Bol Y Maer, Bude

Hotel Description

You know what’s funny about Bol Y Maer? I’d driven past that spot on Maer Down probably a dozen times before actually staying there, and honestly never really noticed it tucked back from the main road. But once you’re there – I mean, really there, standing on one of those apartment balconies with a proper cup of coffee in hand – you get why this place has such a ridiculous 9.4 rating.

The thing about Bude is that everyone talks about the beaches (which, fair enough, are brilliant), but they miss how tricky accommodation can be. You’ve got your typical seaside B&Bs that smell faintly of fried breakfast and damp carpets, or you’ve got the posh hotels that charge London prices for what’s essentially a nice room with a sea view. Bol Y Maer sort of threads the needle differently – it’s these self-catering apartments that actually feel like someone’s well-appointed second home rather than a rental property. The kitchens aren’t an afterthought with a mini-fridge and kettle, they’re proper kitchens where you could actually cook Sunday roast if you wanted (though honestly, with Olive Tree and The Falcon just down the road, why would you?).

What really got me was the attention to stuff you don’t think about until it’s wrong. The shower pressure is excellent – and I mean properly excellent, not “good for Cornwall” excellent. The wifi doesn’t cut out every time someone in the next room turns on Netflix. There’s actual parking that doesn’t involve circling the block three times and eventually abandoning your car somewhere questionable near the canal. Little things, but they add up. The apartments face away from the main road too, so you’re not getting lorries rumbling past at 6 AM, just the sound of seagulls being seagulls and maybe the distant crash of waves when the wind’s right. I stayed in October – which is honestly one of the best times for this part of Cornwall if you can swing it, fewer crowds but still decent weather – and the place felt properly peaceful. You’re still only a few minutes’ walk from Crooklets Beach, and it’s an easy stroll into town for supplies or a pint, but you feel like you’ve got your own little corner sorted. The kind of place where you might actually unpack your suitcase instead of living out of it for a week.

Facilities