Padstow Retreats started with a handful of lodges on the west bank of the Camel Estuary. We knew the area well and we kept meeting people who had booked the wrong thing. A cottage in the middle of town in August when they wanted quiet. A lodge miles inland when they wanted to walk to the beach. So we built a collection we could actually explain, and we have grown it across Padstow, St Merryn, Wadebridge, Rock and the Seven Bays.
North Cornwall is not one place. Padstow is a working fishing port with a harbour and a serious restaurant scene. Rock and Polzeath sit across the water and feel different again. St Merryn and Constantine Bay are beach country. Wadebridge is a market town on the Camel Trail. Knowing which one suits you is most of the job.
Four things guide how we work:
Every lodge and cottage in the collection is checked before it goes live. Beds, kitchens, hot tub servicing and cleaning all have to meet a standard. If a property slips, it comes off the site.
We can tell you which beaches allow dogs in July, where to hire bikes for the Camel Trail, and how far the walk really is to Stepper Point. That detail decides whether a holiday works.
We push owners towards efficient heating, local suppliers and planting that suits exposed coastal ground. The Camel Estuary is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and an important wintering site for wading birds. It deserves care.
You get a straight answer from someone who has seen the property. First enquiry to final day, with no call centre in between.
We buy locally and we point guests at local businesses. Welcome hampers come from Padstow suppliers. We work with bike hire operators at the Camel Trail trailhead, with the surf schools at Harlyn and Constantine, and with the boat operators running trips out past Stepper Point.
Part of every booking fee goes to coastal conservation work in the area. That covers footpath repair on the South West Coast Path, dune stabilisation at Constantine Bay and Harlyn, and estuary habitat projects along the Camel.
The collection runs from one-bedroom hot tub lodges for couples to houses that sleep twelve. Some sit on holiday parks inland of Trevose Head with pools and on-site facilities. Others stand alone in fields or on the edge of a village. A good number are pet-friendly with enclosed decking.
Each one is picked for location and condition. An estuary-view lodge near Little Petherick works for a quiet week. A park lodge near St Merryn works for families who want the beach and a pool. A cottage in Padstow itself puts you a two-minute walk from the harbour and the Camel Trail trailhead.
Padstow packs a lot into a small town. The harbour still lands crab and lobster daily. Rick Stein has cooked here since 1975 and Paul Ainsworth holds a Michelin star at No.6. Prideaux Place, the Elizabethan manor above town, has a deer park and opens through the summer.
Then there is the coast. The Seven Bays run west from Trevone to Porthcothan. The Camel Trail gives you 18 flat miles to Wadebridge and Bodmin along an old railway line. The Black Tor ferry crosses to Rock in minutes. And every May Day the town fills for the Obby Oss, one of the oldest surviving folk customs in the country.
Planning a break in ? Tell us your dates, your group size and what you want within walking distance. We will point you at the right properties.
Contact us at support@. Our office is located at and we welcome visitors by appointment.