This is just going to be a quick post – but after struggling to find much information about The Clowance Estate before our holiday there last week, it struck me that a review might be of use to other holidaymakers. (Just to be clear, we paid in full for our holiday and I have received no incentive to write this, it is done purely in the spirit of public service!)

The Clowance Estate

The accommodation.

 

We stayed in a St Ives Lodge. It was lovely. It had obviously been renovated very recently (our bedroom smelt of paint) and was finished nicely. It was spacious and tasteful and modern and light and I was very pleased. There was a deck and a hot tub – I’m not really a hot tub kind of gal, but I had a brief paddle in it and it was perfectly pleasant. We had two bedrooms, the double was spacious with a walk in wardrobe and my girls loved their mezzanine level, though the spiral staircase would have given me nightmares if they’d been any younger. The bathroom was pretty big, with a bath and a separate shower.

The lodge was well equipped – the kitchen had a dishwasher (most importantly), also a full size fridge freezer and decent oven and hob and a microwave. There was a hoover, ironing board and iron as well, should you find a break from the drudgery of home a problem. I don’t.

I think we were very lucky with the accommodation we got. The Clowance Estate seems to be mid-revival – the lodge next to ours hadn’t yet been ‘refreshed’ and, nosing through the window, it looked a bit tired. There are no pictures of these lodges on the website, but they were certainly occupied so if I was to book again, I’d phone and check in advance. My girls made friends with some children who were in a larger ‘Patio Home’ – when they came to call they were brutally critical of their own accommodation, in that heartless way children have, although they did say it had an inside sauna! Amazing!

There were two TVs with Freeview, and a DVD player in the lounge. The WiFi is £25 for 6 devices for a week – it wasn’t brilliant, I had to reconnect pretty much every time I used it, but I had absolutely no phone signal so 4G wasn’t an option.

The facilities

The indoor facilities are all housed in the same building as the Reception, next to the rather lovely, but seemingly unused, 18th century manor house. A restaurant and bar are upstairs – we had a quick drink, which was fine, but didn’t sample the food.

There is a gym and an indoor swimming pool, with a sauna. It all looks like it’s not in its first flush of youth, but everything was clean and the changing room had plenty of space and plenty of lockers, operated by a key card that Reception will give you when you sign in. You can hire swimming towels for a week for a deposit of £10 per family.

A laundry was also available, or, for £6 you could drop off a loadful at Reception to be washed, dried and returned to your lodge the following day. Seemed a good deal to me.

The grounds

The grounds were extensive – 97 acres – and rather lovely. The lodges were well-spaced out, and the whole place was very peaceful. When we went out wandering we barely saw a soul apart from scampering rabbits. It really was very nice. As well as parkland, there is a boating lake (scene of minor family discord) – you are free to borrow the key to the boathouse and life jackets from Reception, at no cost. There is a golf course, tennis and basketball courts (racquets and balls again available from Reception) as well as giant draughts and chess and a small play area.

The area

The Clowance Estate’s closest village is Praze-an-Beeble, which sounded magical and was perfectly nice, but was not the sort of place you’d kill much time. There was a convenience shop there however, which sold the best strawberries I’ve ever tasted.

Camborne is the nearest town of any magnitude; it may well be charming – I don’t know – we visited only for the Tesco.

From Clowance we visited St Ives, Mousehole, St Michael’s Mount, Lizard Point and Land’s End and everywhere in between – no journey took more than about 45 minutes – it’s a pretty good central location for loads of lovely places.

The verdict.

Would we go again? Definitely. Will we go again? Quite possibly.