Luxurious and Liveable: Sail Loft coastal apartments, St Ives

The combination of a cancelling dog-sitter, overdue homework and an unexpected mufti day resulted in my starting our family break on my own. But my now somewhat submerged arty side was still quietly excited about our long weekend in St Ives in Cornwall, staying at the Sail Loft apartments.

Greeted by the affable MD on arrival, we were introduced to our apartment. Most are entered via the Sail Lofts’ courtyard garden, but a couple, like ours, have their own front doors.

These recently launched five-star holiday homes are light, spacious and perfectly suited to relaxed living, sleeping between 2 and 8 visitors. The walls display carefully selected varied work from local artists, including paintings, relief pieces and photographs, while the furnishings are suitably sumptuous.

They are, as you might expect, luxurious and tastefully furnished, and the bed may be the most comfortable you have ever slept in. But they are also extremely easy to live in. Their vast living spaces (with lounge and dining areas), are upstairs (with the bedrooms and bathrooms downstairs, which works perfectly. Hard-wearing coir flooring downstairs looks like it would repel any spillages a young family may throw at it. In fact it ALL appears built to last and is very well considered – the courtyard  even has an outdoor shower and wet room for incoming sandy beachgoer and surfer guests.

The lofts’ next trump card is their location. On arrival I didn’t quite appreciate this. I had no sea-view and thought the positioning of the building was a little odd. Only later did I realise that not only are they between two truly fantastic beaches (one a 15-second walk away, the other 45 seconds!) – the harbour is just around the corner, as is the town’  centre, while the family-friendly Tate St Ives with its modern and contemporary artis within a 5-minute walk. Our car was hardly needed during the entire break.

St Ives is a quirky, friendly town full of unexpected events: we  witnessed an air ambulance rescue one day and walked through a nighttime fashion shoot outside the apartment the next. I couldn’t work out if the reason people were so friendly was due to the huge smile on my own face or if they are just always like that here. But St Ives certainly is a perfect location for a stress-free holiday.

Next time we watch 'Blue Juice, a coming-of-age surfing film, we'll look out for the bits filmed in our now-beloved St Ives.

Take the Family

Take the Family users staying at the Sail Lofts outside of school holidays can enjoy an Exclusive 10% discount by Quoting 'Take the Family' on booking.

Guests at the Sail Loft also receive a 50% entrance fee discount at  The Tate, St Ives.