St Mellion International

The three-storey white-fronted hotel has an anachronistic suggestion of art deco about it. It sits at the heart of a sprawling 450 acres of prime Cornwall, much of it accounted for by two championship golf courses. Spa treatments are on hand too, as is some ambitious fine dining, to be found in An Boesti ('The Restaurant' in Cornish). Well-crafted and elegantly presented, this is refined and intelligent cooking, comprehensively based on local produce, light and inventive. A typical starter might be fried mackerel with raw fennel, lime jelly and whipped mustard cream, while mains cover a range that extends from the deeply classical grilled Chateaubriand for two to loin and breadcrumbed shank of lamb with broad bean purée, peas and leeks. Dessert versions of cocktails are much enjoyed these days, as here in a combination of gin cream and lemon tonic sorbet, or there may be a more off-the-wall assemblage of bitter dark chocolate with guacamole, lime sorbet and sweet chilli.