It’s not just its clifftop perch, on the edge of Mullion, that makes the Polurrian such a treat. Nor the way it soaks up its sea views through giant windows in the Vista Lounge. It’s the fact that it offers all this ocean drama at a noticeably lower price than the big-name hotels on Cornwall’s north coast — as well as imaginative, well-cooked and colourful food. In other words, it’s perfectly positioned for these straitened times, and buzzes with cliff-walking, beach-combing and cocktail-sipping guests. Book ahead, especially for summer.
Overall score 8/10
Main photo: Polurrian on the Lizard
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Rooms and suites
Score 7/10
At this price you shouldn’t expect cutting-edge design, nevertheless, alongside utilitarian cupboards and bedside tables, the 41 spacious bedrooms (all refurbished last year) are equipped with eye-catching scalloped headboards and deep-red armchairs. Family rooms have bunk beds for the kids, too. Meanwhile, many of the rooms are hung with well-chosen art: notably the Island View Suite, which champions the painter and printmaker Judy Willoughby. You’ll also notice her almost-abstract work in the hotel’s Scandi-style self-catering villas, which sleep six. Dotted with tripod lamps and rugs from the Solva Woollen Mill, they’re the hotel’s most stylish digs.
Food and drink
Score 8/10
There can be few spots for a Cornish breakfast more spectacular than the Polurrian’s Vista Lounge. So get up early to nab a table by the window. It also serves an all-day menu of burgers, steaks and fish and chips. For dinner, however, the chic, parquet-floored restaurant next door is the place to eat. Its pan-fried sea bream with pea puree, dill and mussels is crisp in all the right places. On the current menu, gurnard with saag aloo and curried seaweed butter looks even more intriguing. Meanwhile, puddings such as white chocolate torte, raspberries and pistachio ice-cream are a feast of colour and, crucially, not too sweet.
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What else is there?
Score 7/10
Star billing goes to the hotel’s Nosmoke — an open-topped, low-sided electric vehicle that’s perfect for scooting about on the local roads, seeking out beaches, coves and cliff-top walks. Sadly, however, it’s only available to guests who book a pricey two-night Island Suite package (from £763 for two). Please can the Polurrian buy a couple more and spread the sense of freewheeling fun? In the meantime, for everyone else, there are indoor and outdoor pools, swings for the kids and a menu of spa treatments that includes facials, salt scrubs and full-body massages. On Mondays you can also join morning and evening yoga classes on the lawn.
Where is it?
Score 9/10
Never mind the Mullion suburb that creeps up almost to the hotel’s back door — turn westward instead and you’ll get a faceful of wild Lizard Peninsula, courtesy of towering cliffs and the heaving ocean. The closest beach is the scraplet below the hotel (which is best swum when the lifeguards are on duty, at weekends between July and September). None, however, is more magical than the secret little bay you’ll discover on the far side of a narrow cave at Mullion Cove. Spare some time for the Helford river too — its wooded creeks are the perfect place to kayak or paddleboard.
Sean Newsom was a guest of Polurrian on the Lizard
Price B&B doubles from £139
Restaurant mains from £19
Family-friendly Y
Dog-friendly Y
Accessible N
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