Location Carbis Bay, Cornwall Owner Stephen Baker Number of rooms 47 | Opening 1894 Architect Silvanus Trevail | |
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Carbis Bay Hotel is an AA 4-star hotel in Carbis Bay near St Ives, Cornwall. It is the most prominent building in Carbis Bay, overlooking the beach.
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History
It was built in 1894 by Silvanus Trevail, Cornwall's most notable architect of the 19th century. As of 2003, the hotel was owned by Stephen Baker and his family, although it was previously owned by the Monk family. Virginia Woolf stayed at the hotel in the spring of 1914 for three weeks whilst recovering from a bout of mental illness. She would later base her 1927 novel To the Lighthouse on the Godrevy Lighthouse nearby. Acclaimed film director David Lean also once stayed on the hotel.
Author Rosamunde Pilcher features the hotel (renamed as The Sands Hotel) in her novels The Shell Seekers (1988) and Winter Solstice (2000).
Architecture and facilities
The hotel is a traditional cream painted building, three storeys high with two large bays at either side. It has six chimney stacks, two on top of either bay and two in the middle. It has several extensions and an extensive conservatory at the front, overlooking the beach. The lawn is kept closely cropped, leading down to the beach.
The hotel has two restaurants. The fine-dining Sand's Restaurant has an AA Rosette and serves Cornish cuisine and fresh seafood. The Beach Club restaurant, located on the beach, serves a range of Mediterranean dishes.
The hotel and beach is regularly used for weddings with 11 areas of the estate licensed for wedding ceremonies, including the Beach Club restaurant, decking on the beach, conservatory with panoramic sea views and the C Bay Spa.