Sunday 20 March, 2005
Still Time to have the beach all to yourself
We've gone from snow to sunbathing in less than two weeks and we haven't even had our April showers yet, so you have the chance to hit the beaches before the summer mob flood in. SUSANNAH JOWITT matches the four best off-season beaches with four boutique hotels that provide modern comforts whatever the weather.
CORNISH CORKER
THE HOTEL: Outstanding cliff top setting over its own private beach, Driftwood (01872 580644/www.driftwoodhotel.co.uk) is fashionable as its 'concept' name suggests: blues, creams and bleached wood dominate comfy bedrooms (four new in May), an airy restaurant and cosy sitting rooms.
Chef Rory Duncan produces fancy food as good as his reputation (from London's One Aldwych hotel). Great children's touches include books and toys by the bed, a monitor and a tube of Smarties on the pillow. Doubles from £170 per night. B&B. Three course dinner: £32. Best room: No 10, for views over the bay.
THE BEACH: Private seven acres of heritage coastline overlooking Gerrans Bay, with rock pools aplenty and a feeling of blissful isolation. To the right is St Mawes, to the left Portloe and the jewel beach of Portcurnick.
SOUTH COAST STUNNER
THE HOTEL: As an ex-motel, The Place (01797 225057/www.theplacecambersands.co.uk) is more "moutique" than boutique, but don't let the exterior deceive you. Inside is a buzzy brasserie with pale oak flooring. Scandal-type chairs and a fresh coastal airiness that feels Australian. The food matches, with orders taken on Palm Pilots for uncomplicated local organic seasonal produce, including divinely fresh fish and seafood. The bedrooms triumph over their motel roots thanks to Egyptian cotton, sisal floor coverings, gadgets and fluffy towels. Doubles from £75 per night, B&B. Best room: No 17, a triple with its own outside door.
THE BEACH: Clamber up to Camber Sands, just 100 yards across the road from The Place. Two miles long and half-a-mile wide, it is divine off-season: snickering horses, scampering dogs and only a few humans dot the flat, buffeted expanse, deeply ridged by wind and tide.
WELSH WINNER
THE HOTEL: Perched in a commanding position at the sea entrance to Aberaeron harbour, the Harbourmaster's House (10545 570755/www.harbour-master.com) is a handsome Regency home transformed into the perfect boutique with dramatic original features and a cheery bistro. Thankfully, the nautical theme is kept to the odd porthole, timber blocks as side tables and sea colours splashed over tongue-and-groove woodwork. Seven rooms curl round a spiral staircase and there's a cottage two doors down: all are simple and chic, accented with hip fabrics and glorious cutting-edge wet-room bathrooms.
Doubles from £95 per night, B&B. Best room: Madona Suite at the top, with wraparound views.
THE BEACH: Deserted shingle seafronts lie within a minute's walk to both the north and south. Ignore the hideous concrete walkways and face out to sea at pebble level Make an afternoon of it and take a dolphin-spotting trip out to Cardigan Bay. Call the local tourist board on 01545 570602 for details.
NORTH NORFOLK NOOK
THE HOTEL: An 18th-century windmill now renovated to simple boutique standards, the Cley Mill near Wells-next-the-Sea (01263 740209/www.cleymill.co.uk) has character in spades. The old grain store, barley bin, stables and the original circular milling area house seven comfortable rooms, with scattered cushions and rugs, chunky sofas and antique, clawfoot baths. Dinner is served family-style at one long table in the original beamed warehouse. From £40pp, B&B (two sharing). Three-course dinner: £17.50. Best room: the circular Stone Room, with its own balcony and high ceilings.
THE BEACH: An hour's walk along a shingle beach from Cley to the seal colony at Blakeney Point, with its 300 to 400 furry inhabitants, will blow away the cobwebs. Lazier types can take boat trips from Mortson Quay (Bean's Boats, 1263 740505, £6 adults, £4 children).
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