Big Beach: Piccolo Hotel | LOVE BRAND & Co.

BIG BEACH: small hotel

What is it about the beach we love the most? Swimming in the sea and washing away our worries. Or the power of good with every breath of fresh air? Or is it the famed feeling of the sand under our toes or the warm sun on our skin? Whatever it is, it is fair to say most of us absolutely love it and fortunately, there are 300,000 miles of sandy coastline on our planet, just waiting to be explored. At LOVE BRAND & Co. we find a combination of big expansive beaches and small hideaway hotels to tuck up in at night makes for the most restorative holidays. Here are some of our ‘big beach - small hotels’ from the shores of Britain and The Bahamas and everything in between, to inspire your next beach escape. 

CAMBER SANDS: The Gallivant, UK

20 rooms

On England’s sunny Sussex coast is Camber Sands beach. 5 miles of sandy beach and rolling dunes. A few short steps from the sand is The Gallivant, with 20 rooms awash with tranquil coastal charm. Camber Sands is famed for its dune system which is deemed of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the beach is a Site of Nature Conservation Importance.

PLETTENBERG BAY: The Old Rectory, South Africa

18 rooms

For winter beach escapes we travel 8000 miles due south of Sussex to South Africa’s Plettenberg Bay. Best known for its golden sandy beaches and a Unesco-protected coastline. A hotspot for foodies and surfers with rolling waves, whale-watching and walks in the famed Garden Route of ancient forests. Perhaps less well known is the former monastery originally built in 1777, which is now beautifully restored as The Old Rectory. A boutique hotel with only 18 rooms, offering a sanctuary of another sort. The perfect chic bolthole and a short stroll away from exploring the fantastic restaurant scene and best beaches of ‘Plett.’

PINE CAY: Pine Cay Resort, Turks & Caicos

13 Rooms

Turks and Caicos is one the world's most desirable winter destinations with some of the best beaches on earth. Tucked away in the heart of the 40 British Caribbean islands is one of the most private. Pine Cay is an 800-acre private island with only 13 guest rooms and a handful of beach cottages, fanned out across the sandy beach and facing the allure of the turquoise sea beyond. This Relais & Chateau retreat is a luxury beach paradise but with a down-to-earth low-key vibe where you can really relax.

WATEGOS BEACH: Raes, Australia

7 rooms

On the other side of the world is Wategos Beach in New South Wales, Australia. One of Byron Bay's best beaches and conservation areas. A dreamlike beach of perfect white sand and azure water framed by screw pine palm trees with sightings of bottlenose dolphins playing in the waves. Positioned above this idyllic beach is the tiny Raes Hotel with just 7 rooms, individually designed, each a work of art.

PINK SANDS BEACH: The Dunmore, The Bahamas

19 rooms

The world has so many different types of beach, some tiny and barely accessible others rocky and incredibly dramatic, others miles and miles of white soft sand. In The Bahamas, there are some of the world's most idyllic sandy beaches including Pink Sands Beach on Harbour Island. A famous 3 mile long sandy stretch where the sand is not white but pink! Pink Sands is considered one of the world's best beaches due to its colour, which comes from centuries of the waves sifting the corals which have a microscopic coral insect known as Foraminifera, which has bright pink shells and therefore gives the coral sand its famous pink colour. The beach is home to The Dunmore with 19 chic guest cottages designed by local Interior designer Amanda Lindroth.

ALLEYNES BAY: The Lone Star, Barbados

7 rooms

The platinum Coast of Barbados is the quintessential Caribbean. We think of delicious fried Dolphin Sandwiches (local grouper not Dolphin of course!), rum punches, reggae and endless expanses of golden sand and crystal clear turquoise sea. All of which is true of Alleynes Bay with the addition of local sea turtles which nest here. Behind the beach is The Lone Star with 7 exquisite guest rooms looking out over Alleynes Bay and one of the best restaurants on the island. Each room is named in honour of an automobile legend as an ode to the history of The Lone Star.

SHAWS COVE: Hotel Joaquin, California, USA

22 rooms

From beaches on far-flung islands to beaches in our urban centres, the beach remains a rest bite and refuge for us all and also for nature. South of L.A on Laguna Beach, we find the definition of a hidden gem, Hotel Joaquin. The hotel goes almost completely unnoticed from the busy roadside but when you find it and enter in, it sweeps you off your feet. There is an urban oasis set around a pool courtyard with 22 rooms, from which you digitally detox and lookout over Shaws Cove and the endless expanse of the Pacific Ocean. 

APPLETREE BAY: The New Inn at Tresco, Isles of Scilly, UK

16 rooms

Tresco is a private island in the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago 28 miles off the Cornish coast, with an island vibe and micro-climate all of its own. Tresco boasts many spectacular beaches including Appletree Bay as one of its finest. Over half a mile of white sand meets the crystal clear azure waters of the Tresco Flats. These shallow waters are calm and a little warmer than most beaches on the Atlantic coast. The New Inn has 16 beautiful rooms with stunning sea and countryside views. These rooms are where we find that most wholesome and reassuring feeling when you comfortably rest your head in a small hotel after adventures on a big beach. 

Images:

Bramley and Teal, The Gallivant, Mungo, Rare Earth, Relais Chateaux, Amanda Lindroth Design, Raes, Byron Bay, Laguna Beach, Hotel Joaquin, Tresco, Peter Moore.