No. 27 The Terrace in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

Disappointing stay We stayed in Room Eight & we booked a double room. The room was basement level and was tiny with low ceilings, smelled heavily of chemicals and later mold. We had to keep the windows open but unfortunately the one small window opened out onto a busy road. The road was meters away from the window and the cars go fast, so it was really noisy day and time The bath was narrow and not full length and weirdly sticky. Really disappointed with our stay as we'd read such lovely reviews and the pictures (which are of different rooms to ours) looked so nice .

Wow what a stunning little hotel . Beautiful view of the beach literally across the road . Room was well equipped even binoculars in the wardrobe real nice touch. Bed was comfy and cosy In easy reach of town . Breakfast was tasty and freshly cooked to order . Nice little buffet to nibble on while awaiting cooked breakfast to arrive. Reception lady was friendly and helpful as was the chef . Highly recommend

This hotel is perfect for visiting St Ives, just a short walk to town, beaches and train station. The room was really well equipped with high end furnishings, bath robes, pod coffee machine and mini bar. Breakfast was fine with a good choice. Staff were friendly and helpful. So far so good. We booked a “garden view” room ( room 7). The view is basically of a stone wall and stone steps with a hint of garden. The window looked onto to a thoroughfare from the kitchen to the storeroom so it was necessary to keep the shutters closed for privacy. Also we were woken each morning by the staff arriving early and noisily opening and closing doors. The Wi-Fi in the hotel was intermittent to say the least. TV was a problem in that we couldn’t get channels 1 to 15 . Nobody at reception beyond 6pm so had to wait till next morning after 10am when reception was manned. Apparently it needed a retune. The teapot at breakfast had a large chip in the spout, also the waitress who served breakfast was wearing a stained uniform. Something you wouldn’t expect from an hotel of this calibre. Would we stay there again? Maybe but not in room 7.

Overall the visit was ok, the young girl who looked after us all night was “very good” so attentive personal and helpful, the food was good other then the “Lobster” frozen, diced, tepid and not what I was expecting to say the least! Maybe a bad night for the chef! Maybe as we were the only table in all night he didn’t care and was hoping to get home! Not sure either way, it’s not the best experience I was looking for….

Oh my, as always the dishes created by Grant and his team are exceptional. For several years we really enjoyed the tasting (and pairing!) menu which, alas, is no longer. Fortunately the food quality is still superb and the name seems to have changed, very recently (since we made our reservation) to Pig & Fish. Our three courses were sublime, my scallops were breaded and the broth in which they sat was smooth and bursting with flavour. The hake main was melt-in-the-mouth delicious and we shared cholate nemesis... so rich and luxurious. One disadvantage of there no longer being a tasting menu is that there is less chance of a wine to accompany each course, far fewer available by the glass. The atmosphere is delightfully grand (not sure about having two toddlers on the next table, they were well behaved, even though their parents were slow to give them their full attention). Service is great (thanks Paige and colleague) and the views just stunning. We'll be back!