With cottages and beach huts just steps away from the sea, The Cary Arms & Spa makes for a perfect family break, particularly as there’s the chance to spot seals and dolphins.
One of Torquay’s quietest and least spoilt beaches, Babbacombe Bay’s rugged orange sandstone cliffs deliver a histrionic backdrop to a red sand beach that’s received the prestigious Blue Flag award for 35 years running. Smugglers once loved this spot, as its isolated coves made perfect hiding places for their illicit hauls of tea, whisky and rum, while Queen Victoria visited twice and came ashore to sketch the scenery.
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The Cary Arms & Spa has stood here since the 1880s and is currently owned by the de Savary family, which owns a clutch of resorts and hotels globally, including the Carnegie Abbey in Rhode Island and The Abaco Club in the Bahamas. Once a friendly seaside inn, it’s now an exclusive enclave on the South Devon coast where guests can check into roomy, beautifully appointed cottages, beach huts, rooms and suites overlooking the sea.
First Impressions
A bit hair-raising! We drive down a vertiginous bank to reception and are given the keys to our cottage, which is back up the hill. Friendly staff offer to drive our car for us – it really is that steep – but my husband manages to get us the few hundred yards or so back up the hill to our cottage where there are a few essentials laid out, including pods for the Nespresso machine, before we bed in for the night.
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The Room
We’re staying in the newest addition at The Cary Arms & Spa, the Foxes Walk Cottage, an expansive five-bedroom space with three bedrooms in the main house and two on the lower floor. Able to sleep up to eight adults and one child, there’s more than enough room for me, my husband and two young sons. A cool blend of coastal charm and Nordic style – I love the red armchairs in the lounge – two bedrooms have super king beds (the master has an ensuite and dressing room) and the conservatory looks onto a private garden and terrace, where a hot tub awaits. The kitchen/dining room is huge, with a long table that can seat up to 10 guests.
While it’s nippy in the evenings (it was early spring when we stayed), we brace ourselves against the cool air and experiment with the hot tub’s different light settings. On the ground floor, there’s a games room with a foosball table that’s subject to several furious battles, and a TV, and in the sitting room, there’s well-stocked bookshelves.
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Facilities
The newly revamped sea-facing spa offers a waterfall hydrotherapy pool, steam room, sauna and experience shower while on-site therapists serve clients in one of two treatment rooms. Adjacent to the restaurant is a pool room plus lounge where you can play chess, or peer through binoculars out to sea.
The hotel also offers guided walking tours. Against a backdrop of pastel blue sky and weak spring sunshine, the coastal walk takes me along Babbacombe Bay, up past the funicular cliff railway and into town, with my guide, owner of English Riviera Walking Tours, Graham Kerr, sharing anecdotes all the way. The owner of Tate & Lyle Sugar once owned a house on top of Babbacombe’s cliffs, but the sandstone crumbled and it recently fell into the sea, he tells me.
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While I spotted seals on my beach walk the day before, there were none that day. Staff later tell me that dolphins are a frequent sight in the bay.
Dining
Retaining its 19th-century charm – think wooden beams, stone walls, and wooden ship models – and warmed by a log burner on blustery days, the restaurant at the Cary Arms zooms in on local produce, with Devon beef, Lyme Bay lobster and line-caught seafood on the menu. The food is gastro pub style: we opt for wild mushroom and spinach ravioli, a Devon beef burger, and fish and chips (the fish hails from nearby Brixham, with scallops also on the menu) with rhubarb pana cotta and chocolate brownies to finish.
In the summer months, you can book a private alfresco dining space, The Captain’s Table, which seats six. Breakfast is in the same space as dinner (the homemade granola is gorgeous), though some guests opt to go self-catering.
