The hotel is only a few minutes walk from the beach which is amazing - at high tide the walk is more like 15 minutes along the coast path but still OK. The hotel is a bit of an eyesore, and is going to be turned into flats next year so understandable that the owners are letting it get a bit tired. For the money I hoped for a better standard, but whilst the staff are very nice and friendly, it all feels a bit sad and unloved. There is no atmosphere in the bar or restaurant, and whilst the food is 'nice', its a bit ordinary. One of my party eats 'gluten free', which the staff needed to be reminded of every single night - its not a very big hotel, and it would have been nice not to have to spell it out every meal (and the chef could have made more of an effort - instant gluten free gravy is pretty horrible). Overall, reasonably friendly and a superb location, but the hotel itself is on the way out - I wouldn't go again (and this is the last season anyway...).

Last year we had a great stay at the Headland in Newquay in May, and thought we would try the other side of the peninsular this year. We stayed for four nights at the end of June and unfortunately the weather was "typically British" for the two key days - i.e. day 1 - "horizontal rain"; day two - "horizontal showers". Beautiful as it is, even Cornwall suffers at times like that.

The hotel itself is clearly a family run English seaside hotel and doesn't pretend to be anything else. It falls short of some of the standards of the larger chains, but makes up for it in other ways. The views from the hotel are spectacular. Our room was on the first floor, so the view was spoiled to some extent by the 15 feet of flat roof we had to look over. Get past that and it was fabulous. We even had our own friendly gull who would wait outside our window and if we didn't react quickly enough, would jump onto the sill and bang his beak against our window. The rooms need to be refurbished, and the bathroom was like stepping back to the 70's - but all of these comments have been made several times in previous reviews. However, they were extremely clean and once we had survived our first night where one of the people above got up to walk across the room every 45 minutes from 11pm until 5:30 am, it was very quiet.

Downstairs it was very pleasantly furnished, again with fantastic views. It was extremely quiet and although there were several families staying there at the time, the people that frequented the lounge were all frightfully English middle class and gave it all the feel of God's Waiting Room.

One thing did irritate me however, is that the regular guests were allocated a table for the duration of their stay. Perhaps this is just a particular feature of the English seaside but it is irritating when the tables are free but you are treated like a second class citizen and forced to sit in a corner because "that is someone else's table sir". It became a challenge from that point onwards. What's wrong with me? I'm paying more than them ..but the ageing English middle classes on holiday are a special breed and I dare say it's important to them. Like I said, family run hotel!

All of that said, we had a really nice four days. Food was excellent - both at breakfast and in the evening; the staff were great - very, very friendly, and the hotel itself was extremely clean and well presented.

Would I stay there again? Probably - but my wife and I prefer the larger chain type hotels where you tend to get what you expect and quality is always at a known level (although not necessarily high!) The irritants of the sleepless first night and the battle of the window seats are now just memories - and lets be honest, you can still see the sea from the table in the corner. I would recommend the hotel but emphasise that you should be mindful of what you are going to. Its charm, views and friendliness won me over!

The first thing that stands out for this hotel is the amazing view. The hotel has large windows which show off the stunning view of well kept gardens and a view of Crantock Bay. You can access footpaths straight from the grounds of the hotel which go either around the coast to near by Polly Joke or down to the beach.

The staff are all very friendly. Tony the manager was fantastic at helping us to arrange our wedding from suggesting suppliers, keeping the bar open as long as needed on the day, to helping set up the room. We had many comments from our guests about the good service and stunning location.

The rooms are clean and comfortable. We stayed in one of the garden rooms which had doors straight out on to the garden. It was perfect to have a cup of tea whilst sitting outside our room first thing in the morning. Some other reviews have mentioned the hotel decor is dated. All of our guests said their rooms were clean and comfortable. If you want a 'glass and new marble' type decor then go to a posh hotel in London! We felt the decor was part of its charm,

The food was outstanding. We stayed over 4 days and all of the food was of a very high standard. I have been on many holidays and eaten in different countries. The food was very fresh and perfectly cooked - and good value for money.

If you want a base for exploring Cornwall with friendly staff and great food then you can not go wrong with this hotel.

My family is one of the many that have been coming here for years and years. Not much has changed in the two decades I've been coming - and although the decor is now a bit faded and dated it only adds to the charm of this place. The hotel is hugely comfortable, and the beds are heavenly; it's ideal for dogs and children; and the family-oriented, old-fashioned approach is really wonderful. The pool and facilites are clean and safe. The location is magnificent, between two of the best beaches in Cornwall (Polly Joke really is special), and the view from the hotel is absolutely stunning. Nothing is too much trouble for the staff and owners, who take the time to make their guests feel very welcome.