Fowey Hall

If you’re of one of the generations that grew up reading The Wind in the Willows then you already know Fowey Hall — you just know it as Toad Hall. The real thing has some distinct advantages over the fictional version, however, beginning with the fact that this one, existing as it does in the physical world, has a roof that will actually keep the rain off your head.

Of course there’s plenty more than that. This house, in the village of Fowey, on the southern coast of Cornwall, is a quintessentially contemporary manor-house hotel. There’s very little reinvention going on here — not much in the way of funky modern furnishings or outré décor. Nor is it modernist or avant-garde in any way. It’s more a case of incremental improvement; there’s a full-service spa, and modern electronics in the rooms, but the Victorians would have had these things too, if only they could.

It’s in the area of family-friendliness that Fowey Hall especially shines. There’s plenty of entertainment for kids, as well as supervision. And as a result the atmosphere is neither stultifyingly stuffy nor tragically hip — it’s as casual as a manor-house hotel can be, which is no small distinction in this day and age.