A Romantic Stay At The Scarlet: Part 2

After arriving back at The Scarlet after our lunch at Fifteen Cornwall, the welcoming staff offered to give us a tour of the hotel and show us just what we could enjoy. But first there was the small matter of appreciating that view…

I love that the hotel has so many glass windows, meaning that not only are the public areas light and bright, but that you can watch the ocean and feel that ocean watching calm from anywhere.

The Scarlet is also full of lovely modern art, especially this angel watching over your stay!

As we were asked if there was anything else apart from our hot tub experience and explained the hotel’s attitude to protecting the environment, we arrived in the beautiful dining room. The restaurant itself, much the hotel, can be what you want – whether an informal breakfast or a date night dinner is for you.

…and with both like tables that create a more intimate dining experience for you and your partner.

Dotted around the hotel are lots of little areas for you to sit down, relax, play games or read the paper. With an all day menu and a bar that will make you any cocktail or drink that you’d like, the feeling of being at home rather than in a hotel follows you wherever you are in The Scarlet. My favourite little spot was the one below, just in front of the main windows, beside the fire and private enough that you could forget the rest of the world existed should you want to.

You don’t even need to move if there’s anything you’d like, as menus are dotted around the hotel, allowing you to order something wherever you happen to be.

There’s a beautiful terrace, just outside of the snug, with a view over the cliffs, over the hot tubs and on into the beach that would be perfect for summer sunset watching – but a little nippy when we were there!

After refreshing ourselves after our magical cliff-top hot tub experience, it was time to dress for dinner and head back to the restaurant.

A little warm bread to start as wine was opened and decisions about the menu were made… The restaurant, run by Tom Hunter who used to create dishes for the passengers on BA’s Concorde flights, prides itself on using local Cornish ingredients wherever possible. Not only does that make the food as fresh as possible, but it feeds into the hotel’s eco-friendly ethos.

I started with a delicious carrot and parsnip soup, served with an indulgent cheese toastie.

Andy, who wanted something a little heavier, opted for pan fried cod, served with heritage tomatoes and beetroot which was perfectly crisp on the skin and with tender flakes of fish.

For mains, well, that took me quite a long time to decide… Andy was a little more decisive and ordered baked haddock served with gorgeous autumnal vegetables. A dish that was as delicious as it was beautiful – I almost had food envy!

After a little (ahem, a lot) of indecision and some help from our very kind and patient waitress, I opted for the double baked cheese soufflé. And I am oh so glad that I did.

A light, fluffy and completely indulgent main course that oozed with cheese was exactly what I wanted.

In among all the food and wine, it was the perfect time to catch up in the way that you never seem to get to do when you’re both running around London, working, running a blog, seeing family…. and well, the list never ends. And that’s possibly what I’ll take away from our staycation at The Scarlet the most: a sense of time stopping and fully being able to spend time with Andy.

Somehow, it was dessert time. Do you ever find that in restaurants time goes twice as fast? Andy ordered the dark chocolate marquise as his sweet treat. A rich chocolate marquise served with a light ice cream, served beautifully – so much so I couldn’t resist a taste (or two!)

For me, a lighter option of a baked nectarine was just enough to cure my sweet tooth and not leave me feeling overly full after my soufflé!

After dinner, we took espresso martinis back to our room – after which I promptly fell asleep in our soft as a cloud bed.

After we woke up, I called reception and asked for a pot of tea and a cappucino before realising I had no idea where the breakfast menu was…

Like the rest of the hotel, breakfast is a little different at The Scarlet. With our coffees and teas and Sunday paper we also had the menu delivered. The reason we didn’t have one in the room already is that it changes every day.

I loved the idea that if you were staying for more than a couple of nights you wouldn’t get bored of the same old breakfast.

With it being a Sunday, it was a breakfast in bed kind of day, so we cracked open the paper and tucked into the feast we had ordered!

Baked apples served with natural yogurt for me… with a side of a pain au chocolat..!

I mean, I wasn’t being entirely good!

And mushrooms with tallegio cheese and eggs for Andy, all served with tea, coffee and deliciously sweet apple juice.

A breakfast heaven if you ask me.

I had managed to get out of bed just long enough to open the curtains to make sure we could soak up the Cornish coast for as long as possible…

After a late breakfast, we wanted to squeeze one more time at the spa in before we headed back to the big smoke. We checked out, left our luggage at reception and headed straight for the swimming pool.

A beautiful, tepid temperature which was perfect for swimming, being silly and just floating away any problems you’d managed to hold on to for this long. The pool is actually cleaned with bromine and not chlorine as it’s more ecologically friendly.

As Andy went for a (very) quick dip in the sea (don’t ask), I admired the natural outdoor pool, took in the view one last time and then headed for the sauna…

See the little spec of a person running straight for the sea? Yup, he’s mine.

To say I was sad to leave The Scarlet is a huge understatement… I never, ever wanted to leave that little slice of heaven. But to have the memories is enough – for now – until we can return another time soon.

Deservedly one of Condé Nast’s top 20 hotels in the UK, The Scarlet really is one of the best hotels I stayed in in 2016.

The icing on the cake? If you look past the angel, you’ll see cabinets showcasing some truly beautiful local jewellers work. When I was there I totally fell in love with a pearl ring, but we were rushing out the door to get back to London as we had spent too long in the pool, and never bought it.

It turns out that on Christmas morning it was under my tree, so now I every time I look at my shiny new ring, I’ll remember that magical stay at The Scarlet.

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