By: Blonde One
The two places that we stayed on St Mary’s in the stunning Isles of Scilly were certainly a home from home. We arrived at Carntop Bed and Breakfast looking less than glamorous as we dripped our wet waterproofs into the spacious hall, greeted by our hosts Angela and Nick Jenkins. We had had a very wet end to the day and were soaked through. Despite this, Angela and Nick made us welcome and soon took our waterproofs and shoes to put beside the Aga to dry. Angela showed us to our room and we were amazed at being given, what must have been, the best room in the house! It was spacious, homely and cosy, and we soon made ourselves right at home. Our dinner that night was just what Blonde Two had been dreaming of all day: fish and chips. Homemade of course! Every morsel of our 3 course dinner was delicious and we soon settled to some after dinner chat with our hosts and 2 more guests, all with lovely stories to tell of the Isles of Scilly.
The morning began with a breakfast fit for a king and we felt set up and ready for our day exploring more islands. We were sorry to leave but happy that our hosts were about to have their first night off without guests since the beginning of a very long season!
The next night on Scilly we were at the Star Castle Hotel and arrived looking equally bedraggled as we had upon our arrival at Carntop. It was gone 9pm and we had had a very long day, but the receptionist took us in without seeming to notice our dubious appearance. The entrance to the hotel, especially on a moonlight night, was magical. We wound our way around a stone corridor feeling the history oozing from the cold walls.
Our room was more in the form of a luxurious bungalow, we even had our own little garden. We tried out all of the chairs, explored all of the drawers, read all of the information and then settled down for a very comfortable night.
To discover more about the Isles of Scilly, go to www.visitislesofscilly.com. There are Skybus flights to St. Mary’s all year round from Land’s End and Newquay Airports, and between March and October from Exeter Airport. From spring to late-autumn, the Scillonian lll passenger ship sails up to seven days a week between Penzance and St. Mary’s. For travel information, visit www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk. Accommodation: www.carntop.co.uk, www.star-castle.co.uk.
