Scarlet Hotel

I was very fortunate this weekend to be whisked away to Cornwall for a very special Birthday treat - a 3 night stay in the super eco luxe Scarlet Hotel.
The Scarlet is brand new - it opened its doors this September, and I would urge you all to try and book in a visit while they have their amazing 50% opening offer on.
The architecture was gorgeous - mellowing copper, natural wood, and slate, and glittering mosaics in the bathrooms, bold wallpaper prints on feature walls - and views to die for.
The hotel is perched on the edge of the bay at Mawgan Porth - and from almost every aspect you get amazing sea views. We were lucky we also managed to get one of the rare weekends in the UK that was sunny, and on my birthday we even managed to lounge by the side of the open air pool, and grab some rays. I did not brave the water, which judging by most peoples reactions seemed to be sub zero - but I did have a quiet pootle in the indoor pool, which is heated by solar panels.
The Scarlets eco credentials are excellent - but you don't feel like you are in a hair shirt kind of place, because so much attention has gone into the design.
The electricity supply is from Ecotricity, and is 100% wind generated. Grey water is harvested to flush the loos, and there is a heat exchange ventilation system, whilst the heating itself comes from a biomass boiler fed by wood chips.
It is well worth the climb up the opposite cliff just to gaze back at the hotel which has been built quite low into the hillside.
The food was also excellent - with loads of fish choices which you would expect by the sea, but also so very yummy vegetarian options. The staff were very laid back, but in a nice way, so you felt like you could curl your feet up under you on one of the cosy sofas in the library.
The only disappointment was the table linen they had chosen was of the laundry style, bog standard white damask, with so much attention to detail elsewhere with the Organic Luma bedding, and local Cornwall Soap Box soap, it was a shame they had not gone all the way with the eco sourcing.
We also popped over to Jamie Olivers Fifteen restaurant, which was only 10 minutes away at Watergate Bay. Again we were very fortunate to have one of the best sunsets that the locals had seen for a while - (you could tell because even the waiters and waitresses were stopping to look at the sunset).
It was one of the nicest meals I've had in ages, and we also had one of my favourite Sicilian Organic wines, which you rarely see in the UK. The quality of the ingredients was excellent - where they could get a good local supply the food was local, but the olive oil and buffalo mozzarella were from Italy and tasted so fresh.
It was certainly a birthday to remember, and although it was only 3 days we felt like we had been away longer.