Four-star Carbis Bay, St Ives, St Ives
Carbis Bay Estate
A Victorian hotel above its own Blue Flag beach, almost a mile of sand on St Ives Bay, with Godrevy Lighthouse across the water and the 2021 G7 Summit in its guest book.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- In the 2026 selection
- Rooms
- 97 across the estate
- Built
- 1894, by Silvanus Trevail
- From the airport
- About an hour from Newquay
The hotel
A railway hotel that kept its beach.
Silvanus Trevail, the architect of the Headland and Atlantic hotels in Newquay, built the Carbis Bay Hotel in 1894, when the branch line to St Ives was bringing holidaymakers west. Virginia Woolf spent three weeks here in 1914, looking across the bay at Godrevy Lighthouse, which later found its way into To the Lighthouse. Rosamunde Pilcher wrote the hotel into two novels as The Sands.
The Baker family took it over in 2003 and has since spread it across 125 acres, from the Main House down to lodges and beach houses on the sand. In June 2021 the leaders of the G7 met here. The beach below is privately owned, about a mile long, and holds both the Blue Flag and the Seaside Award. In 2026 Tom Sellers opened MOR, a seafood restaurant, on the estate.
- Your own beach Twenty-five acres of sand on sheltered water, with the South West Coast Path running past and St Ives a short walk away.
- C Bay Spa A hydrotherapy pool, sauna and fitness suite above the heated outdoor infinity pool, all looking over the bay.
- On the water The Ocean Sports Centre, halfway along the beach, teaches and hires out paddleboards, kayaks and sailing boats.
Rooms & suites
From the Main House to the sand.
Rooms are spread across the estate, some in the original building, others a few steps from the water or in a wooded valley nearby.
- Main House Rooms and sea-view suites Individually furnished rooms in Trevail's building of 1894, many facing the bay.
- On the beach Beach Lodges Eight lodges by the sand, each with its own hot tub.
- In the valley Valley Cottages & Suites Stone cottages and suites in a wooded valley a few minutes' walk from the beach.
Dining
Seafood, mostly, and a lot of sea view.
Restaurants as listed by the hotel. Shown for information.
- MOR by Tom Sellers Seafood, small plates and whole fish Head chef Corrin Harrison, opened 2026
- Walter's on the Beach Seafood and British On the sand
- The Beach Club Mediterranean Decking and an open-air hot tub
- The Orangery All day, afternoon tea, Sunday lunch Views across St Ives Bay
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 3 pm, check-out by 11 am.
- Children Welcome at any age. A Kids' Club runs beach games, film nights and pizza making.
- By train Carbis Bay station, on the St Ives branch line from St Erth, is next to the hotel.
Getting there
Flying to St Ives.
Cornwall Airport Newquay is the nearest for scheduled flights and private jets, about an hour by road by our estimate. Trains from London Paddington connect at St Erth for the branch line, which stops at Carbis Bay beside the hotel.
- London 45 min
- Dublin 45 min
- Paris 1 h 05
- Geneva 1 h 35
- Nice 1 h 55
Questions
What guests ask first.
- Does Carbis Bay Estate have a MICHELIN Key?
- No. The estate is in the 2026 MICHELIN selection of hotels, without a Key.
- Is the beach at Carbis Bay private?
- Yes. The estate owns the beach, about a mile of sand, which holds the Blue Flag and the Seaside Award.
- Which airport is nearest to Carbis Bay Estate?
- Cornwall Airport Newquay, about an hour by car by our estimate. It handles both airline and private flights.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to St Ives?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to St Ives, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in St Ives
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Artist Residence Cornwall One Key for a Georgian house of eighteen rooms, each different, with a bar, smokehouse and garden in its Clubhouse.
- Hotel Tresanton Olga Polizzi's revival of a post-war seaside hotel, thirty rooms all facing the sea and St Anthony's lighthouse.
- The Idle Rocks A whitewashed inn of twenty rooms right on the harbour, with seafood at the centre of its kitchen.
- Padstow Townhouse Six suites in an eighteenth-century house on the High Street, run by the chef Paul Ainsworth.
- Boskerris Hotel A 1930s house of fifteen rooms above St Ives Bay, in the MICHELIN selection without a Key.
Staying at Carbis Bay Estate?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to St Ives, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.