A Luxury Stay at Bluemonkey in Cawsand

For a Cornish girls’ night, Alice, Olivia and I went on a quick trip to the beautiful fishing village of Cawsand.

It sounds a little crazy, but I’ve never explored further North of Cornwall than St. Austell (bar a very quick lunch stop in Bude once!). I’m not familiar with it at all, but with my lovely friend Alice having recently moved just over the Plymouth border into this part of Cornwall, it was definitely high time for a visit. It had also been a really long time since we’d done a girly/blogger weekend so this seemed like the perfect opportunity!

The twin villages of Cawsand and Kingsand are based on the Rame Head Heritage Coast, just over the border from Plymouth, and are a well known holiday destination throughout the year, with their quaint cobbled streets, pretty beaches and beautiful townhouses. Walking through the streets reminded me of the Isles of Scilly – there’s something unmistakable in the feel and atmosphere of Cornish fishing villages like these.

Once I’d picked Olivia up from Falmouth, it took us roughly an hour and a half to get to Alice’s house and collect her, and a further 30 minutes South East to reach the Rame Head coast. Driving down the country lanes, it felt like the perfect combination of stunning Dartmoor and the valleys of Cornwall – right on the edge of both counties!

We parked up in Kingsand car park (the two villages are so close that it’s unclear where Cawsand ends and Kingsand begins, by the way, so apologies for any conclusion!), and strolled with our bags to Bluemonkey; a luxury self-catered holiday cottage in the heart of the village.

Before our visit, the team at Bluemonkey had sent me a virtual welcome pack and instructions for getting into the property, so everything was super easy when we arrived. As we opened the door, we were amazed how enormous this unassuming townhouse was inside! Opening up into a grand four storey, high-ceilinged home with more space than the three of us could possibly need (it actually sleeps up to 10 people!).

In the kitchen, fresh bread and scones (with butter, jam and clotted cream) awaited us along with tea, coffee, milk and even some champagne for our evening. Perfect timing as we were just getting rather peckish!

Meanwhile the dining and living room were well stocked with books, magazines, board games, and a large range of DVDs to snuggle in for the night. We were also supplied with plenty of logs for the woodburner – necessary on this cold Autumnal evening.

But the real wow-factor had to come from the bedrooms. The first and second floor of the holiday cottage were comprised of two huge, beautifully-decorated luxurious bedrooms, each with en-suites and roll-top baths – truly unexpected! The top floor contained the other three bedrooms (a double, a twin and a bunk room) and a smaller bathroom too – we drew names out of a hat to decide which of us would get to stay in the larger bedrooms to avoid a bun fight!

Once we’d settled in (and enjoyed a cream tea of course – it would be rude not to!), we went for a wander around the seafront to take some sunset photos and get to know our new home for the night.

The lighting was perfect as we walked around, and (as usual) we may have got carried away with all the photo taking – but we had lots of fun prancing about in the last rays of sun anyway.

As the night drew in, we spent a couple of hours catching up on some work (Alice and I have been working on a project together) and chatting, before heading out for dinner. We tried to book a table at the recommended and highly rated Devonport Pub, but sadly they were full, so instead, we popped just 10 seconds around the corner to the Half Way House Inn for our meal. Mine and Alice’s food was delicious (I’d highly recommend the seafood platter starter and the falafel burger!), however sadly they didn’t handle Olivia’s dietary requirements well at all, which sadly did put a bit of a dampener on our meal out…

Back at the cottage though, we snuggled in for the night with a roaring fire, a rom com (of course!), lots of hilarious girl chat and some tasty popcorn to finish off the night before heading to our amazing rooms.

I slept like a baby in my huge luxurious bed, and reallllly didn’t want to get up in the morning, but we were on a deadline to get back home before midday so it had to be done. If I’d have had more time I may have fancied myself a soak in that incredible bathtub (and I NEVER take baths, so that’s saying something)!

If you’re taking a trip to North Cornwall with a larger group (or even just a small one like ours!) I’d definitely recommend checking out the Bluemonkey website – it definitely felt like somewhere I could easily make my home for a week and make the most of exploring this area of Cornwall.

 

* I was offered a free night at Bluemonkey to review my stay, but as always all opinions are my own :)