What the papers say...
Maria Arnold - The Independent on Sunday: "On Tresco, it seems that everyone you meet tells you, with a seraphic smile of contentment , that they have been coming here for 30 years – first as children, then as adults with kids of their own. The Boden-clad bankers-turned-fisherman, with their sun-tousled offspring; the families, more like ours, for whom a week here is the highlight of their year; the hikers and daytrippers off the boat from St Mary's; the staff who work on the island. They all glow with sheer delight at being here. Why? Because a week on Tresco is like Swallows and Amazons, the Famous Five and Treasure Island all rolled into one."
"We were there in August yet the island remained wonderfully peaceful. It's a small place, two miles long by a mile wide, with plenty of holiday accommodation, but whenever we set off in search of another beach, we'd find ourselves making the only footprints in the talcum-soft sand." (03.02.2013)
Conde Nast Traveller 2013 : The February 2013 edition of Conde Nast Traveller saw a special issue listing their Gold Standard of all-time favourite hotels, restaurants, bars and beach clubs from around the world. Nestling between the glamourous El Chiringuito in Ibiza and the celeb-filled Hotel Saint-Bath, Isle de France, was our very own Ruin Beach Cafe.
The editors singled out not only the exceptional quality of fare but it's "wholesome eco vibe...very laid-back and relaxed, barefoot but civilised, with lots of driftwood and stone. You can watch your little ones on the beach from the terrace and there's a sailing school next door." The Ruin Beach Cafe is open all day from the Spring through to the Autumn. The restaurant also provides breakfast and dinner for guests staying at the Sea Garden Cottages.
Alex James - The Independent: "Tresco is not just an idyllic reminder of the Great British Seaside of 50 years ago; it's more than that. It's somewhere else altogether – a completely independent entity with its own unique and precious culture. Not just paradise on Earth, it's paradise in Britain. " (11.08.2012)
Julian Allason - The Financial Times: Tresco: "What, I wondered, would one pay to rediscover the golden summers of childhood - of white sands, blue skies and warm shallow waters in which to paddle and mess about in boats? In an age mediated by currency crises and the trials of holiday aviation, quite a lot. If only one could find a place, ideally near home...now we have discovered a place so close to our ideal as to have united three generations in delight." (18.06.2012)
Tom Chesshyre - The Times: Sea Garden Cottages, Tresco: "From the terrace of my cottage on the north-east of the tiny island of Tresco, I looked across a neat lawn bordered by pink flowers to a swaying sea. Waves fizzled softly on boulders in the cove, and in the distance a white lighthouse stood on an island. A seabird swooped and disappeared behind a headland with unusual, rounded rocks that might have been sculpted by Henry Moore. What a setting." (12.06.2012)
Room 9.5 out of 10
Service 8
Food 8
Cool factor 8
Frank Barrett - The Mail on Sunday: "...you won’t need to spend more than a couple of hours walking or cycling around Tresco, or exploring the fabulous Abbey Gardens, before you can be sure that you’re definitely in a holiday paradise." (15.07.2012)