Four-star One MICHELIN Key St Mawes, on the south coast, St Ives
The Idle Rocks
A whitewashed hotel of 1913 on the harbour wall at St Mawes, its terrace over the water, with a fisherman on the staff to land the day's catch.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- One Key
- Rooms
- Twenty, in seven categories
- Built
- 1913; reopened July 2013 after a full refit
- From the airport
- About an hour from Newquay, our estimate
The hotel
A century on the harbour wall.
The Idle Rocks went up in 1913 on the site of the old St Mawes bakery. By the 1930s it was advertising in The Times as a smart coastal hotel. After the war it changed hands several times; in the 1960s the boat slipway went and the terrace was stretched along the front, where it still sits above the water.
David and Karen Richards bought it in 2010. They closed it on 31 October 2012 for a complete refurbishment and reopened on 1 July 2013. Today the kitchen works with an in-house fisherman and Cornish produce, the hotel belongs to Relais & Châteaux, and its owners also run a sister hotel in the village, The St Mawes Hotel, where the Hidden Cinema is.
- The terrace South-facing and right on the water, with the boats of St Mawes harbour below.
- A fisherman on the team Gareth Austin brings in the daily catch for the kitchen.
- The Hidden Cinema The cinema at the sister hotel in the village, The St Mawes Hotel.
Rooms & suites
Harbour views or village rooms.
Each room is designed individually, in seven categories from snug village rooms to the largest sea-view rooms.
- Largest Grand Seaview The hotel's biggest rooms, bright and open, with wide views over the water.
- Next door The Cottage One Grand Harbour room and three Harbour View rooms in the cottage beside the hotel; the two on the ground floor take dogs.
- Families Seaview Family Water views, with room for two adults and two children in a bunk bed.
Dining
From the boat to the terrace.
As listed by the hotel. Shown for information.
- The Reef Knot Restaurant Cornish, sea to table Executive chef Guy Owen
- The terrace Lunch and drinks South-facing, by the harbour
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 3 pm, or earlier if the room is ready; check-out before 11 am.
- Children Welcome at any age. Some rooms have bunk beds or sofa beds.
- Pets Dogs stay in two ground-floor rooms in the cottage, for a one-off fee. They are not allowed in the restaurant, terrace or lounge.
- Parking A few free spaces, and a public car park nearby.
Getting there
Flying to St Ives.
Cornwall Airport Newquay is the nearest airport for scheduled flights and for private jets, which Weston Aviation handles. From there the drive to St Mawes takes about an hour, our estimate.
- London 45 min
- Dublin 45 min
- Paris 1 h 05
- Geneva 1 h 35
- Nice 1 h 55
Questions
What guests ask first.
- Does The Idle Rocks have a MICHELIN Key?
- Yes, one. The MICHELIN Guide lists it with one Key.
- Are dogs allowed at The Idle Rocks?
- In two ground-floor rooms in the cottage next door, for a one-off fee. Dogs are kept out of the restaurant, terrace and lounge; the sister St Mawes Hotel welcomes them in its bar and restaurant.
- How old is The Idle Rocks?
- It was built in 1913. The present owners bought it in 2010 and reopened it in July 2013 after a full refurbishment.
- 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.
- Padstow Townhouse Six suites in an eighteenth-century house on the High Street, run by the chef Paul Ainsworth.
- Carbis Bay Estate In the MICHELIN selection without a Key: 97 rooms over 125 acres, from the nineteenth-century Main House down to beach houses on the sand.
- Boskerris Hotel A 1930s house of fifteen rooms above St Ives Bay, in the MICHELIN selection without a Key.
Staying at The Idle Rocks?
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.