Last month we enjoyed a break at the – cleverly written from the perspective of a child – and I’ll mention the opportunity to surf for the children who stay shortly.
The hotel has its own Cowshed Spa, heated indoor swimming (as well as the outdoor one) and a gym.
I really enjoyed the Cowshed Salt Scrub and Massage – a full body brushing followed by deep exfoliation and a Cowshed massage (a full body massage using signature Cowshed essential oils). My treatment came just days after completing a challenging off-road marathon in the Lake District so was a welcome tonic for those aching limbs.
In addition to the hotel’s own facilities, the location is perfect for a variety of other activities. There are three beaches all close by, each offering something different.
The closest of the three, just a short walk from the hotel and pictured below, is excellent for rock pooling. Slightly further afield is a beach with dunes and then a longer walk away (or a short drive) is the sandy beach of Polzeath, popular with surfers.
Polzeath is clearly the place to surf as the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry had been there just a day or two earlier. Anyway, I digress… the thing to note is that the St. Moritz Hotel has a tie-up with Wavehunters surf school down at Polzeath beach, and our two sons – who’d never surfed before – took this opportunity to have a go.
I listened in on bits of the lesson and was very impressed. The tuition was fun and engaging, but also didn’t skip on the important parts such as safety. Right from the onset (and before getting into the water, of course), the children were clearly told what signal to give if they found themselves in difficulty in the water and had it explained why just waving wasn’t a good idea. They then moved on to learning the correct names of various parts of the board, before moving on to technique.
They did a bit of running around to keep warm and were encouraged to bond and just enjoy it. Yet within the space of just about an hour or so, I think pretty much every child had managed to stand on their boards… considering many had never surfed before, I think that’s quite impressive progress in such a short period.
Back at the hotel, we decided to go for a little bit more of a wander.This is the rear of the hotel where there are some colourful beach huts and lots of ‘Fatboy’ hammocks (a Dutch make) to relax in. We could have easily relaxed here a bit longer, but unfortunately our time to leave was approaching all too quickly.
When our stay did came to an end, we decided to break up the journey a little and take in a local attraction so, with our children enjoying the BBC’s very popular Merlin TV series, we decided to head for Tintagel and fuel their interest in the legend of King Arthur. It would have been a shame to spend such a lovely day just sitting in the car.
Managed by English Heritage, Tintagel Castle is well worth a visit. There’s a short video you can watch, a shop and a caf, and of course the castle ruins.
If you catch the tide right, you can also explore Merlin’s Cave, and there’s a small coastal cliff where a cascade of water tumbles straight into the sea (if the tide is in) – a photographer’s dream.
