“We stayed here for a week over the May half term and had a truly memorable holiday, blessed by the weather and with the best view anywhere on the British coast from our balcony - the castle even lit up at night to celebrate the birth of a new St Aubyn.”
The beach is right by the house and perfect for kids, the sea being sheltered by the Mount, lots of clean sand for digging and rock pools to explore, full of fascinating wildlife - we even found a sea hare! The Mount itself is well worth a visit, both castle and gardens, which aren't visible from the house but are spectacular. You could easily spend a week just enjoying the seaside, but there's plenty to do within a few miles of Marazion - we also visited the seawater lido in Penzance, Land's End and the Eden Project, and took a wildlife spotting boat trip, and still managed plenty of time at the beach. Shame that the council have barred off what would have been the perfect backdoor route to the beach while repairing the quay - although we did crawl under it a couple of times! - but the next entrance is only around the corner, by the Godolphin Hotel.
It's a beautiful house with character, incredibly spacious, spotlessly clean, comfortable beds, thoughtfully provided with everything you could possibly need - even a pair of binoculars by the balcony, which was great as we'd forgotten ours, lots of books, and some buckets and spades and a set of boules down in the entrance cubbyholes. We hardly used the living room and just stayed out on the balcony. The view from the middle floor bedroom is also fantastic, not that our computer obsessed teenager took much notice! Great fun to watch people attempting to cross the causeway before it was fully uncovered, boats, seabirds and dogs on the beach (which is dog friendly all months except Jul-Aug, but locals are scrupulous about picking up).
The shops next door sell delicious pasties and boxed cream teas (we took one up to the Mount and had a picnic), ice cream and fudge and the gift shop under the house (run by Tamzin and Matt) has a lovely range of souvenirs by local artists. We managed to eat locally almost every night, including a chippy tea, but be warned the queues at the chip shop are tremendous, and you must book in advance at the Cutty Sark restaurant. Marazion is very small (and charming) but gets a high number of tourists because of the Mount. Closing times are also earlier than visitors from big cities might expect! However, the food everywhere was tasty and local with friendly service. If you do want to self-cater, the kitchen is fully applianced, and all the supermarkets are minutes away by car, this side of Penzance. Parking is a slight issue but the long-stay parking has plenty of room and is only 5 minutes' walk away, right by the beach. It costs £50 for a week. There are a couple of spaces in front of the shop for unloading, with a half hour max stay so we managed to nip in there when needed.
In all, a perfect holiday, and we would definitely come back here or recommend it to others.
