Bedruthan Steps or The Rosevine in Cornwall?

[ladymuckbeth]

Hello - hoping someone can help me make this decision as I'm hopeless at it. Looking for a break in early July (please weather gods, let it be half-decent) and don't mind it being a bit spendy as we're desperate for a break with our twin 2.6 girls.

Bedruthan Steps >> looks good, quite a few recent bad Trip Advisor reviews but a phone call reassured me somewhat. But it's a hotel, no self-catering, we've had a bad experience of them being fussy buggers at Fowey in the spring where we spent a fortune on food they didn't eat. Also slightly wary of the whole obsessive-PFB-middle-class-ness of the place, my eyes might explode at the sheer overwhelming amount of Boden in full view...

OR have been looking at The Rosevine - part luxury hotel, part self-catering. Lovely location, no childcare though. Bit more relaxed, kids running around while you eat etc etc.

Bloody hell, why is this all so difficult? I always think I want childcare but our best times at Fowey were when we stopped trying to foist them onto other people and actually went exploring with them. Just want it to feel relaxing, without that feeling of being utterly utterly fleeced for the pleasure. Help!

Absolutely love Bedruthan. Don't own a single item of Boden. We are having our third trip to Bedruthan later this year. Not all the parents are PFB-types (we're certainly not!). Baby-listening is heavily used by most parents (the MN view of this seems to be that it is the ultimate in child neglect. It is also not obligatory, though - if it is not for you just don't use it). Have only used the daytime childcare once for one morning, while we went to the spa. It was excellent, but there's lots of fun things to do with the kids, out in the fresh air, and we prefer to explore with them too. The kids entertainment at 6pm has always been a highlight of the day as well,

It is quite expensive though, and they've changed the food arrangements this year so I can't comment on whether this is a good or a bad thing. Used to love the old-style kids teas as there was always something our fussy bugger would eat and he couldn't make any more of a scene than other fussy buggers in there too. Not sure if it'll be quite the same now, since he'll essentially have to eat in the actual restaurant I think. Have seen the mixed TripAdvisor reviews but was impressed at the hotel commenting on every review. To my mind, it is worth the money as with children of a similar age to yours, being totally off the hook for any cooking and cleaning for a week is sheer heaven and it is the only week of the year where that is the case. If we don't like the new arrangements this year it could be our last year of the place, for a while at least, but we've had two brilliant experiences there and I'm really looking forward to going back. We've also been there in both good and bad weather and enjoyed it with both.

Don't know the other place so can't comment I'm afraid. We've found Bedruthan to be 'very relaxed' though, so I'd be surprised if the other place was more so. I suspect your attitude to evening dining arrangements/babysitting/babylistening etc could be a good pointer for which option to go for. Also, if the other place is "part luxury hotel..." etc, I imagine there'll still be plenty of Boden!

Thanks so much for your reply - it has actually cemented my thinking which was leaning more towards Bedruthan, the more I thought about it (despite being initially swayed by the idea of self-catering and the Rosevine).

Yes it is spendy (we're looking at £2550 for 7 nights for the four of us, half board) but I really did like the attitude of the woman I spoke to on the phone, to whom I raised my concerns. She sounded genuinely saddened by the recent Trip Advisor reviews, and told me they were doing all they could to overcome teething problems arising from the opening of a new restaurant, plus changing the way they manage the half-board option (now you get an 'allowance' which is yours to spend at either lunch or dinner - in theory that sounds more flexible to me; we'll see..).

Glad to hear you are a Boden-free zone, me too

Although very shocked to hear you committed such a parenting faux-pax as to use the actual childcare provided - how very could you? Tsk, I'm no stranger to using it myself although the one in Fowey was a bit shit. I did expect the two lardy employees to do a bit more when we walked in with our girls (as the only people attending the creche that morning - wonder why?) than just sit there and carry on chatting. The baby listening at Fowey was a bit crap too, but we still used it .

Thanks again for your reply, it's been really helpful. Now off to convince DH that we really do need to spend that kind of cash to get ourselves a break in the UK.......

I haven't heard of bedrithan steps, but the Rosevine is owned by Tim and Hazel who managed Fowey Hall in Fowey before Von Essen bought it as part of the Family Friendly Hotels section of their chain.

They really do know what they're doing, and the property is lovely, and minutes from the sea on one of the most beautiful sections of the Cornish coast.

The standard of refurbishment is excellent, all the rooms are spacious and well designed, and when we stayed ( their opening weekend, and also again at Christmas '09) they had a really nice restaurant as well as the self catering facilities in the rooms. We liked it a lot, and no, I don't know the owners personally or have any connection to the place

Good luck with the choice. Am sure you'll have fun whatever you choose!

p.s. all the staff when we've been at BedSteps have been fabulous, without exception, so am not surprised at your experience on the phone. I'm all excited about my trip there now!

We've just had to change our dates so are now going to be in a Family Room with two cots - think it'll be a tight squeeze but hopefully okay. Am very much looking forward to it!