The Old Coastguard, Mousehole

Why do people love staying in your hotel? The Old Coastguard is a small seaside hotel on the edge of Mousehole, an iconic Cornish fishing village with cobbled streets and a harbour of bobbing fishing boats. The view from the hotel is truly exceptional, with dining room, terrace, garden and almost all the bedrooms looking out over St Clements Isle to Mount’s Bay. The Good Pub Guide’s 2013 Dining Pub of the Year for Cornwall, the kitchen offers guests good variety with a menu including plenty of fish and seafood from neighbouring Newlyn. The bedrooms are unfussily decorated with extremely comfortable Vi-Spring beds, Roberts radios and Welsh blankets. What is there to do in the area? This part of West Cornwall boasts some of the most exceptional coastal walking in the country, as well as plenty of gardens. Guests are encouraged to head to the beach or get their walking boots on, everyone must explore. The Minack, a world famous open air theatre on the cliffs, is only 20 minutes away. And with West Cornwall home to such an array of well-known artists, there are many art galleries and studios to visit on the occasional rainy day. What kind of breakfast do you offer? We feel strongly that breakfast must be a cornerstone of what we offer at The Old Coastguard. Its content must do justice to the view so we make sure there’s a good selection of fruit, local yoghurts, home-made muesli, cereal bars and freshly baked pastries with home-made soda bread for guests to make their own toast. Cooked options include the full Cornish breakfast, Newlyn smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, kippers or proper porridge. Do you offer other meals? And can you recommend good places to eat out locally? We serve food through most of the day. Lunches are from 12.30 till 2.30 with suppers starting at 6.00. In-between, the 'Not lunch, Not supper' menu is available from 3pm-5pm with a few highlights from our usual menu in the bar or on the terrace when the sun shines. In Mousehole, Jessie's Dairy serves their own Pasties and Roskillys ice cream, perfect to take onto the harbour beach or whilst you walk the cobbled paths, while there are other good restaurants in Mousehole itself and in Penzance’s many satellite villages. Which are your most popular room types, and why? Coastguard’s Watch, with a balcony and its bath looking out over both the harbour and Mount’s Bay, is much sought after. For families, St. Clement’s is particularly popular as it has an adjoining twin room, where the children can relish being in a separate room from their parents. What message would you like to give Hotel Guru readers? Along with our sister inns, The Gurnard’s Head and The Felin Fach Griffin, we aim to make every one of our guests remember a wonderful stay with us. We’re here to create magical memories by doing our work quietly and unobtrusively but with a generosity of spirit. And we hope that the quality of our food and our drink will encourage you to return again and again.