The Best Boutique B&Bs in Cornwall

This Victorian farmhouse offers rural tranquility just 4mi (6.5km) from the cathedral city of Truro and within easy reach of the rugged north and more-sheltered south Cornish coasts. The two ensuite guest rooms are traditionally styled and feature blackout curtains – though you may not want to miss a second of those sweeping countryside views. Breakfast is eaten beside the fire in a traditional dining room and features homemade Bircher muesli and sausages from a nearby farm.

Just yards from postcard-pretty Mousehole Harbour, The Old Pilchard Works offers two self-contained rooms in what was once a pilchard-processing factory. The building has been carefully restored and its whitewashed rooms have a clean, contemporary feel, with driftwood mirrors and seaside art. Breakfast is a box of locally-sourced delights, including oven-warm croissants and homemade granola, delivered to your room or the garden patio by host Tracey.

This B&B above the golden sands of St Ives has a touch of luxe about it. The seven guest rooms, named after local beaches, feature roll-top baths, White Company dressing gowns and sleek ensuites with Noble Isle toiletries. Fresh cake and sherry waits in your room every afternoon. There’s also a pretty garden overlooking the sea, the Snug bar and a breakfast room with an adjoining conservatory where your organic full English is served.

Run by former hoteliers Angela and Olivier, Trevose Harbour House is a boutique guest house with a prime position in St Ives. Each of its six rooms have a blue and white colour scheme but are individually styled, with Neal’s Yard products and Hypnos mattresses throughout. The extensive breakfast menu ranges from hot croissants with St Endellion brie to Middle Eastern shakshouka. There’s a local slant – the coffee and bread comes from Helson; organic eggs from Liskeard; and honey from Portreath.

Dating back to 1760, this Georgian coaching inn in Kingsand has been given a new lease of life with revamped rooms featuring four-poster beds, bathrooms with underfloor heating and hand-painted wallpaper. Up in the eaves, the suite has a free-standing tub and skylights for star-gazing. Croissants, fresh fruit and cooked-to-order dishes are eaten surrounded by painted seascapes – owners Sarah and Dillon also sell work by Cornish artists from their gallery across the courtyard.

Perfectly placed to explore North Cornwall, this country house in the cheese-making village of Davidstow has a good range of room options, including one with a four-poster single bed and a superior king room with a 1920s bathtub. The decor is vintage – antique furnishings mix with heavy drapes in rich red. Breakfast is homemade, with everything from muesli to muffins made from scratch. Hot options include Cornish kippers and a full Cornish with local chipolatas.

Thomas Hardy met Emma Gifford at the St Juliot Rectory near Boscastle, later returning to write many of his best-known poems. You can sleep in the very room the Victorian author stayed – one of four guest rooms – which still features high ceilings, an antique carved bed and writing desk. The walled garden produces much of the fruit and veg used for breakfast, with eggs from the resident hens. Complementary newspapers and fresh-cut flowers are a thoughtful touch.

With views across the Camel Estuary, Treverbyn House is a grand but welcoming Edwardian home with three elegant guest rooms. Served in the dining room or on the terrace, breakfast is cooked fresh to order and includes smoked fish, the full English and also continental options. Preserves are made by Gary, who has run the guest house for more than 20 years, using organic fruit from his garden.