Wedding Anniversary Stay in Cornwall

Jenny & Damian’s first year wedding anniversary at Una Resort, Cornwall

In May, Damian and I celebrated our first year of marriage by staying put in our beautiful home county. With wedding season in full swing, we rarely get the chance to enjoy all Cornwall has to offer, so we took the opportunity and booked in Una Resort, in Carbis Bay for three nights.

Una is an eco inspired luxury resort featuring iconic architecture, spa, gym, restaurant and relaxation garden all surrounded in acres of green space. Located in Carbis Bay, it is close to the popular town of St Ives on the North Coast.

After a busy day at work, we arrived to our lodge late afternoon, switched our ‘out of office’ on, laptops off and soon relaxed into the pace of our surroundings.

The kitchen and living area was spacious and beautifully light. With my wedding planner hat on, my first thought was it would be a great space for morning preparations. Make up artists always appreciate lots of natural light, here it was in abundance, pouring through the glass doors and windows.

Una lodge

A bed you sink into, waterfall shower and a private hot tub on the decking are some of the luxuries our lodge offered us.

Day one, after breakfast I was treated to a facial at the Retreat Spa. Rachael my therapist suggested the Inlight Organic Affinity facial, designed to restore ones natural glow and encourage harmony, perfect for brides to be I thought.

From the moment I lay my head on the bed, the treatment was 75 minutes of bliss. I came away feeling wonderfully relaxed with glowing skin (the Inlight product range is 100% organic).

Una spa

In the afternoon we went into St Ives and joined the annual St Ives Food Festival that was taking place on Carbis Bay beach over the weekend. The event included street food stalls, an artisan market with delicious local produce, expert cookery demos from high profile chefs and a fantastic set list of music playing out throughout.

Carbis bay beach food festivalSt Ives food festival

After a fun and busy day we headed back to the sanctuary of our lodge and spent the evening watching a film snuggled up on the huge corner sofa.

Day two we decided to take advantage of the on-site restaurant with the aim of up-keeping a weekend tradition of a walk and Sunday roast. However, with the pool so temptingly close, the morning turned into a swim followed by lunch on the sun terrace.

The pool became part of the daily ritual during our stay at Una, its unconventional square shape, with infinity edge, looking out over a kept garden, means that it feels both spacious and natural.

At 15 metres, it also allows serious swimmers to get their daily fix of lengths before breakfast. The pool is complimented by a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi, perfect for unwinding, planning days, or simply switching off.

Though difficult to choose, if I had to pick, the subtly changing lighting in the menthol steam room would be my favourite of a number of small touches that show that care has been taken in specifying the interior for the pool area. Note that Una doesn’t wear its Eco label purely as a fashion accessory, visitors are encouraged to bring towels from the lodges to the pool area to prevent unnecessary churn of towels to the detriment of the surrounding countryside.

Whilst in the pool area, we met three local ladies who were having a spa day as a treat for a birthday and seemed to be enjoying the bliss-out as much as us. A rare moment of pure escapism, makes a hell of a gift.

swimming pool at Una

On arriving at the restaurant, we were greeted by an attentive member of staff who was able to provide recommendations on the best tonic to balance a berry gin (Elderflower we were reliably informed) and then left in the sun to review the menu.

Fifteen minutes of gin, conversation and lounging flew by before we were enjoying a Sunday roast, with Mediterranean vegetables prepared in a wood fired oven. Fresh, full of flavour and generously sized, the food certainly did not let the summer setting down. We opted to split a ginger cake and clotted cream for dessert, which rounded of a thoroughly indulgent couple of hours.

At the end of our stay, we headed back to reality refreshed and carrying some of the peace so pervasive in Una with us. When we next find the pressures of modern day life knocking us out of kilter, we’ll be heading back to Una to re-invigorate ourselves in the Cornish sun.
www. unastives.co.uk 

Una outside
St Ives beach

We spent our anniversary evening watching the sunset at St Nicholas Chapel in St Ives, such a romantic spot.

St Nicholas chapel st ives St Ives sunset

We made some friends at a pop up BBQ and live music event, we brought the fire pit which they were grateful for once the sun has dipped down!Firepit by beach

There was a chap in St Ives making stone sculptures at the beach.

Stone sculptures beach

Una resort