Absolutely
TRAVEL THE HOTEL
The Scarlet is ultra-modern, smart, luxurious and eco-friendly. There are surprises in every corner, epitomised by the modern Ayurvedic spa which sits on a ridge just above the splendid Mawgan Porth. Details are key here; instead of a reception desk, friendly staff welcome guests with pots of tea and biscuits, and the hotel’s dog is available to take for walks on the beautiful beach below (guests’ dogs are welcome too). Split over four floors, the soothing aromas emanating from the spa waft through the hotel, including the restaurant, library and the ultra-relaxing retreat upstairs. Mawgan Porth awaits below with its host of walkers, kite-flying children and daredevils who do battle with the waves.
UK TRAVEL
The Scarlet Hotel, Cornwall THE SPA THE BEDROOM
With a door-less, curtain-less shower carved out from the sandstone bedroom wall and its equally-pleasing and spacious freestanding bath lying just at the end of an oversized bed, a room at The Scarlet Hotel immediately impresses with its original flair. The rooms are all different, but they share inviting on-trend individuality. Our bath looked out onto a decked and roomy courtyard, while a modern staircase beside the open shower, led up to a lighthouse-like turret, from which splendid views of the vast beach below could be enjoyed from the padded cushions in the lounge area. The sustainability theme continues into the bedrooms at The Scarlet, where hot water is warmed by a biomass boiler fuelled on wood chips, while all the products are natural and smell as fresh as the environment that plentifully surrounds the hotel.
A floor down from The Scarlet’s restaurant is the Scarlet Spa. A whole host of treatments (all carried out with the Scarlet’s own range of Ayurvedic products, of course) await the newcomer: from facials administered with wildcrafted herbs and hot steamed poultices to a two-person rhassoul (a steam and mud-like hammam) so there’s no shortage of indulgences on the list. To spoil you further, there are yoga, meditation and mother and baby classes, including the chance to use both the spa’s un-chlorinated indoor swimming pool and reed-filtered natural clifftop outdoor pool, whose nearby hot tubs provide the perfect spot from which to storm-and-cloud-gaze.
THE RESTAURANTS
Before one’s even tasted the freshly-caught, elegantlypresented Cornish grub served up at The Scarlet’s restaurant, it’s hard not to fall for the views outside the tall glass windows overlooking Mawgan Porth. Chef Tom Hunter goes by the seasons, meaning that while fish is constantly on the menu (as well as a range of delicious cuts of meat and vegetarian options), all side-dishes, salads and components of the restaurant’s main meals are characterised by the freshest and most recently-picked natural wonders growing all around. Expect puddings laced with fresh berries in the summer and hearty grouse and red cabbage in the autumn.
THE BATHROOM
Be sure to request a bedroom with a private bathroom if that’s what you prefer, as many at The Scarlet are designed for those who don’t embarrass easily. But whatever you opt for, the mosaiclined showers and capacious baths, fit for the most indulgent of bubble baths (with in-built televisions, of course), are rewardingly soothing.
GET THERE
A regular service runs between London Paddington and Bodmin Parkway on First Great Western Trains, after which The Scarlet is a 25 minute drive. There is also the ‘Night Riviera’ sleeper train available for overnight journeys to the South West coast from London. firstgreatwestern.co.uk
PRICE TAG
From £190 per room. To book, call 01637 861800 or visit scarlethotel.co.uk
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