Skipper's
The entrance to this tiny cottage is a stable door into the kitchen/diner. There’s a back door into the tiny courtyard where a table and chair on slate chippings is perfect for you to sit outside on a balmy night. If you’re over 5’6”, mind your head and watch your step into the hall. This little vestibule triples as cloakroom and utility room. It’s through from here to the huge bathroom and up a very steep, narrow carpeted staircase to the bedroom and sitting room.
Interior
BedroomsBedroom 1: The bedroom is fantastically cosy, with a beautiful wooden armoire and Bose radio by the kingsize bed, festooned with Oxford pillows and embroidered cushions.
Bathroom: Wonderfully roomy, with a huge freestanding bath, it's big enough for a giant to relax in – even if they’d have a job wandering around with their head up high elsewhere. There’s a shower of Pavarotti proportions, and a dainty rectangular bath ensuring it hits all the à la mode design notes. And forget run-of-the-mill Molton Brown – the toiletries here are decidedly more special; both scented and local, they come from Seboni Cornish Spa Essentials. Fresh orchids are the perfect touch of floral luxury in a bunk-up that begs you to relax and take your pace down to a Cornish pace.
KitchenFully equipped with Smeg range cooker and triple oven and a diminutive dishwasher, as well as all your electrical accoutrements such as Miele mixer, toaster, blender, etc; you can really flex your Delia desires too thanks to scales, peeler, grater, whisk and more in the drawers, and also cookbooks galore. Ready for your arrival, the cupboards are also stocked with the basics such as tea, milk, salt and pepper.
Living roomThe upstairs sitting room exemplifies the handpicked approach to the chic-trad furnishings. An old horsehair-stuffed brown-leather settee and super-comfy armchairs has been given a new lease of stripy deck-chair upholstery life. Choose a DVD from a shelf brimming with pretty blue-and-white Cornish crockery. An old-fashioned glass float from Penryn is a nod to the seaside location, and a tiny stained-glass window decorated in pilchards is a wink to this house’s former life. Light the wood-burning stove, and make yourselves at home and surf the many channels available on the big flatscreen TV.
Dining roomThe corner table in the kitchen can seat four (or more if you fold it open) but it is perfect for two. And if you’ve got a laptop with you, this is the perfect spot to plot up and consult the www.smithandfriends.com website to decide what to do while you’re away, while you chat to whoever’s in the kitchen fixing supper.
Outdoor
GardensSkipper’s has a tiny courtyard with a wrought-iron table and chairs are a sweet spot to enjoy a cup of tea alfresco.
ParkingThis is in the car park; usually £2 a day although the owners will organise this for you in advance so that you don’t have to pay.
