Newquay Family Hotel Review – Our Holiday at Esplanade Hotel Cornwall
Are you looking for a Luxury family holiday in Cornwall? Or a Cornwall family hotel with a pool? This was certainly my criteria when searching for somewhere to stay on our summer holiday last year. We wanted a holiday enjoying the Cornish Coast, but with the uncertainty of the British weather, I also wanted to know we had the guarantee of a swimming pool and family activities for our Cornish holiday, in case it ended up a washout.
As we were so impressed with the hotel we found, I’ve been meaning to write up a review ever since…
Family Hotel Breaks Cornwall
Summer 2020 was a funny one wasn’t it. Restrictions loosened enough so we felt like life was normalish, but with the ominous cloud of Covid still hovering overhead, we chose to holiday in England. We tend to normally do a package holiday abroad in the summer holidays, booked a few months in advance. But, with so much uncertainty around travel rules etc, yet also really feeling the pull to escape from home for a bit, we booked a last minute trip to Cornwall.
Cornwall Boutique Family Hotel
We stayed at the Esplanade Hotel and first up the location was great – the building is right on the edge of Fistral beach cliff top, so its a just a five minute walk down to the beach and its got great views out over the ocean from the hotel. We spent a lot of time on the beach, and there’s also a great beach bar and restaurant a short walk down the beach.
Fistral beach is a famous surfing beach, so its obviously not the calmest for swimming with the kids, but we enjoyed a few attempts at boogie boarding and also a lot of time, just enjoying watching the surfers. Where the kids spent most time while on the beach was the rock pools. There’s a vast stretch of them, full of warm pockets of water to splash in and look for crabs.
Moving onto the hotel itself, it has a modern feel as soon as you walk in and you can tell its had a recent refurb. All the communal areas are light and spacious full of greys, sea blues and nautical touches.
The lobby and bar take full advantage of the view with large windows spanning the length of the room, giving a beautiful backdrop of beach and ocean views. We loved sitting having a drink in the evenings, with the sun setting over the sea, watching the last surfers rolling in on the waves.
A good family room is key on holiday for us, I’ve spent way too many times away, feeling like we are all on top of each other, with nights squished in a pull out bed with a wriggly child. The Bedrooms at the Esplanade however, have full size bunkbeds for children which were great. The rooms did feel small for the price though. A bit cramped with all four of us and our belongings. The décor although fine (in a similar colour palette to the other areas of the hotel in blues and greys) was plainer in the bedrooms, they don’t feel as lux as the other areas, more of a standard chain hotel feel. The bathroom however was really nice and full of premium toiletries, there was even special children’s products, which was a nice touch.
Moving on to the biggest positive of the hotel the swimming pool…
Cornwall Family Hotel with Swimming Pool
One of the most important things for us when booking a holiday is the swimming pool as my children (and husband) always spend so much time there. So, finding a Newquay hotel with an indoor pool, was great and although not huge it was perfect for what we needed. We went in the pool at least once, usually twice every day of our trip. (when I say we, I mostly mean the children and my husband, I often opted out for a bit of time to get ready on my own, or read my book in the bar) The pool was never too crowded, deep enough for the kids to jump in and play games, plus had a warmer separate shallow pool for little ones. There was also a jacuzzi and sauna, so you could also sit and relax while the kids played.
Activities for Families at the Esplanade Hotel Cornwall
This was where the hotel really came into its own – as well as the pool there were lots of little touches that totally elevated the hotels family friendly feel.
On arrival the children were given activity bags with colouring, and even a kit to make, stuff and decorate their own teddy bear that Rose especially loved. Alongside the gifts there was lots for the children to do around the hotel. There was a cinema room playing family films throughout the day, a playground in the garden and even a mini soft play adjacent to the restaurant – perfect for wriggly kids not having to sit still waiting for their food to arrive.
There was also family focussed entertainment each evening. This again was a bit hit with the children and nice having something to do once we’d had a dinner. While we were there there was music, a magic show and a caricaturist. The only thing that was a shame around the entertainment, was sometimes they were not able to cater for the amount of people there. With the Caricaturist for example, she was fantastic at capturing people and worked super quick drawing families. Yet with it being the full evenings entertainment, a lot of families present wanted a turn and then were disappointed when time run out.
Every evening there was little bottles of milk and cookies put out for the children in the bar, which was really nice, plus a big box of beach and pool toys to take out and use.
Outside of the hotel we were walking distance to Newquay town going along the seafront. we also used taxis to visit a couple of other towns and beaches while we were there. There is parking at the hotel, although I think you book a car space, if you are driving down, to then park in the hotel car park.
As its such a long drive down to Cornwall from East Anglia, rather than lose a quarter of the trip to travelling, we looked into flying. I was surprised at how reasonable internal flights were, so we booked British Airway flights from Stansted to Newquay. As you can imagine it was crazy quick, spending more time waiting to take off than actually in the air! The children especially loved the experience and we certainly arrived feeling a lot more refreshed than if we’d been stuck in a car for 7/8 hours together!
Overall I’d really recommend the Esplanade Hotel for families. It’s a lovely hotel with almost a mini resort feel – they have clearly gone to a lot of trouble to add in the extras that matter most to those travelling with children.
There’s lots more hotel info and booking availability over on – The Esplanade hotel, Newquay
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