Cary Arms & Spa is a luxurious dog-and child-friendly coastal hideaway perched on the stunning cliffs of Babbacombe Bay in Devon. The eight beach-chic sea-facing rooms and a collection of beautifully designed beach huts and suites offer an unforgettable blend of boutique luxury and breathtaking views. Dining at Cary Arms is a treat, focusing on fresh, locally sourced seafood and seasonal ingredients, served in their elegant restaurant with panoramic ocean views. Cary Arms welcomes dogs in selected rooms and areas of the hotel, offering dog-friendly amenities like bowls, bedding, and treats.
"Some call it the Scary Arms because the walk or drive down to this beachside hotel in Babbacombe, Torquay is so steep that there are local taxi companies who will drop you at the top of Babbacombe Cliffs but go no further. If you have reception’s number, you can ring for a hotel car to come and collect you from the top of Beach Road. But this level of inaccessibility is one of the things that makes the Cary Arms so special. While we may complain about the difficulty of getting to place, it’s often that very level of inaccessibility that gives us the feeling that this resort is just for us.
Once at the bottom of Beach Road, there stands an old white-painted inn with a red-tiled roof, blue window frames and shutters. The red cross of St George flies from its flagpole. Also visible is a series of modern clapboard huts facing the bay. These six were built after 2009 when Sir Peter de Savary took over The Cary Arms. Each provides a perfect getaway. Large trifold doors face onto each hut’s deck with a pair of wooden Adirondack chairs for lounging in while watching for dolphins in the bay. It is a tradition at the Cary Arms that a ship’s bell is rung if anyone sights them below. These huts are a lovely place to while away an afternoon. Blankets are provided when the evenings turn chilly and there is a flame-effect gas fire fitted into the wall beneath the TV and an L-shaped sofa to improve your viewing experience.
This inn has over the centuries expanded into every nook and cranny of this tiny, cliff-ringed bay. Its name comes from the surname of the local landowners whose coat of arms and motto Virtute Excerptae (Selected by Virtue) is also the title of The Cary Poem, a nineteenth-century tale of patriotic knights. Once inside, you’ll find reception tucked behind the bar. Like the rest of the hotel, the bar is nautically-themed with shiny brass ship’s paraphernalia. It also has a piano for jazz evenings and a log-burning fireplace, which throws out a lot of heat in autumn and winter.
There are eight bedrooms (some are dog-friendly) in the main building. Those facing the sea have naval ranks, from Petty Officer to Fleet Admiral. There are also those jolly newbuild “beach huts” painted light blue and white, giving off a New England vibe and two “beach suites” just above high tide that make suitable family accommodation.
The hotel also offers self-catering cottages in the wooded cliffs above the hotel.
By day you can walk the pebbly beach at low tide, or even swim. You can also walk to Oddicombe Beach whose pretty bathing huts are part of the view from the Cary’s terrace bar. Or find a nook where you can put your feet up. The Cary Arms is full of nooks. It’s almost as if it was designed for cosy corners."
Lewinnick Lodge is a stylish, dog-friendly coastal hotel and restaurant on the dramatic cliffs on the Pentire headland south of Newquay. Originally built as a tearoom on land that the National Trust now owns, Lewinnick Lodge is still the only structure on this beautiful, wild headland. Over the last 30 years, Peter and Jacqueline Fair developed it as a perfect getaway with stunning views of the Atlantic.
"As you approach the building looks a bit like a Swiss chalet with its large roof and terraces where beer and wine can be drunk. Inside, the lodge is spacious and relaxed with wide wooden corridors and a lounge area on the first floor for residential guests to hang out, chat or read.
Today Lewinnick Lodge offers 17 luxury bedrooms above a casual dining room and bar. These are accessed down two dramatically black corridors so light from the sea floods in when you open the door into your bedroom.
Almost all the bedrooms have stunning panoramic views of the surging Atlantic below but the topmost (Numbers 2-6) have the very best views, with a panorama window of nothing but sea. Down below the bar decking, are a further six rooms (12-18) which share the Atlantic view. They lack the stunning horizon views of those top rooms but are much closer to the sea spray on a windy day. Inside each room are comfortable armchairs for sitting and watching the sea, plus heavy old-fashioned binoculars for scanning the horizon, and retro-style Roberts DAB radios. (There are also non “Ocean View” suites that face inland and are inevitably cheaper.)
Visitors who are feeling active can walk to the end of Pentire Headland and watch the surfers on westerly Crantock Beach and the slow flow of the Gannel Estuary. Or walk east towards Fistral Beach where there will be even more surfers and several impressive beach bars for snacks.
Despite its glorious, panoramic location Lewinnick is one of those hotels you may not want to leave during your stay. It prides itself on its food and indeed the lodge’s eclectic mix of culinary styles – Korean, Tex-Mex, Indian and Cornish seafood – is very appealing. A lot of locals also lunch here or call in for coffee; Pentire Headland is very popular with dog walkers. But by far the best meal to take at this hotel is supper because of the spectacular sunsets. Staff are used to diners rushing outside between courses to pose for pictures of themselves with the sinking sun."
WHAT TO SEE LOCALLY
"At a point between Pentire Head and The Rumps (an iron-age cliff castle) is a plaque commemorating where the British poet Laurence Binyon wrote "For the Fallen" (first published in The Times in September 1914). A stone plaque was erected in 2001 to commemorate this fact and bears the famous fourth stanza:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."
Adrian Mourby
With broad rooms and bijou balconies big enough for two, Fistral Beach is the perfect beach hotel to enjoy some passive seaside or to surf the waves; Newquay is, after all, a surfer’s paradise. The 71 rooms are cool and comfortable, and there’s a stylish spa, a laid-back bar and a vibrant beachside restaurant.
"The tide puts on an ever-changing show? on the massive beach below and with a north-facing aspect there’s a chance to work on your tan the sun comes up over Newquay till the evening when it sets in the Atlantic. Suites have big bathrooms, neutral carpets and light, polished wood fittings.
The same wood and neutral colour scheme repeats downstairs in the Beach Bar downstairs. Newquay is a surfer’s resort and Fistral Beach its most chic hotel. The Beach Bar has ship ropes hanging from the rafters to give the impression and white curtains billowing like sails. It’s also very popular with young people on their tops. Or it was the weekend I was there. The bar is presided over by Jesus, who has a flamboyant way with a cocktail shaker and can boast a passing resemblance to Freddie Mercury. He also runs cocktail-making classes (£45 pp) and when not mixing his favourite whisky cocktail, the Fig Old Fashioned, is probably surfing, like so many in Newquay, or running the length of Fistral Beach (750 metres).
The dining room, named Dune, gazes down upon the beach and serves prosecco and buck's fizz at breakfast time. Decorative surfboards line the restaurant walls and its half lobster might was the the best I’ve enjoyed for a while.
There are 71 rooms mostly overlooking the sea. The best are on the second and third floors where corner bedrooms have big white baths with floor to ceiling windows. There is something very relaxing about taking a hot, steamy bath while watching waves pound the beach below.
The vibe here is very much upmarket surfer dude meets party people with the logo Check In, Chill Out emblazoned over reception and Work Hard, Play Hard on the door into the gym. Hotel beach towels proclaim What happens on the beach, stays on the beach and plastic room keys are emblazoned with the logo Be gentle with me, we’ve only just met.
The hotel also markets its own gin (£30 a bottle) which is made on-site by a mobile distiller called Still on the Move. This Devon company visits Fistral Beach once a year to create its personal gin. There is also a Fistral Rum available now at £35 a bottle. The party never ends at Fistral Beach."
WHAT TO SEE LOCALLY
"Fistral Beach, of course. If surfing does not appeal, it’s still ideal for walking, running, and getting sea spray blown in your hair. There’s also a Fish House Seafood Restaurant right on the beach, a pasty shack, and a Fat Face shop for resort ware. Bring a dog, or if you don’t have one, enjoy everyone else’s."
Adrian Mourby