Bubbles and four-poster luxury (Count House)

Member Name: chinnyli

Product:	Count House
Date:	11/07/01 (1065 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Relaxing jacuzzi and large four poster bed, Thoughtful details ie kettle, hairdyer, bubble bath etc, Filling English breakfast

Disadvantages: A tad expensive, Uphill walk from town and station, Ground floor room

I fell in love with the room as soon as I saw it on the internet - a peach coloured bedroom with large four poster bed and an ensuite Jacuzzi bathroom at The Count House - what girl hasn’t fantasised about indulging in plain old fashioned, fairy tale like luxury and the chance to frolic in a hot, bubbling Jacuzzi?

The only problem was convincing the boyfriend this was the ideal place to stay, but that didn’t take too long as a fortnight before we were to travel to St Ives, we still hadn’t sorted out somewhere to stay, and were rapidly discovering that most of the B&Bs we had been looking at closer to the beaches were already booked up, or expected people to stay a minimum number of nights.

So I made an enquiry by email for a Friday and Saturday night stay. The four poster room was only available on the Saturday night, I was told. No problem, I thought, I’ll book it for that night anyway, and have a normal double on the Friday. I phoned up this time (they take a couple of days to get back otherwise), and booked the rooms like this.

As it happened, we lucked out. On arrival, we were told the couple that had the room before us had left early, so we had the four-poster room for two nights after all. This meant we wouldn’t have the hassle of changing rooms the next morning, although it did mean our hotel bill had just shot up! (And also means I’m unable to write about their normal rooms in the name of research!)

The wooden four-poster bed was there, with the cute curtain tie-backs, flowing white/peach curtains and a half dozen pillows/cushions scattered at the head of the bed. There were built in single wardrobes at the back of the room, bedside shelves with pseudo art deco lamps, and the main light in the room is provided by two dim lights above the wardrobe doors that can be switched off individually by cords near the bed - useful so that you don’t end up staggering through the dark! Plus a q
uaint dressing table with letter drawers as well as normal drawers (no stationary though), and more peach curtains and tie-backs at the window. Ooh, and an authentic, non plastered or painted over stone wall at one edge of the room to add a bit of rustic charm.

The only things which spoilt the effect a bit, was the awful pattern on the bed cover, and that the basin was in the room instead of the bathroom. Even so, there was a lovely large mirror above the sink so you could concentrate on the reflections of peachness while brushing your teeth.

I was a little disappointed when I saw the Jacuzzi though. I had envisaged a large, round Jacuzzi with plenty of space (like the one they had in Big Brother 1), to find that it was about the same size as a bathtub.

However, it is actually slightly larger than a normal bathtub, with enough space for two (small?) people to share comfortably without getting legs too tangled up or squashed as happens in a normal bathtub, although probably not quite enough space to get too adventurous!

When turned on, the Jacuzzi bubbles quite vigorously - quite pleasant, although not withstandable after about five minutes, and very noisy! The Jacuzzi will send cold jets of air at first, but you can turn a round knob for blasts of warm air instead. (BTW shouldn’t put in too much bubble bath, end up with lots and lots of frothy bubbles all over place, but very fun!)

Extra little details make the room more comfy, they provide a hairdryer, kettle with plenty of teabags and instant coffee (what is this obsession with drinking tea and coffee even on holiday?), extra thick and plush hand and bath towels, small soaps and a bottle of bubble bath, and in the bathroom are heated towel racks to keep your towels toasty warm until you get out of the Jacuzzi. There is also a TV and video player in the room, so we spent most of our time watching tennis and cricket!

There are bad points to the room though
- the main one being that it is on the ground floor. This means you can hear people going up and down the stairs, as well as toilets etc flushing upstairs. And there isn’t much of a view of the harbour (they’re better from the rooms upstairs), plus you have to worry about people outside being able to see in (although there are net curtains at the window). There are a lot windows - the door into the room has a sort of stained glass window, which the people in the house probably can’t see through, but I’m never certain! And there are no curtains covering this window. In the bathroom, there is a massive bubbled window in front of the toilet, with just a net curtain covering it. A little bit offputting, even though I’m sure if anyone could see in, they could only make out shapes!

This room was slightly more expensive than what I’d normally go for, but it is probably the second poshest room I’ve ever stayed in (the poshest being in Venice, mmmmm, luxury!) The room currently costs £36pppn, but they do have cheaper rooms - £27.50pppn for a double room, but single rooms are expensive at £35pppn.

While I wouldn’t recommend this room as somewhere to stay for a honeymoon etc, it’s nice if you want something a little bit more special than what you’d normally go for.

About the B&B n general: The Count House can be a bit tricky to find if you’re on foot, particularly as most of the online maps are rubbish! It’s 10 mins walk from St Ives train station and the beaches, or five mins from the town centre. But I’m afraid it's all an uphill walk involving looking for paths! It's best to look for signs pointing to the coach park, and Trenwith car park, and follow them. When you reach the coach park, cross the parking area diagonally right and there will be another path, leading steeply up. This forks halfway up, and you should follow the right path (the other leads to Trenwit
h car park) and follow it around until you hit Burrows (you’ll be able to see a roundabout as you come out). Continue right, and on the first left turning will be Trenwith Square where the B&B is located.

Although it seems a bit far from the beaches, this can be an advantage for light sleepers, you won't get the cacophany of seagulls waking you up too early in the mornings!

Breakfast is served between 8.30-9.15am, and they usually offer cereal, full breakfast of fried egg, hash browns, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, sausages and toast. Very filling and very yummy! Plus orange juice, and tea or coffee.

They also offer an optional four course dinner at £12.50 per head, but they aren’t able to offer a choice of menu, it depends on what they catch! This has to be booked by breakfast time. As we were there for such a short time and wanted to spend more time exploring the town centre, we didn’t get a chance to try this out.

They have a sauna which can be booked for £4, and again they like plenty of notice, so that enough time is allowed to heat up the room. Had a peek in though, and it looked very tempting, all pine walls and floors, and what looks like a massage table! (No masseuse though unfortunately)

The guest house is non-smoking, has nine ensuite rooms, of which seven have views of the sea, and two overlook their garden.

When you book, you’ll have to pay a £50 deposit per week. We were charged £30 deposit for our two nights stay. They prefer guests not to arrive before 2pm, and rooms have to be vacated by 10am on the last day.

You are given your own set of keys to the house and room, and there’s no curfew. They provide free car parking, and accept cash, cheques and credit cards.

The Count House
Trenwith Square
St Ives
Cornwall
TR26 1DQ
Tel: 01736 795369
Fax: 01736 799109
http://connexions.co.uk/counthouse/
email: CountHouse@
connexions.co.uk

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This should actually be sitting in "B&Bs in St Ives" but I don't seem to be able to add my article there, so have had to plump it here until I can move it! (I don't have much patience for waiting for categories to be created when my op is already finished!)

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