The main event here is the heated pool with its slate deck perfect for sipping and sunbathing. From here, you can slide in and out of the gazebo bar with its wood-fired pizza oven and view over the boats in the bay. Spend your evenings over beer, Beaujolais and barbecue banter on the big terraces that seem to hang over the harbour.
Don’t forget your dogs because the two-acre gardens here are sniff-tastic. Polpier’s dazzling array of camellias, hydrangeas, azaleas, lavender, fuchsias and hebes gives way in summer to peonies and delphiniums. The salty sea air comes perfumed with the intoxicating fragrance of nicotiana and climbing roses.
At Penpol, take coffee on the garden-house terrace then wander through lavender, rosemary and jasmine scents to the enclosed chapel garden with its own fish pond and exotic sculpture. Take a cutting or two and leave with a little piece of living Cornwall in your pocket.
Doze, snooze, laze or dance at Polpier and Penpol as the mood takes. Polpier comes with its own disco, with the beat from the integrated dual player/mixer and turntables synchronising with the pulsating coloured light beams. If you’re dithering about dancing, cocktails from the gazebo bar should help.
All bopped out? Get together in Polpier’s family room with its Bose home cinema or escape to the drawing room to sneak loglit book time or gaze at boats. Enjoy alternative viewing on one of two TVs in Penpol. Set up a mini-Olympics over table tennis and snooker in the games room. Leave your muddy togs, rods and rackets in the boot room.
Shop for fresh meat at Lobb’s Farm Shop and sizzle and simmer over Polpier’s Aga and Penpol’s Aga and sociable space for chopping and chatting. A kitchen bar with TV lets you keep tabs on the match as you keep your plates spinning. Need more facilities? Polpier’s ante-kitchen offers dual ovens, dishwashers, and more.
Alternatively, ditch the whites and call up White Radish Catering, Kerra’s Catering or
The Atlantic Fryer Fish and Chip Van. Eat in Polpier’s 16-seat diner, in Penpol’s country-style diner, or out on the sun terrace with the harbour views. Consider steaks and sausages on the barbie or pizza from the wood-fired oven.
Stock up the fridge-freezers with fresh fare from Tesco, Lidl and Aldi. Get your fizz from Experience Wine or Polmassick Vineyard. Take a night off with takeaways from The Fishermen’s for fish and chips and Mevagissey Spice for Indian. Pop in to the dog-friendly Crown Inn for medallions of pork in a whisky sauce.
Head to The Fountain Inn for fresh seafood and steak. Or drop your anchor in The Ship Inn, famous as far away as Australia, for great pub grub and navy-strength gin. Salamander’s the place for upmarket indulgence on small plates that include torched mackerel and beef cheek. Or eat Med-style at tiny Portuguese Alvorada.
You’ll sleep easy at Polpier and Penpol with the waves washing in the distance and the gulls squawking their own soundtrack. Choose from 13 bedrooms, including a honeymoon suite and a garden cottage.
At Polpier, the Red Bedroom offers a superking bed and en-suite walk-in shower, while the Green Bedroom gives you a superking/twin and en-suite bathroom with rolltop bath.
The Grey Bedroom is another superking with en-suite bathroom and rolltop, and the Blue Bedroom provides a superking and en-suite with rolltop bath and walk-in shower.
The Yellow Bedroom is an en-suite superking and the Aqua Suite gives you a superking bed in one room and superking/twin in another. A shared bathroom offers a rolltop bath and separate walk-in shower. The Honeymoon Suite delivers a superking bed, sofa, stove, kitchenette, balcony and en-suite shower and dressing room.
At Penpol, the master bedroom provides a superking with rolltop bath and shower, while bedrooms two and three give you kingsize/twin beds and elegant en-suite bathrooms with Victorian rolltop baths and showers. In the garden house, you’ll find two further en-suite bedrooms and a kitchenette.
Mevagissey is still just as charming in winter. Boats bob in the harbour and the cottages are beacons of colour along the quiet, winding streets. The fish and chips are still to die for and the pubs and restaurants glow with a warm welcome.
Wrap up for a walk on a beautiful, deserted beach. Enjoy tennis, golf, shooting and sailing on crisp, clear days. Make the most of Cornwall’s many attractions, including the Eden Project and St Ives Tate, when the maddening crowds are far away.
Change the scene at Christmas to a coastal escape. Come together as a family, with wood on the fire, lights on the tree and festive films on the TV. The wind might howl outside, the waves might lash at the town’s defences, but Penpol is a cosy Cornish haven of warmth and winter wonder.
After popping open the champagne, feasting on turkey and pud and unwrapping the presents, stroll along Mevagissey’s twisty street and the harbour wall to admire the stunning sea view before returning to enjoy Christmas cake in front of the fire.
