THE BEST PLACES FOR FAMILIES TO STAY ON THE ISLES OF SCILLY

Planning a family trip to THE ISLES OF SCILLY and wondering where to stay with your children? The following list of our favourite places to stay with kids, reviewed in the order you’d encounter them on our Isles of Scilly itinerary, includes an Elizabethan castle, waterfront apartments, and wooden lodges set on a family farm. Accommodation can fill up fast during school holidays, particularly if you’re looking for a family room, so make sure you book well in advance.

You can reserve all of our recommended places to stay on the Isles of Scilly through Booking.com; clicking on the hotels’ name below will take you directly to their booking page, where you can fill in your dates and secure your stay. To find out more about why we’ve partnered with Booking.com, see here.

Perched on a headland overlooking Hugh Town, STAR CASTLE HOTEL was built in Elizabethan times to defend St Mary’s harbour and offers atmospheric accommodation in the castle itself – including former guardrooms, located on the ramparts – or in country-cottage-style rooms in the grounds. Most Garden Rooms have space for a (free) extra bed (sleeping 3 in total), while most of the Garden Suites have space for two extra beds (sleeping 4 in total); some of the rooms are also dog-friendly. Facilities include an indoor heated swimming pool and a tennis court, plus complimentary use of nearby St Mary’s golf course. Minibus shuttles are provided throughout your stay, although the walk into Hugh Town is a lovely way to start the day, looking down over the sparkling ocean with the islands of Samson, Tresco and Bryher spreading out before you, beckoning with the promise of adventure. In the other direction, further up the Garrison, lie the old fortified walls, which run all the way around the peninsula and make for a wonderful late-afternoon walk. The hotel is a short stroll from some of the best restaurants on St Mary’s: try charcoal-grilled lobster and other BBQ goodies at The Beach, set in a converted boat shed overlooking the harbour, and tapas at Dibble & Grub, on the promenade at Porthcressa Beach, or pick up a take-away gourmet box from the Tanglewood Kitchen Company. There’s also elegant dining at Star Castle itself (in the original officer’s messroom), with menus that are focused around seafood – including crab, caught on the hotel’s fishing boat – and wines from the owner’s vineyard. The castle’s former dungeon makes a fitting hotel bar.

To reserve your stay at Star Castle Hotel, click here

For more images of Star Castle Hotel, see Booking.com

Conveniently located in the middle of Hugh Town, a few roads back from Porthcressa beach, ST MARY’S HALL HOTEL occupies a relaxed townhouse that was built in the 1930s by an Italian count. Most of the rooms are doubles, which have space for a cot, so families with older children will need to be in one of the ground-floor suites (sleeping up to 4). These are comfortably large, with a super king in the bedroom and either a sofa bed or drop-down bunks in the lounge, and a galley kitchen that’s handy for making up picnics for days out on St Martin’s, Tresco and the other off-islands; Hugh Town’s harbour is just a five-minute walk away. Suites have their own patio, although there’s also a pleasant outdoor decking area to the hotel bar – stocked with board games and selling local beers on tap – as well as a tranquil Mediterranean garden. The hotel’s restaurant, The Hall, is recommended for its comfort food (gourmet burgers, slow-cooked pork ribs), locally caught lobster thermidor, and cuts of juicy steak cooked on an American flame broiler, particularly if you’re eating in the more relaxed steakhouse-style Grill Room; there’s also a refreshingly grown-up Kid’s Menu, which includes miniature steak and chips. The Hall is open to non-guests so, as with all restaurants on the Scillies you’ll need to book in advance to ensure you get a table.

To reserve your stay at St Mary’s Hall Hotel, click here

For more images of St Mary’s Hall Hotel, see Booking.com

The excellent SANDPIPER APARTMENTS is a small portfolio of fully equipped holiday homes, owned by a local farming couple, that are located across Hugh Town and in Porthloo. Overlooking Hugh Town’s bustling quay, HARBOURSIDE and SANDPIPER are lovely two-bedroom apartments, both sleeping 4 people in a king-size double and a twin bedroom (both en-suite), where you can watch the comings and goings of the boats just outside. Harbourside has its own access down to Town Beach from the outside decking area – at high tide, you can swim directly off the steps – while first-floor Sandpiper (no under-4s) is a short walk through The Garrison. Larger GRENOFEN, slightly further north, in Porthloo, enjoys panoramic views across its shared garden to the island of Samson. The spacious ground-floor apartment has two double bedrooms, both with king-size beds, and a twin bedroom with additional bed; all are en-suite. Probably the most fun for families, though, are the PENINNIS FARM LODGES, run by the couple’s son and his family, on their 50-acre farm half-way between the beaches at Old Town and Porthcressa. The modern wooden lodges are set together in a field on Peninnis Head and have been thoughtfully designed, their chic interiors all featuring ​a double king-size bedroom and a bunk-bed room with additional fold-out single (sleeping up to 5) plus an open-plan lounge/kitchen/diner with wood burner. There are lots of chickens, pigs and cows around the farm, plus piglets and calves in spring, and kids can join the owner collecting eggs and feeding the pigs on his morning rounds.

LONGSTONE LODGE & CAFÉ, in the middle of St Mary’s, just west of Porth Hellick Down, is a kind of one-stop accommodation shop, offering some of the best-value digs on the island. The lodge is actually a hostel, although that doesn’t really do justice to the rooms here, which are bright, airy and super smart. A couple of them are well set up for families, sleeping either 4 or 5 in twin beds (or a double bed with single bunk above) and built-in bunk beds (bed guards are available for younger children). The 4-person room is en-suite and can accommodate an additional travel cot; the 5-person room shares an adjacent bathroom but has its own decked balcony with picnic table. Twin rooms can also accommodate 3 people, with a child (up to 12 years old) sleeping in a trundle bed (£30 per week).  For a bit more space, you can rent Aloft, a minimalist two-bedroom apartment (one en-suite, with a king, the other twin bed) located above the lodge, which comes with a fully equipped kitchen and lounge/diner. There’s space in the twin room for an extra bed, meaning the apartment can sleep up to 5 people. It’s rentable by the week, although the Wednesday change-over day makes stays over the May half term tricky. All guests have access to a communal kitchen and a laundry room, and outdoor facilities include a children’s play area and a small football field. The next-door café is a handy pace to grab brunch or a light lunch, or a cup of tea and a cake (open from 10am to 4.30pm), and on Fridays they can deliver a 3-course meal featuring local lobster to your room (book the previous Saturday).