Helen Warwick reviews the St Moritz Hotel in Wadebridge, Cornwall
Any excuse to visit or return to Cornwall is worth considering, where the waters are turquoise, the jagged cliff faces plummet into foamy swells and romantic landscapes sweep across its interior. I’d been on the hunt for a family hotel for my three children (7, 6, 8 months) – though one where there were no compromises for us grown-ups. Where we could dine on local seafood and sleep in Egyptian cotton sheets – but one where the kids could still be their free-spirited selves. St Moritz Hotel is just the place – a sort of New Age beachside bolt hole.
Less than five minutes from the epicurean hub of Rock and pitched on the headland of Trebetherick on the North Cornish coast, this Art-Deco-style hotel gazes across the Atlantic Ocean and the Camel Estuary. A shining white beacon devoted to the good times that’s a vision of old-world glamour mixed with the frills of family travel. Beneath intense blue skies, you could easily imagine it sitting in Miami Beach thanks to its fronds of palms and effortlessly cool interiors.
There are a mixture of rooms, suites, apartments and coastal villas, but we bedded down in one of its gargantuan garden suites with a nod to nautical design – bleached wooden floors, turquoise cushions, lovely white beds and shelving strung with vases. It’s split into two, with the master bed on one side, and a living area and bunks for the boys on the other so you feel like you’re essentially in two different rooms and can shut the kids away once they’ve dropped off to sleep.
There was an open-plan kitchen with all the paraphernalia – coffee-making machine, tin openers, crockery, you name it – plus a washing machine and dryer which was a godsend with our damp towels and beach clobber. Armchairs sat facing the floor-to-ceiling windows, opening to our private suntrap garden with sunbeds and tables and chairs, and I curled up here one afternoon to thumb through a book with the dazzling golden sun sending shafts of light onto the rug beneath my feet.
During one drizzly morning, we all headed to the indoor pool, passing the soothing fragrance of the Cowshed Spa sitting at the back of reception – another reason to return. But there’s plenty to keep the kids entertained throughout the day – from the Mini Mortiz kids’ clubroom with boxes of toys and film nights, to surf lessons for little ones and beach scavenger hunts. Little mouths are very well catered for too in the restaurants, from breakfast pancakes with mountains of fruit to kid’s-sized fish and chips in the Shorecrest Restaurant.
Bag a table here for coastal inspired, refined yet comforting dishes, where the kitchen team source shellfish from the beds of the Camel Estuary and fresh mussels from Rock. My tip? Go for the sea trout – a resplendent dish of crusted herbs over beautifully pink trout floating in crispy shards of chorizo, butterbeans, and mussels. For casual dining, head to the Seaside Restaurant & Bar overlooking the outdoor pool, and beyond, the blue waters of the Camel Estuary, where steaming bowls of mussels, wood-fired pizzas and salads are served – just the sort of place to smugly sip a glass of wine or two whilst the kids dart about the lawn.
The foamy swells of Polzeath are just a 10-minute walk down a steep road – a wide and gritty sort of beach, where body boarders arrive in their droves to plough over its waves and soar back to shore. We gazed as they arrived with their beach gear in pull-along trolleys, knocking windbreakers into the sand with mallets, carefully unfolding their camp chairs and squeezing into wetsuits before braving the water.
We, on the other hand, just had a beach blanket to laze on and few buckets and spades and were certainly one of the only few without wetsuits – but although the water was bracing, there wasn’t time to tentatively paddle in the shallows to acclimatise. The waves were coming thick and fast and seven-year-old Charlie raced into the pounding surf, gripping my hand as we dived into our first wave, laughing manically as broke out of the surface.
Once in, you don’t feel cold. It was only as we scrambled out of the waves, clutching each other’s hands, and attempted to dry ourselves with our damp, sandy beach towels, the chill began to kick in. Teeth chattering, we beelined straight for Surfside at the back of the beach – a laid-back beach bar with outdoor tables scattered across the sand and a terrace around the back where diners slurped rum cocktails. We ordered a round of marshmallow-topped hot chocolates, some halloumi fries and a bottle of albarino – which might just be the ultimate post-surf snack.
Back in our room at the St Moritz Hotel, we all felt too lazy and snug in our robes after hot showers to venture out again. And we spent our final evening eating room service (gorgeous fish and chips), sand rinsed from our hair, and watching the sun turn pink from our garden.
St Moritz Hotel is all so brilliantly set up for families. It’s cool and buzzing and takes you closer to some of Cornwall’s best bits. My verdict? A deeply spoiling hotel where everything is celebratory of the good life.
Tell me more about St Moritz Hotel in Cornwall.
St Moritz Hotel Cornwall 1a St Moritz Ct, St Moritz Villas, Trebetherick, Wadebridge PL27 6SD
T: 01208 862242
Garden suites at the St Moritz Hotel start from £300 a night B&B
