Porthevan, North Cornwall · open all year
A house above the cove, with the sea in every window.
Eight rooms, a short menu written each afternoon, and a lime bathhouse warm by five. From £135 a night, breakfast from the kitchen garden.
4.9 from 612 guest reviews · free cancellation to 14 days
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Best rate, direct
Book with us and pay less than on any booking site, with breakfast at cost.
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Free cancellation
Up to 14 days before you arrive. After that we charge the first night only.
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Open all year
Winter rooms from £135, the fire lit by four, the bathhouse warm by five.
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Bathhouse included
Every resident bathes free: warm plunge, cold plunge and cedar steam.
The rooms
Eight rooms, all of them facing the water
Six kinds of room across three floors, from a 14 m² walkers' double to a corner suite with its own sitting room. Every one has lime-plaster walls, washed linen and a bathroom of its own.
The Cove Suite
from £265
Full sea, south-west · 34 m² · Super-king
See the room
2 rooms The Headland Room
from £215
Sea and headland, north-west · 26 m² · King
See the room
The Lantern
from £195
Sea through the gable windows, west · 22 m² · King
See the room
2 rooms The Harbour Double
from £165
Harbour and bay, east · 20 m² · Double
See the room
The Garden Room
from £185
Walled garden, sea over the wall · 24 m² · King, plus a daybed
See the room
The Snug
from £135
Side window to the sea · 14 m² · Double
See the room
The house
Built in 1904 for the harbour master
He chose the one spot on the headland where you can see both the harbour and the open sea. We bought it in 2014 with a leaking roof and the original lime walls, spent two winters putting them back, and opened eight rooms in 2016.
- Rooms
- 8
- Covers at dinner
- 24
- Yards to the path
- 200
A stay at Merecombe
How the day goes here
Nothing to organise. Arrive, bathe, eat, sleep, walk. The house runs around the tide and the kitchen.
Arrive from three
Tea in the lounge, your key, and a note of the tide times. Bags go up without you.
Bathe before dinner
Warm plunge, cold plunge and cedar steam, free for residents from 7am to 9pm.
Dinner at seven
Four courses written that afternoon from the day boat and the walled garden, £58.
Breakfast till ten
Eggs from the farm up the hill, bread from our oven, a window seat facing the bay.
Availability
Pick a night, see the price.
Live rates for every room, night by night. Choose a room or let us find the cheapest free one, add breakfast, and send the request. Nothing is charged until we confirm.
- Arrival
- Your nights
- FullSold out
- Prices are the lowest nightly room rate. Fridays and Saturdays +£30.
Side by side
Which room is right for you?
Walkers on a budget take the Snug. Couples marking something take the Cove Suite. Anyone who finds stairs hard takes the Garden Room, which is level from the car to the shower.
| Room | Size | View | Bed | Sleeps | From, a night |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cove Suite | 34 m² | Full sea, south-west | Super-king | 2 | £265 |
| The Headland Room 2 rooms | 26 m² | Sea and headland, north-west | King | 2 | £215 |
| The Lantern | 22 m² | Sea through the gable windows, west | King | 2 | £195 |
| The Harbour Double 2 rooms | 20 m² | Harbour and bay, east | Double | 2 | £165 |
| The Garden Room | 24 m² | Walled garden, sea over the wall | King, plus a daybed | 3 | £185 |
| The Snug | 14 m² | Side window to the sea | Double | 2 | £135 |
Guest book
What guests wrote after they went home
The Cove Suite · January 2026, 3 nights
“We watched a storm come in from the bath in the Cove Suite, then went down to the bathhouse and let it blow itself out. Best January weekend we have had.”
The Headland Room · October 2025, 4 nights
“Walked 22 km to the lighthouse, came back to boots drying on a rack and a table kept by the fire. The staff knew my name by the second morning.”
The Garden Room · May 2026, 2 nights
“The Garden Room is properly step-free, not just "accessible". My mother used the shower on her own for the first time in two years.”
Journal
From the house and the coast path
Local guide · 4 October 2026 · 6 min read
The coast path from our gate: three walks, three lengths
An easy hour, a proper half day and the long one to the lighthouse. Where each walk goes, how steep it gets, and when to be back for dinner.
Local guide · 18 August 2026 · 5 min read
Where to swim near Porthevan, month by month
Four beaches and one cove within twenty minutes, which ones are safe at which tide, and how cold the water really is in each month of the year.
Questions
What guests ring about before they arrive
Anything else, call us on 01632 960 219. Reception is staffed from 8am to 10pm.
Staying
- What time is check-in and check-out?
- Rooms are ready from 3pm and we ask for them back by 11am. Leave your bags with us either side and use the bathhouse and the lounge for as long as you like.
- What is your cancellation policy?
- Cancel up to 14 days before arrival and we refund everything. Inside 14 days we charge the first night only, and if we can re-let the room we refund that too.
Dining
- Is breakfast included?
- You choose when you book: room only, or with breakfast at £18 a guest. It is served from 8 to 10 in the dining room, cooked to order, with bread from our kitchen.
- Do we need to book dinner?
- Yes, and please do it when you book your room. There are 24 covers and residents get first call. Dinner is four courses at £58, Wednesday to Sunday from 7pm.
Getting here
- Is there parking?
- Six free spaces behind the house, one kept by the door of the Garden Room. There is a public car park at the top of the lane if we are full, £6 a day.
- Can we come by train?
- Yes. Take the train to Bodmin Parkway and we book a taxi to meet you (35 minutes, about £55). Guests who arrive by train get 10% off their room.
Winter rooms from £135, and the fire lit by four.
Open every night of the year. November to March is the quietest, cheapest and, for a lot of our regulars, the best time to come.