Chic cube a 'flawless' B&B

Saska Graville discovers a seaside stay in Cornwall that delivers on every expectation, and rivals London five-stars for service, too.

IT’S not often that a hotel (or, in this case, bed and breakfast) takes me by surprise. Delights me, yes. Disappoints me, sometimes. But it has been a while since I’ve arrived to check in somewhere and been excited to be there. Salt House in Cornwall has that effect.

It might have only two bedrooms but this sleek, contemporary property, on a hillside overlooking the bay of St Ives, packs a punch when it comes to location, service and sheer quality of stay. For a start, there’s its appearance. Flawless. It’s hard to think of another B&B that better personifies how far the category has advanced since the days of chintzy armchairs and nosy landladies. (Swan House in Hastings, England, is the only other one I’ve stayed at that comes close.)

Salt House is a white cube, not at all what you expect in a quiet residential cul-de-sac. All sleek lines, sharp corners and lots of glass, it has been renovated to within an inch of its life by its former graphic-designer owners, Alan and Sharon Spencer. The bedrooms, North and South, are upstairs (the Spencers live on the ground floor), both with huge balconies looking out to sea.