Review: Three Mile Beach
Earlier this week, my friends and I headed down to Cornwall as part of a week-long road trip around the south-west coast. Stopping on the way for two nights along Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, we finally arrived at Three Mile Beach after a (very) long drive, our home for three nights. Located only a stone’s throw from Cornwall’s magnificent Gwithian Towans Beach, an incredible stretch of sand that forms part of a three-mile beach called the Towans (Cornish for ‘dunes’), the property is also within twenty minutes’ drive from famous St Ives. We quickly fell in love with this place and found it quite hard to peel ourselves away after three nights here - read on below for why we loved it so much.
First impressions: 5/5
Arriving at Three Mile Beach, you’ll be just steps away from the beach: tucked away from the roadside, you’ll drive through beautiful rolling dunes just steps away from the sea before arriving at the entrance to the beach houses. Follow the brightly painted signs and you’ll find a collection of fifteen luxury beach houses, each varying in size and painted in bold colours nestled among the ferns.
Ranging in size from two-bedroom houses to larger properties housing up to 10 guests, all of the beach houses are designed in a contemporary, laidback style: expect lofty ceilings and whitewashed, airy rooms with playful pops of colour added to each room through bold cushions and rugs. We were staying in ‘Marrakech Express,’ a four-bedroom beach house where we each had our own room: every room had cosy, summery interiors, alongside bathrooms tiled in coral pink or duck-egg blue with walk-in showers or freestanding silver bathtubs. Each house in the collection has its own quirks, but all of them feature spacious open-plan kitchens with generous living and dining spaces: we had a huge L-shaped sofa to cosy up on opposite our flat-screen TV, alongside a selection of board games and basket of tasty Cornish treats (fudge, scones, and more) to welcome us upon arrival. Our wraparound outdoor decking also boasted a sunken outdoor hot tub and barrel sauna, alongside various dining spaces for us to eat outside.
To do: 5/5
You’ll only be steps away from the sea at Three Mile Beach (Gwithian Towans is quite literally a 5 minute walk away), so aside from spending time on the beach, be prepared for swimming, sunbathing and lots of other water sports. On our first morning here, a surfing lesson was organised for us with Global Boarders surf school (who are located just next to Three Mile Beach), who took us out on the waves for two hours - we had a group beginners’ surf lesson, and it was addictively fun that we would have booked to do it all over again if we had more time here.
Aside from spending time on the water, you’ll be spoilt with the number of beaches, coves, and coastlines to explore nearby - it’s worth noting that you will need a car to explore the surrounding area. St Ives is only 20 mins drive away (while it’s a very popular tourist town, the inviting beach and myriad of boutiques and cafes here are worth a visit - make sure to visit Yallah Cafe for stellar coffee and brunch!) while Penzance is relatively nearby too - there’s lots of explore there as well (read more from a previous visit here). Meanwhile Padstow (aka Rick Stein country) and Portscatho (a quieter seaside town with a beautiful beach and home to popular lunchtime spot The Hidden Hut) are both an hour’s drive away. There’s so much to explore nearby that we all wished we had longer to spend here - I’d definitely come back for a week-long trip next time so I could spend more time on and by the water as well as exploring the surrounding coastline and nearby towns.
Food and drink: 4/5
There are several different food options when staying at Three Mile Beach: with a spacious open-plan kitchen (and all of the cooking utensils you could possibly want) in every beach house, most guests will naturally come armed with ingredients for cooking their own meals - but the team on site can also arrange various eating options for you while you’re staying here.
Onsite outdoor kitchen Chomp offers a daily-changing array of food options that can be enjoyed outside or taken away back to your cabin. Sadly we didn’t get to try Chomp while we were staying, and this was our only criticism of Three Mile Beach: we were meant to be eating here on our first evening, but when we turned up for dinner at 7pm, the food stalls were all closed early without any particular reason. This left us stranded on a Bank Holiday when most restaurants were either closed or fully booked, but luckily we managed to drive into St Ives and snag a table at Porthminster Beach Cafe, where you’ll find delicious and fresh seafood. Our second night at Three Mile Beach thankfully more than made up for this, with a private chef sent over to cook an impressive dinner for us. Rob, chef and founder of Cornish-based caterer Flavour and Wine turned up at our beach house on Tuesday evening, and within an hour had cooked up an incredible spread of dishes: torched mackerel fillets with labneh, grilled halloumi with honey and pomegranate molasses and tandoori chicken grilled on our outdoor barbecue - alongside homemade flatbreads and garlicky tenderstem broccoli. This generous spread was finished off with a magnificent pavlova, topped with summer berries and edible flowers. This dinner was the most indulgent experience (and probably the highlight of our entire stay), and we were amazed that Rob set up so quickly, cooked everything within an hour and did all of the washing up - all we had to do was turn up and enjoy the food!
On our final evening, Three Mile Beach treated us to a pizza party, which was just as enjoyable an experience: the team came round in the early evening with an OONI pizza oven as well as a tray of ready-to-roll pizza dough and toppings. Making our own pizzas was an entertaining way of spending the evening, and a great perk that guests can book as part of their stay.
Comfort and service: 5/5
Three Mile Beach isn’t a hotel, but there’s still an onsite team on hand almost 24/7 to help you with anything you need to guarantee a seamless stay. The team’s HQ is located just by the entrance to the beach house collection and you can easily wander down or give them a call if you need a hand with anything - everyone on the team is super responsive and helpful. During our stay, the team were happy to help us with using our pizza oven when we were a bit confused by it, as well as send over restaurant recommendations for us to try nearby.
In your beach house, you’ll also find an impressively comprehensive and informative book about navigating around your house as well as recommendations for local beaches, restaurants, and attractions nearby; alongside this, Three Mile Beach offers a curated range of activities and experiences that can be organised for you (such as our surfing lesson and private chef dinner): they have clearly thought of every possible offering to make your stay as comfortable as possible. Little touches such as a complimentary coffee from the onsite coffee truck on the first morning of your visit all contribute to creating a memorable experience. Everything in our beach house was also in perfect condition and squeaky clean: it’s clear that the onsite facilities are maintained to the highest of standards, with a staff member routinely checking our hot tub twice a day. With the stylish yet playful interiors found in each beach house alongside the impressive facilities and overall level of detail that has been applied to every aspect of the property, Three Mile Beach strikes the perfect balance between being laidback yet luxe.
Overall, we loved our stay at Three Mile Beach, and I would definitely recommend escaping here with a group of friends or family if you’re looking for somewhere to hole up near the sea; we are already thinking of when we can revisit, and next time, I’d love to stay for a week and spend every morning surfing on the water - as well as having more time to explore the surrounding coastline.
