The best family-friendly hotels in Cornwall
Discover the very best family hotels in Cornwall for a fun-packed seaside holiday
Cornwall is a special place for a family adventure; at the forefront is the stunning natural beauty of the county – known for its dramatic coastline, rugged cliffs and sandy beaches.
Not only is it the perfect bucket and spade holiday for kids, it’s also one of the best locations to embrace the great outdoors, with the landscape brilliant for hiking, biking, kayaking and sea-swimming.
As a county, it’s laidback, home to some of the friendliest people you will meet – a great spot to escape the hustle and bustle of the everyday and enjoy some of the best family hotels in Cornwall.
Home to a thriving food and drink scene, with a focus on local and seasonal produce with endless delicious foodie offerings including a string of Michelin starred eateries. Kernow – as the locals call it – offers something for everyone: hiking along the South West Coast Path, spectacular clifftop views, cold-water swimming in pretty, secluded inlets and coves with some of the most beautiful stretches of sand and surfing beaches in the UK – just don’t forget to pack your wetsuit!
Fowey Hall Hotel, Fowey, Cornwall
Fowey Hall Hotel is an opulent home-from-home that inspires quality family time, indoors and out. The coastal manor-house sits on the hillside of picturesque Fowey, south Cornwall, offering child-friendly luxury in a relaxed setting.
The spa is open for all the family to enjoy between 8am-8pm and flexible dining allows families to eat together up until 8pm, or kids can eat at 5pm leaving parents to make use of the complimentary baby-listening service – available 24/7.
The hotel's chef can also provide fresh, pureed baby food from 7am-9pm with room service also available until 9.15pm. The family hotel offers a complimentary two-hour session per day, available in the OFSTED-registered creche facility for children up to eight years, and a milk-butler service with the delivery of sterilised and heated bottles of milk.
Kids will love the dedicated children’s library and cinema with daily screenings complete with popcorn, along with a 12-metre indoor pool and heated outdoor pool with floats and toys poolside. There’s a brilliant games room with table tennis and video games – perfect for teens – and an outdoor play area to keep little ones entertained. Children up to the age of 15 stay for free in their parent’s room.
Padstow Harbour Hotel, Padstow, Cornwall
Chic and cheerful - with a nod towards the nautical - Padstow Harbour Hotel provides a quintessential coastal escape for all of the family to enjoy.
With lashings of seaside charm and a host of experiences to enliven your stay, this revamped Victorian retreat will ensure the whole family a memorable escape on the north Cornish coast.
The family hotel boasts two Junior Suites with estuary-views, suitable for two adults and two children, along with a number of large rooms available for extra beds. Crabbing buckets and lines, along with buckets and spades are provided and there’s children’s menu available.
There’s also an outdoor-pool, along with a games room with a pool table, selection of board games and activity books, as well as video games, built into the tables.
The Bodmin Jail Hotel, Bodmin, Cornwall
Experience the ultimate luxury stay in a former Cornish jail! The Bodmin Jail Hotel is great for all the family to enjoy - painstakingly preserved, it retains many heritage features, including its original stonewalls and cell doors behind which guests will discover luxurious bedrooms - created by combining three former cells- complete with modern furnishings.
The 18th century prison-hotel offers a completely immersive stay, immersive experience for those after an experiential Cornish getaway; a brilliant family hotel for a memorable break in Cornwall. Family rooms are provided with sofa beds for children and The Jolly Hangman’s Tavern offers a children’s menu.
Kids will absolutely love The Bodmin Jail Attraction – the perfect family day out, situated right next to the hotel.
St Mawes Hotel, St Mawes, Cornwall
Enjoy family fun by the coast at St Mawes Hotel – a brilliant spot for a traditional bucket and spade holiday, situated on the waterfront at the heart of the seaside village; a family hotel with refined boutique rooms, a bustling bistro-bar and private cinema.
The ground floor bar hosts live music every Thursday, providing a buzzing hub for this idyllic fishing village with its relaxed ethos, bare floors, wooden tables and nautical paraphernalia. Families can stay in the Village Family Room, perfect for two adults and two children up to the age of 12.
The en-suite includes a bath and separate shower as well as children’s beds built into the rafters, reached by a ladder. Additionally, babysitting facilities and special arrangements can be made with the team.
Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate, St Ives, Cornwall
Experience seaside fun for all the family, along with enjoy a beach-chic vibe and a little added luxury at the Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate – a family hotel in a stunning coastal resort, perfectly positioned just above its privately owned blue flag sandy beach, on the edge of St Ives, comprising of luxurious accommodation, diverse eateries, and a unique C Bay spa.
The estate’s family suites sleep four to six, and Z beds can be provided in the cottage’s larger rooms. The Deli Café is very family friendly, and there’s also a beach kiosk, open during summer months selling ice-cream and beach toys.
Children’s menus are available at The Beach Club and Orangery restaurant and an activity-packed kids’ club runs throughout the school holidays.
The Headland Hotel & Spa, Newquay, Cornwall
The Headland Hotel & Spa is a family friendly Victorian pile, set on an exclusive cliff-top overlooking Cornwall’s iconic Fistral Beach - step outside and you’re straight on the path to the sandy stretch. With Bodmin Moor just over an hour’s drive and The Eden Project 40-minutes away – it’s an ideal base to explore the north Cornish coast and surrounding area.
A family hotel with lashings of comfort – expect a little modern elegance, good food, cosy cottages and remarkable views. Both rooms and cottages are suitable for families with extra beds and cots provided. For under-tens, a selection of rooms home to pull-down bunk beds and for older children internal rooms offer excellent value. Child-friendly menus are also available.
Hotel Tresanton, St Mawes, Cornwall
Whether it’s lounging in the beach garden, sipping cocktails on the terrace or eating gourmet burgers, Hotel Tresanton provides an unforgettable escape.
This iconic family hotel on the South Cornish coast boasts fabulous views across Falmouth Bay, along with sub-tropical gardens, a beach club and private wooden yacht - providing plenty of ways to relax on this unique stretch of coastline.
Expect lashings of Cornish comfort and plenty of seaside fun; the hotel is home to three family-suites, a playroom, where fishing nets and crabbing lines are available, along with a garden and playhouse. During school holidays, activities including arts, crafts and drama can also be arranged.
A children’s menu is available all day, though those under the age of six-years are not permitted in the restaurant after 7pm. Families are welcome to dine together after this time in the ‘Dogs Bar’.
St Michael’s Resort, Falmouth, Cornwall
St Michael’s Resort offers the ultimate immersive break with a focus on wellbeing and activity-led experiences. Enjoy an active break at this family hotel, providing all the ingredients for a fun seaside escape on the South Cornish coast.
Conveniently positioned, directly opposite the town’s sandy Blue-Flag Gyllyngvase Beach - the ideal spot to kick back and watch the breakers or take to the water for some kayaking, just fifteen-minutes’ walk takes you to Swanpool Beach and the town centre, where you will discover a variety of independent shops, antiques and cafes.
There’s a range of family friendly accommodation found in both the new beach-house and the main-house, with the Brasserie-on-the-Bay restaurant providing a relaxed dining experience, including a children’s-menu.
The Greenbank Hotel, Falmouth, Cornwall
With an abundance of maritime charm, characterful history and enviable harbourside position, Falmouth’s oldest hotel provides a memorable coastal escape in South Cornwall, for all the family.
Set right at the water’s edge, on Falmouth’s historic harbour, with views across the Fal estuary to the quaint village of Flushing, The Greenbank Hotel is ideally positioned for exploring the South West Coastal Path, as well as the cobbled streets, peppered with independent boutiques, eateries, galleries and antiques.
A stone’s throw from the National Maritime Museum and Henry VIII’s Pendennis Castle, along with gorgeous sub-tropical gardens - Trebah and Glendurgan - ten-minutes’ drive away. There are six family friendly rooms, and the hotel provides crabbing lines, dominoes and buckets and spades and a kids-specific menu.
The Godolphin, Marazion, Cornwall
A superb spot on the west Cornish coast, The Godolphin provides an enviable beach-fronted position, with spectacular views across to St Michael’s Mount. Enjoy relaxed living space with a nod towards the surrounds, and freshest local and seasonal produce to a backdrop of breathtaking sea views.
Kids will love the close proximity to Marazion Beach – perfect for bucket and spade days – with low tide offering the perfect opportunity to walk the ancient cobbled causeway across to the Mount, taking a passenger ferry back when the tide floods in.
There are two family suites available with an extra room to accommodate two children in bunk beds or on a pull out sofa bed. There’s also a children’s-specific ‘Kids by The Beach’ menu, as well as a kid’s mini roast on Sundays
The Rosevine Hotel, Portscatho, Cornwall
A Georgian-style family house-by-the-sea; The Rosevine Hotel offers comfortable boutique suites and studio apartments with stunning sea vistas – a seaside bolthole to enjoy local produce, coastal walks and a self-contained space, with comfort and flexibility. Created with families in mind, choose between a family apartment or suite or an independent self-catering house.
There are eight family apartments (five with sea views) across the ground floor and first floor of the house, comprising two bedrooms and a separate living-dining room, with room for a cot or Z bed if needed.
The family hotel also provides fishing nets, buckets and spades and windbreaks and there’s an outside play area and table football on the lawn. Inside is a playroom, equipped with an Xbox, DVD player, a selection of DVDs, games and toys. If you’re looking for a babysitter, the reception team will be happy to arrange with prior notice.
Bedruthen Hotel, Mawgan Porth
Perfectly positioned on the north Cornish coast, Bedruthen Hotel provides a dream spot for all the family to enjoy – located on the cliff tops, overlooking Mawgan Porth Beach, between the popular destination-towns of Padstow and Newquay with myriad beautiful sandy beaches, backed by sand dunes to explore.
There’s a real focus on children with a programme of activities, soft play, craft room, kids pools and cinema. The family hotel aim to make your stay as effortless as possible, keeping buggies, cots and bottle warmers on site.
There’s a host of family rooms available with heaps of space and natural light – from spacious sea view rooms to a sea view villa or a large apartment room.
Lewinnick Lodge, Newquay, Cornwall
A brilliant coastal escape for all the family, perched high on the clifftops of the Pentire Headland, Lewinnick Lodge boasts an unrivalled position from which to explore north Cornwall. Close to both Crantock and Fistral beach, the family hotel sits right on the South West Coast Path, where you can walk directly into the centre of Newquay.
Home to one family friendly room, as well as two interconnecting room, with board games and books to keep children occupied. A children’s menu is provided in the restaurant with options including fish and chips, the kids mezze and burger in a brioche bun with fries.
Fistral beach is an easy 30-minute stretch along the coastal path, where kids can enjoy the expansive sands and rockpools, as well as bodyboarding.
Port Gaverne, Port Isaac, Cornwall
An authentic coastal retreat, great for family holidays in Cornwall - the Port Gaverne Hotel offers the ideal spot for exploring the dramatic North Cornish coastline.
Expect pretty coves, hearty seasonal fare and the warmest of welcomes. The family hotel is nestled in a beautiful secluded cove in Port Gaverne, just a five-minute walk from the 14th century fishing village of Port Isaac on North Cornwall’s dramatic coastline.
Walk along the cliff tops to Port Isaac where you can explore the ancient fishing village with its narrow winding streets, whitewashed cottages.
Children are welcome and can be accommodated in three of the bedrooms, sleeping a maximum of three, and there is a children’s-specific menu provided. Kids will love beach days at the secluded cove - don’t forget the buckets and spades!
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