facial which I really enjoyed, dozing during the treatment and glowing afterwards is always a good sign.

The location of the hotel for me was key. It’s in a quiet village and hasn’t taken over the water front. It is a little stroll either into the village or down a steep hill to the beach, and I like that. The beach at Mawgan Porth is lovely, it’s clean and protected, although the tide definitely comes in fast so you need to be aware of it. In the village there is a corner shop where you can pick up most everything you need food and drink wise (they sell a lot of whole milk, and thankfully we even found his beloved watermelon!!), some little surf shops, places to get ice cream, a wine/coffee bar and a pub. It’s nice to have all of that in walking distance of the hotel – it makes a bit of an event of going to the beach or for a stroll. And it is nice to have non-hotel options on your doorstep.

I do think the hotel needs a little bit of a spruce up, some of the exterior is a little tired as are some of the furnishings in the bedrooms and bar. But it is only aesthetics and didn’t detract one bit from our excellent stay. The hotel has been hosting family holidays for years and years and is onto a great thing that works like a dream.

Staying in a family orientated hotel really does make a holiday easy. The Bedruthan facilities are set up for families and nobody really cares if your baby screams in the night. And you don’t have to care either as it’s expected! Everyone’s in it together and understands the stresses. And the formula clearly works, we left relaxed. Baby tea time is when all the parents have a gossip together while the children throw food around. It was clear everyone else was revelling in their relaxation too!

I’ll happily take un-aesthetically pleasing if it caters for the full family, puts the child first in everything and is moments from a beach that it has gorgeous views across.

My spa treatment was gifted by the Bedruthan as part of our stay.

And if you fancy a stay but want more ideas for visiting Cornwall, then look no further than here!