Destination Cornwall: healing by the sea

We came from the sea so it's hardly surprising we are constantly drawn back to it. And I can't think of anything more relaxing than a few days at the seaside. So after a ‘more drawn out than it should have been' period of hospitalisation and illness, I packed my bags and headed for the North Cornish coast. To heal.

All I know about Cornwall comes from Famous Five books so I was fully prepared for rugged cliffs, crashing waves, smugglers' caves and fog that appeared out of nowhere. And at Mawgan Porth bay, 10 miles north of Newquay, that's exactly what I got, (though I can't be fully sure that the hidey holes along the beach were in fact populated by smugglers).

I was staying at The Scarlet hotel and spa, perched high on the cliff overlooking the beach and one of the newest additions to the landscape, opened in September 2009. It's also one of the newest additions to the ‘best international hotels' lists; Condé Nast Traveller recently named it one of the Top 60 Hot New Hotels in the world.

The hotel's clever design opens it up to the surrounding landscape and makes the most of the spectacular views. There's a visual treat around every corner, from the natural pool behind glass in the foyer (there isn't a reception desk, staff just magically appear when you get there) to the elegant courtyard spaces. ‘Will I want a wake-up call?' asked the nice man who checked me in. ‘No,' I answered, and he chuckled, ‘Nobody ever does'. Well, with a sea view from every room and the waves as a natural alarm clock, who needs one?

Everywhere in The Scarlet is light and spacious; it's unlike a conventional hotel, more a series of inter-connected spaces. In fact it's a bit like spending a plush few days with friends - provided you know the sort of people who have 37 bedrooms over five floors in a clifftop building with several thousand square feet of living space and copious couches.

It's a great place just to sit and do nothing and gaze out to sea, and so for most of the time that's exactly what I did - curling up in the sunshine as soon as I arrived on the sea terrace in a huge nest-like chair. I was closely watched by a seagull who had clearly got his eye on the bread basket that came with my soup - a ‘light bites' menu is served throughout the day and food will be carried by staff to wherever you are sitting. Staff are friendly and chatty and informally dressed in loose-legged trousers and matching t-shirts, exactly the sort of people you'd expect your friends to have around.

Menus are created by Michelin award-winning chef Ben Tunnicliffe; it's stylish food, using fresh locally-sourced produce whenever possible and, as you might imagine, good on fish. For dinner that night there was line-caught seabass and turbot, with lamb and Cornish chicken for the meat-eaters and home-made tagliatelle for the veggies. Breakfast isn't a free-for-all buffet but has nice menu choices like honeyed porridge, smoked salmon and of course the full English - there was also award-winning apple juice that reminded me what apples are supposed to taste like.

The next day the mist rolled in from the bay, and had Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timmy been there, we definitely would have been holed up on the beach flashing our torches to guide passing ships to safety and thwart those pesky smugglers. There wasn't a phone signal unless I followed the cliff path right to the top; so early that morning I climbed high above the crashing waves to check in with my friends - and enjoyed the walk back down again, checking out.

Coming down the mist turned to rain and I was wet through by the time I get back to  my room - so I ordered some peppermint tea (there aren't any tea or coffee facilities in the rooms but you can order two complimentary drinks anytime during the day), ran a steaming hot bath, opened my patio doors for a sea-view and soaked in the free-standing bath in the bedroom, fully aware that this was a Wednesday, it was 11 in the morning and everybody I knew was at work. Did it make me feel healed and restored? Yes, and I cackled wildly with smug glee!

That afternoon, taking a seaweed bath in the hot tub in the garden, nestled right at the edge of the beach, the mist turned to fog. It was a bit surreal hearing the waves crash on the beach beside me without being able to see them. Smoke from the wood-fired tub mixed with the white tendrils of fog from the beach, everything around had become totally white and it was all very mystical.

I finished the day snoozing happily in a pod-like hammock beside the indoor pool in the spa. In keeping with the hotel's green credentials the pool is free of chemicals - the outdoor pool uses a living reed bed as a filtration system, which also makes it beautiful to look at. And you know what, there might have been a better place for me to go to feel utterly relaxed and restored after a nightmare two-months in my life, but I can't honestly think of one!

Information and booking

The Scarlet hotel & spa, Tredragon Road, Mawgan Porth, Cornwall; phone 01637 861800, visit the website at www.scarlethotel.co.uk or email stay@scarlethotel.co.uk. Rooms from £180 per night, including breakfast. Spa experiences from £60 for an hour, designed to give a taste of the Ayurvedic therapies at the heart of the Scarlet journeys; this ‘short journey' treatment combines a bespoke massage with consultation to identify imbalances in your system.