A blissful break in fife
Looking for some relaxation? Try the East Neuk.
PULLING away from the beautiful Bay Hotel after a two-day break, my eldest daughter suddenly started sobbing uncontrollably.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” I ask, straining to make out the cause of her alarm in the rear view mirror.
“I don’t want to go home,” she eventually managed to snuffle, through fat dropping tears. “Can we not live in the hotel instead?”
I think it’s fair to say the Bay Hotel hit all the right notes with my family, especially heartbroken Megan, five, and her little sister, Iris, three.
So what was so special about the two days we spent there mollycoddled in bliss? In a word: everything.
From the Viking-sized breakfasts to the swimming pool temperature (suitably toasty), everything was just perfect.
Special mention has to be made of the balcony room views.
Overlooking Pettycur Beach between Burntisland and Kinghorn, the hotel affords amazing views over the Firth of Forth toward Edinburgh in the distance.
Both nights we were there we were wowed by fiery sunsets setting the sky ablaze, enjoyed on each occasion with a warming hot chocolate in hand. Spectacular.
The same could be said of the food served in the hotel’s elegant Horizons Restaurant.
Meaty succulent scampi, a burger so tall I got vertigo looking at it and fuss made of the kids while we enjoyed a crisp, zingy white wine, there really is something for everyone. And we soon discovered the Bay Hotel is the perfect base for exploring Fife and the Lothians.
Waking in our modern and spacious split level duplex apartment on the first day, we quickly settled on Auld Reekie herself as our destination. A short car ride took us to the Edinburgh Tram park and ride at Ingliston. Tickets bought at the selfservice machine (a family day ticket costs £8.50), we whizzed into town surrounded by appreciative and complimentary US tourists.
The castle (of course) in the morning was followed by the National Museum of Scotland in the afternoon. For kids of any age, it’s one of the finest ways to while away an afternoon (free) in Scotland.
Quick tip. Use a floor plan and take the lift to the top and then work your way down.
After a hungry day sight-seeing, I was delighted we’d planned ahead and booked a table at one of Scotland’s greatest hidden gems when it comes to Italian fine dining.
Ciao Italia in Nethertown Broad Street – just an 11 minute walk from the train station – and astonishingly good.
Attentive service, the finest ingredients and a mouth-watering menu have made it a firm favourite with locals. But it deserves to be attracting gourmets from all over Scotland.
We quickly polished off a plate of sharing antipasti (creamy mozzarella to die for); macaroni cheese and an oven baked thin and crispy margarita pizza for the girls; accompanied by sea bream grilled super simply with butter and lemon. With coffees, wine and a death by chocolate pudding that should have come with a health warning we felt suitably rejuvenated.
Incredibly, the next day found us on the beach.
In late autumn. In Scotland! Not a drop of rain in sight and warm wintry sun on our backs, as we hunted crabs in the squillions of rock pools that punctuate Pettycur Beach.
Deciding it was too cold to dip our toes in the Firth of Forth, we headed back to the Bay Hotel and made for its inviting swimming pool.
It has a warming jet bath, and ample floats and beach balls that the little ones can help themselves to.
If swimming isn’t your thing, the hotel is also equipped with a state of the art gym, snooker and billiards room as well as amusements for older children.
The hotel also has an on-site shop and laundry, great for the lucky ones hiring one of the many caravans that stretch gracefully into the hill at the rear of the hotel complex.
With its own function room, the 28bedroom three star hotel has also become a hot Fife wedding destination, hosting around 60 a year.
The year-round hotel offers amazing value, with room rates from £85 midweek to £96 at weekends.
As Megan quickly established, it really is a home from home.
While we have no plans to move just yet, I managed to get her to stop crying by promising a longer stay at this remarkable and super cosseting hotel in 2017.
We can’t wait to go back to our new home from home.