Garrack Hotel

The Garrack is an old-fashioned, family-run hotel that puts comfort ahead of cutting-edge design, but the 19 different varieties of gin lining a shelf in the bar indicate that there’s a livelier way of thinking behind the running of this place than the decor suggests. Through the windows, there are drop-dead views over Porthmeor Beach, while the St Ives Tate is a 10-minute walk away, albeit a steep downhill one – at least you’ll be working up an appetite for dinner on the way back. The restaurant is known for seafood, but meat dishes, especially Cornish lamb, are more than a token inclusion – look out for the likes of roast loin of St Just lamb, with a prune & chorizo compote, red onion tartlet & rosemary jus. A daily changing set menu might include a salad of oak-smoked Cornish sea trout with preserved lemon & caper oil followed by grilled sea bass with sultanas and chorizo. A global wine list balances interest & good value & includes Cornish wines from Camel Valley Vineyard.