AHOME FORTHE HOLIDAYS
CONTINUING our occasional series looking at Britain’s best self-catering accommodation, we head to Poldark Country.
WHERE: St Ives, Cornwall, just above Porthmeor Beach. This is rugged, romantic, far-west Cornwall. And it has just received a tourism boost no advertising campaign could buy – the BBC remake of Poldark. It’s easy to conjure up a vision of the show’s Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson hurrying by on urgent business every time you spot the desolate chimney of an abandoned tin mine. But there’s nothing remote and sleepy about St Ives, made chic by generations of artists. Now it has its own world-class gallery, the Tate St Ives.
THE PROPERTY: Blue Moon is a former fisherman’s cottage, just for two. Big bold photos, mirrors everywhere and welcoming white paintwork give the impression of space. One bedroom has a custom built ‘super-king’ bed, under exposed rafters. The second has become a useful dressing room.
WHAT TO SEE: The 2,000-yearold stone dwellings at nearby Chysauster Ancient Village. The remains line what may be England’s earliest village street.
WHO TO CONTACT: Beachspoke (beachspoke.com, 020 8740 3097) has four, one-bedroom designer properties in Cornwall – three in St Ives, the other in Mousehole. It also has a cottage at Churchill in the Cotswolds, sleeping four.
HOW MUCH: Rates, based on a three-night stay, range from £255 (Blue Moon, low season) to £1,320.
VERDICT: The perfect 21st Century suave, West Country stay for two, with fluffy dressing gowns, chic toiletries and wi-fi.