For more information and to book please visit www.mrandmrssmith.com or let us arrange your whole trip, by calling +44 (0)20 8987 4312 or from the USA dial 1 866 610 3867.
Driftwood
- Style
- New England yacht club
- Setting
- Bracing Cornish clifftop
Striking the perfect balance between accessible and remote, Driftwood's main house has an incredible setting, high on a cliff, and an easy-breezy atmosphere.
Need to know
- Rooms
- 14 rooms, and a private cabin overlooking the beach.
- Rates
- £190–£230, including breakfast, newspaper and, in low season, dinner. A minimum two-night stay is required at weekends and on bank holidays.
- Check-out
- 11am (but flexible); earliest check-in, 2pm.
- Facilities
- Private beach, terrace, seven acres of heritage coastline, TV room with DVD/video library, WiFi, parking. In rooms, DVD/video player, free broadband internet access, L’Occitane toiletries.
- Children
- Warmly welcomed. There is a £10 charge for under-12s sharing their parents’ room (£15 for over-12s), including breakfast. The games room has, among other amusements, a PlayStation.
- Hotel closed
- Driftwood is closed for eight weeks in winter, from 5 December to 6 February.
- Also
- In-room beauty treatments can be booked if you need some TLC.
In the know
- Our favourite rooms
- The Cabin has two bedrooms and its own living room, and offers perfect seclusion. The four new rooms feature six-foot beds and decked terraces, and can be connected for family groups.
- Packing tips
- Frisbee, kite, binoculars.
- Also
- The kitchen will provide a picnic hamper on request.
Food & drink
- Hotel restaurant
- Chef Chris Eden was formerly at the Square, and uses fresh, local and organic ingredients when available to produce his Modern European menu; highlights include wonderful fish and seafood and home-made bread.
- Dress code
- Chino chic: deck shoes, panama hats and cable knits.
- Top table
- A corner table in the new extension, or table 6 in the conservatory, overlooking the sea.
- Last orders
- Food: 9.30pm. Breakfast heartily from 8am until 9.30am (10am on Sundays).
- Room service
- Drinks and snacks only.
- Hotel bar
- There’s a wee little bar next to the restaurant, serving all the usual tipples till midnight, but you could also take a glass of chilled wine onto the deck or the lawn and soak in that gorgeous view from a comfortable steamer chair.
Smith card offer A free bottle of house wine with your evening meal
If you're a member of Mr & Mrs Smith, you can get special privileges at every Smith hotel you book through us. Just show your Smith card at check-in to claim the offer featured on every hotel page (like the one above).
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Smith concierge
If you’d prefer to talk to someone, or you’re having trouble booking online, ring our travel team on 0845 034 0700 (+44 20 8987 4312 from outside the UK). We guarantee you’ll get the best available rates, and we don’t charge a booking fee.
Local restaurants
In Portloe, the restaurant at the Lugger Hotel (+44 (0)1872 501322) serves seafood – fresh lobster and crab in particular – and has tables overlooking the picturesque harbour. Another seafood specialist, the wonderful restaurant
and bar at Olga Polizzi-designed Hotel Tresanton (+44 (0)1326 270055) has romantic views from the terrace over the bay of St Mawes, and delicious organic food.
Local bars
Tucked away in the hamlet of Ruan Lanihorne, The Kings Head (+44 (0)1872 501263) is a proper, good old-fashioned country pub: get there before 2pm for the perfect ploughman’s or a hearty lunch of locally caught fish or pheasant (mind the shot!). In the fishing village of Portscatho on the Roseland peninsula, 17th-century pub The Plume of Feathers (+44 (0)1872 580321) is ideal for fish ’n’ chips and a pint after a walk along the cliffs, or a cosy evening drink. The Roseland Inn in Philleigh (+44 (0)1872 580254) does fantastic Sunday lunches, worth booking ahead for.
Worth getting out of bed for
A stomp along the cliff paths for a pint in Portscatho. Make a boat trip to the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth (+44 (0)1326 313388; www.nmmc.co.uk) – the journey itself is worthwhile; on Saturdays and Sundays, the foot-passenger ferry from St Mawes’ fishing harbour leaves every hour, on the hour, 9am–5pm. Surfing is becoming the Cornish national pastime. The Extreme Academy, Newquay (+44 (0)1637 860840; www.watergatebay.co.uk) has the UK’s only ski resort on a beach and also organises waterskiing, windsurfing and more. Art-lovers will enjoy a nose around The Gallery Portscatho (+44 (0)1872 580719) or, a little further away, Tate St Ives (+44 (0)1736 796226; www.tate.org.uk/stives). The Eden Project is interesting enough to make a detour worthwhile (+44 (0)1726 811911; www.edenproject.com).
Diary
July/August Newquay Surf Festival (www.britsurf.co.uk). August Falmouth Classics Regatta Week. October Falmouth Oyster Festival for oysters galore, washed down with plenty of champagne and/or Guinness.
Recommended rooms
There are rooms specifically geared towards families, and interconnecting rooms; check when you book. There is a £10 charge for under-12s sharing their parents’ room; £15 for over-12s sharing their parents’ room, including breakfast.
Activities
This very child-friendly hotel has seven acres of grounds leading down to the beach to romp around in; for rainy days, there is a small games room that features a PlayStation. There's also a library with books and board games. There are beautiful coastal paths to walk; nearby family-friendly attractions include the Eden Project, the Lost Gardens of Heligan and Falmouth's Maritime Museum. You could also try surfing at Newquay.
Swimming pool
No pool, but there is a private shingle beach.
Meals
Deliciously healthy early suppers are served for children (£10 each), featuring fresh fish and seasonal produce – 'not a chicken nugget in sight' is their motto. The restaurant can also pack you hamper of tasty treats to take with you and enjoy on the beach (or wherever).
