Sea Space, Cornwall – Hotel Review
Newquay in Cornwall is very much my happy place. I’ve been coming here my whole life so when the owners of the esteemed family hotel Watergate Bay, opened a new colour bomb of a hotel right on the Newquay coast I couldn’t wait to check it out. What we found in Sea Space was a UK luxury family hotel that treads a line between homestay and hotel in an explosion of colour and child-centric spaces.
The Room
Sea Space has completely renovated a 1970s self-catering apartment resort on the Newquay coastline. The rooms boast cavernous ‘70’s proportions, fully functioning self-catering kitchens and panoramic sea views wrapped in a pantone colour palette of dreams. Our family room not only had picture views of the Atlantic and a dining area but also a children’s room that could have slept three – ensuring space for everyone. The hotel is also dog friendly and Elton (our French bulldog) spent many hours policing the activity of nearby seagulls.
The candy-striped bathroom (which I now wish to steal for my own en-suite) was also amply stocked with Land and Water – a spa amenities brand which can be found across this hotel group and the scent of which I love.
The Food
The hotel has two eateries, a café and American-Italian restaurant – Tallo. These two spots were the perfect accompaniment to our self-catering apartment. We mixed cooking in, with grabbing fresh coffee and Pavilion bakery bread fresh from the oven in the downstairs café and fed the whole family for £20 with the stone-baked 20-inch pizzas from Tallo.
Tallo has a picture wall of windows through which to view the Atlantic while enjoying a prawn brioche po’boy or loaded mac and cheese from the well-pitched children’s menu.
Newquay is also increasingly a foodie hub and my complete Newquay guide goes into delicious depth on some of our favourite hot spots.
Activities and Amenities
Sea Space is truly child heaven. The sunshine yellow pool and shallow pool is just the tip of the iceberg. Akin with its sister hotels (including Another Place), Sea Space has thought about what it means to entertain the whole family.
There is a huge range of Montessori style play options available – from the curated games room to the garden kitchen, set up like a restaurant. There are scooter racetracks, a maze, outdoor jungle gym equipment, Lego stations and basketball hoops. For grown ups the Health Club includes padel courts, a gym and exercise classes.
While Cornish weather isn’t always guaranteed – the beach really is king in these parts. Sea Space is within easy reach of Porth, Watergate Bay and Mawgan Porth beaches and only a short distance from other hot spots like Fistral Beach. If the weather doesn’t play ball the hotel provides ample children’s spaces, keeping entertainment costs to a minimum.
Click for more information on Newquay and our review of Another Place.
Overall
Aesthetically Sea Space has it nailed, but more than that it is a thoughtful family space that has understood what it means to really welcome guests of all ages. It indexes on families so much, that I think if I was arriving as a couple on a romantic trip I might think I was in the wrong place! Having said that, as a solo or child-free guest to the restaurants you would not feel out of place. In peak season, over May half term we paid £295 a night for a room that slept 5 and included £30 a night for our best dog pal. For the stylish space, views, time of year and option to mix up whether we ate in or out this felt like good value for money and I think it would especially feel so if we were filling all five beds. Sea Space was somewhere where I felt not just immediately relaxed but also somewhere that took the ‘what are we going to do today?’ question out of holidaying in the UK.
That Holiday Mum x
