Wayside

About this property

Waveside is a luxury two-bedroom holiday cottage on the highly desirable Retallack Resort that is built out over the lake near St Columb Major in North Cornwall. Sleeping four across two en-suite bedrooms, it pairs Cornish stone walls with a glass-fronted terrace and a private hot tub set right at the water's edge. This self-catering accommodation near Padstow and Newquay is made for couples sharing or two couples travelling together, with open-plan living, underfloor heating and an interior that feels closer to a boutique hotel than a self-catering cottage. Resort gym, spa and indoor pool access come as standard, just a stroll from the door.

Waveside has a moment when you enter, when the lake just appears straight through the glass doors and close enough to feel like it's part of the room. This is a Cornish stone cottage built right out over the water on Retallack Resort, sleeping four in two elegant en-suite bedrooms, and it doesn't waste the setting. The whole ground floor is one open, light-filled space, a kitchen, dining area and a velvet-sofa living room arranged around that view. Outside, a private hot tub sits on a glass-fronted terrace at the water's edge, close enough to watch moorhens picking along the bank as you sink into the bubbles. Upstairs, both bedrooms keep the water in sight, and the second converts to a superking if two couples are sharing rather than a family of four. It's a small house with a big, slightly indulgent feel to it - somewhere you come back to after a day on the coast and don't really want to leave.

St Columb Major is close enough for a proper food shop or a wander round a real market town, well away from the beach crowds. There is a butcher there if you'd rather grill on the terrace than book a table. On resort, a restaurant sits right by the lake; for nights when cooking feels like too much effort, the spa and indoor pool are there whenever the weather has other plans. Mornings at Waveside are something else — coffee on the terrace, the water still glassy, nobody else stirring yet. By evening, it's the hot tub that wins, lights from the resort softening behind the trees while you watch the light go.

Padstow's about eight miles away from Waveside. Go for the harbour, the chip shops or whichever fish place you fancy that day - including the famous Rick Stein's. Or keep going to Rock and catch the ferry across; it's the same coast but a completely different feel from the other side. Newquay and Fistral are ten minutes the other way if you surf or have always wanted to, while Watergate Bay's quieter if you'd rather hold the coffee and watch. The Camel Trail runs flat between Wadebridge and Padstow, easy enough on hired bikes, and there's a pasty stop about halfway that nobody skips. Eden Project's twenty minutes if you want a wet-weather plan, and Daymer Bay's the one to know about if you'd rather paddle than take on the world-famous waves at Fistral.

Accommodation Comprises: Waveside is arranged over two floors, with glamorous open-plan living downstairs and two luxurious en-suite bedrooms upstairs, the whole cottage built right onto the edge of the lake.

Ground Floor

First Floor

Outside

The terrace is memorable as it's glass-fronted, hanging right out over the lake, with the hot tub tucked at the edge so you're practically sitting on the water while you're in the water. There's a charcoal BBQ out there for evenings when you can't be bothered going back inside. Parking's free and right by the door, so no dragging bags across a car park when you arrive.

Additional Information

Dogs are welcome at Waveside with no extra charge, and guests get free run of Retallack's indoor pool and gym for whenever the lake views aren't quite enough exercise. Families travelling with little ones will find a cot, baby bath, changing mat, potty and training seat already there waiting, and everyone arrives to a welcome basket of Cornish produce - a small, generous touch that sets the tone for the stay ahead.