Alex and I had a truly magical Valentine’s Day this year.

I’ve never really been someone who takes Valentine’s seriously… my mum has always been very clear to remind me that it is a fictional event created by the marketing departments of card & gift manufacturers (however she still used to buy my sister and I a card each on the day!).

However I do think it’s nice to dedicate a whole day to spend with your loved one (even if Alex and I are lucky enough to spend most days together), and this year we treated it as a special day that we weren’t going to have interrupted by work either – which was very nice indeed!

Alex had pre-warned me in advance that he’d planned a little day trip for us, so we both took the day off and headed out with the dogs.

I had no idea where we were going until we drove into Falmouth, and I had the strong suspicion that we’d be heading over to St. Mawes on the ferry.  Before Christmas, we had headed out there one afternoon as a treat and had the best time with the dogs! We got on the ferry from the quay in Falmouth town, and made our way over to The Roseland peninsula.

We were incredibly lucky with the weather this Valentine’s Day; it was glorious warm sunshine and we felt very lucky seeing as Alex had planned this a few days in advance. Not like our trip down to St. Ives last Valentine’s, when it rained the entire time!

We arrived in St. Mawes and got off the ferry to walk over to one of the town’s pebble beaches. Still being winter, it was super quiet in the town, and the beach was empty. We had loads of fun running around with the dogs, looking for seaglass, and swinging on the beach swing (yes, there’s a romantic, cute little swing on this beach!).

Before we  knew it, it was time for lunch. I still didn’t know where we were going, but as we walk around to the west side of the town, my suspicions were confirmed.

I’d secretly been hoping we’d be heading here for lunch once we’d got on the ferry, although I certainly didn’t expect it as it’s a pretty fancy spot for a Valentine’s lunch. I’ve never been to Hotel Tresanton but have heard so much about this luxurious seaside hotel and restaurant. Owned by renowned ‘Hotel Inspector’, Olga Polizza, it’s a pretty famous spot in Cornwall thanks to its Santorini-style decor and summer holiday feel.

As we walked through the collection of buildings and white architecture of the hotel, up the stairs to the restaurant, I was totally in awe when we came out onto the decked terrace of the restaurant. Gobsmacked by the stunning view, combined with the blue & white decor, I felt well and truly spoiled!

I hadn’t realised the restaurant was dog friendly either, which was perfect as the pups got to lay out on the deck in the sunshine while we ate faced out to the beautiful blue sea of St. Mawes harbour.

I told Alex that ‘he really shouldn’t have’… this place is much more the type for a posh birthday meal than for a day that’s made up by marketing companies! But of course I’m extremely appreciative and I feel extremely lucky to have such a thoughtful man taking me to such a beautiful place :)

(Sorry for the mush, but it’s a V-day post after all… what did you expect!)

Once I had QUITE settled down and stopped swooning over the view and taking about a million photos of our table on the terrace, we ordered our drinks and food from the menu. I treated myself to a peach bellini (my fave tasty celebratory beverage) while Alex had some wine – we ‘cheers-ed’ to the fantastic landscape in front of us.

We both went for the set menu option… not only for the fantastic price (£25 for two courses, whereas on the main menu, the main courses alone average £24!) but it was also our top choice food-wise as well. There were some delicious options available!

I had sardines (deliciously crispy, served with bruschetta and veg) and Alex had the venison with potatoes and veg… my gosh. I had some venison too and it was so tender and incredibly flavourful! I would highly recommend the food here for a special occasion… it really was spectacular.

After our lunch, we headed out for our favourite walk along past the St. Mawes castle and along the South West coast path to find our secret beach with all the seaglass (I collected a whole pocketful!) and then headed back to catch the ferry back to Falmouth around 4pm. As some of you may have seen, we were also lucky enough to be invited to have a Valentine’s feast at Philleigh Way (also on The Roseland!) in the evening too – this was an addition after Alex had planned our day, but one that we welcomed (you can never have too much delicious food!).

I had a seriously magical day and felt very spoilt by Alex. He didn’t have to do all this on what is really a trivial day but it did feel really special and definitely one I’ll remember for a long, long time!

 

For more info on Hotel Tresanton and their restaurant, head to their website.