A hotel on the Cornish coast is the perfect destination after a tiring journey, writes Paul Bradley

Holidaying in Cornwall combines the relaxing pace of life of the West Country with the satisfying knowledge that you are distinctly detached from the hustle and bustle of the rat race.

Yet the experience of getting to this famously beautiful corner of Britain can be far from great.

Broken down vehicles litter the lay-bys, rescue vehicles are a regular sight and signposts warning of impending queues punctuate the final stages of the trip.

But in The Nare Hotel, located on Carne Beach just a few miles outside Truro, is a gem of a country house that makes the tricky trip instantly worthwhile.

Arriving at 11pm, seven hours behind our schedule (due to a terminal water leak on our Ford Focus), the final hours of our trip were in the dark.

The winding narrow roads continued for a good twenty minutes as the full beam lamps of our replacement hire car searched for the hotel in the pitch black.

The worries and stresses of home were already seeping away as we travelled into the depth of the countryside.

Tiny brown tourist signs showed the way, appearing just as we started to doubt our map-reading skills.

And then, at the bottom of a small hill, appeared our final destination.

A member of staff greeted us as we got out of the car and directed us to the lobby.

Two more friendly faces greeted us at the reception and our bags were brought in by a young porter dressed in a tuxedo.

The attentive staff not only knew who we were without us having to introduce ourselves, but they also genuinely seemed to have a personal desire to make sure our stay was as comfortable as possible.

This pattern continued throughout our stay. We were shown to one of the hotel’s junior suites.

Set up in the living room was a fully laid table for two overlooking the sea.

As we had missed the afternoon tea and late dinner in the fine dining restaurant, our dinner was to be served in our room.

The spread was magnificent.

Huge fresh prawns, smoked salmon, mackerel and fresh crab were the highlight of the seafood platter while a cold meat platter of pastrami, Parma ham and salami satisfied the carnivore in us.

Olives, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes and rocket were laid out as a vegetarian option.

A cold beer and a glass of Chardonnay were brought to our room and the option of luxury chocolate cheesecake was available too.

We devoured it all.

The feast was the perfect start to our holiday – especially as we were in the region for the Cornwall Food Festival.

Truro hosts the annual September three day festival with around 40,000 visitors.