All posts filed under: UK

Shoe making at Bedruthan

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A few months ago I was presented with a little booklet. On the cover was a drawing of a beautiful Cornish beach and the words ‘Bedruthan hotel’. I flicked through and stopped at the sight of a very pretty pair of shoes. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the hotel would be running a two-day shoe making course in March, which was to be hosted by Green Shoes. I surprised myself that I overlooked the baking and pizza oven-making courses in favour of being able to make myself a pair of hand made shoes. Jack has just designed a range of menswear shoes for Hush Puppies so I guess that was in my consciousness and I thought that it would be a nice weekend away together. A few months later, we were boarding an extraordinarily small plane at Gatwick airport en route to Newquay. A mere 50 minutes later, we were off the plane and straight into a taxi for a ten minute drive to the hotel. Upon arrival we were given our room keys …

Best budget hotel in London? The Hoxton

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I love a good staycation. “What on earth is that?” I hear you cry. Well my friends, a staycation is a holiday, away from home, but where you don’t actually have to travel very far. Last weekend I had a staycation at The Hoxton hotel in, you guessed it, Hoxton. Based on the Easy Jet style of cheap fares, The Hoxton offers rooms for as little as £1 a night with a maximum price of £199. It is a no frills destination in a great location but with a lot of the comforts of a boutique hotel. Dreamt up by Pret a manger founder Sinclair Beecham, The Hoxton promises small rooms with a comfortable double bed, a TV, chaise longue, hair dryer and hot drink facilities. Breakfast consists of small Pret yoghurts, bananas and bottles of orange juice, which are delivered to your door at your specified time. There is no mini bar in the room but guests are provided with free bottles of Pret spring water and a carton of milk for those much …

Endellion, Watergate Bay

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“Turn next left and you have reached your destination.” Thank god, I was getting ready to rip the sat nav off the dashboard. The soft and huskey tones of the woman giving us directions was starting to grate on me. If only I could have changed the voice to, say, David Hasslehoff or David Attenborough, everything would have been ok. But no, we were stuck with the extremely irritating generic option. Don’t get me wrong, I think sat nav is incredible in the way that it (mostly) gets you from A to B with minimal effort, but after a few hours, I was glad to turn it off. Our destination, by the way, was the picturesque Watergate Bay in Newquay, Cornwall. I say picturesque but I didn’t actually know this until the following morning when I woke up. For when we arrived, it was dark, cold, windy and exceptionally rainy. We were due to eat out in Newquay that evening but as soon as we stepped inside Endellion, one of the luxurious eco pads nestled …

Fifteen Cornwall

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What do you get when you put a group of 16 – 24 year old Cornish apprentice chefs that are in need of a second chance together in a kitchen? Fifteen Cornwall, of course. Founded by the one and only Jamie Oliver, Fifteen Cornwall allows apprentice chefs to learn how to cook. And well. Situated right on the beach at Watergate Bay, customers are treated to magnificent uninterrupted views of two miles of Cornish beach whilst enjoying lovingly prepared Italian style dishes using the finest Cornish seasonal ingredients. We took advantage of the Tuscan themed three course set menu for £19.95 per person on our visit. We ordered the roast crown prince squash and oregano soup with Vulscombe goat’s cheese (£7.25 if purchased separately) and the cotecchino sausage, lenticchie di castelluccio and the best salsa verde (£7.75 if purchased separately) to start, followed by Fifteen’s amazing seaside taglierini, Amalfi lemon and chilli pangrattato (£17.75 if purchased separately) and crispy fillet of Cornish grey mullet, herby charlotte potatoes, cime di rapa and lemon aioli (£17.95 if …

The Nare Hotel afternoon tea

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Ding Ding. The bell rings and the receptionist immediately comes bounding through the door, all smiles. “Can I take your coat madam”, I am asked before being shown to an armchair situated by a soft glowing fire. I am surrounded by traditional furniture and an old grandfather clock ticks tocks in the background. The last guests of a wedding reception slowely filter out from the bar and I am left sitting in near silence with another couple that read the newspapers in peace. I wish I could see what was beyond the patio doors but it is mid winter and pitch black. I pick up a brochure for the hotel in which I am sitting and gaze longigly at images, taken in the summer, which show the beautiful serene surroundings that I know are there but just not visible. I am at The Nare Hotel to sample one of the hotels famous cream teas. The Nare, in case you weren’t aware, is the highest rated four star hotel in Cornwall and has been so for …