The Sunday Times March 31, 2019 5 Travel Cover story THE SEASIDE SET hat happens on the Which is civilised, although the dressing island, stays on the Two glamorous coastal hotels with esteemed histories gown in my wardrobe looks how I feel island,” I’m advised first thing in the morning. It harks a little by Gary, the twinkly too literally back to a bygone era. barman, who’s been have had big-money makeovers. Jenny Coad glams up Bring a silk robe and get in the swing. shakingW martinis at the Part of the fun of being here is the chance for nearly 26 years. He’s not talking about for Burgh Island; overleaf, a stay in Monaco’s finest to dress up. A party from Jersey has Vegas-style debauchery, but a discreet arrived for a Gatsby-themed wedding.

playfulness. Perhaps it’s something to Y The gents are in tweed plus-fours and M A do with being marooned 800ft off the L caps. The ladies have been “living” deco A / L L

Devon coast. When the tide’s in, you A for months and have cases full of dresses. N A D arrive by sea tractor — like a growly festival Twin sisters have come from London N A I float on chunky wheels, known as the ; with their partners to celebrate their N A

“coastess trolley”. When it broke down M 30ths; they used to holiday near here as E L I W once, mid-crossing, Gary slipped into a children and longed to stay on Burgh. M I wetsuit and served trays of tea and J Dinner in the ballroom demands black tie, biscuits to the passengers as they waited and they’re in feather headbands and for the water to recede. As the evening swish floor-length gowns. Has the hotel wears on, the sea tractor apparently lived up to their expectations? “Being here becomes as raucous as a stag-do bus. is like playing make-believe,” one tells me. Built in the late 1920s, the hotel was Their rooms are a bit tired (it’s a rolling originally the seaside “castle” of the renovation programme), and they wish film maker Archibald Nettlefold. Then it there was a kettle, but this is not your became a ritzy hotel, attracting the 1930s typical high-end hotel experience — it is a jet set. It went through a sad period when dalliance with another time. Down more it was converted into holiday flats, but than one of Gary’s martinis (try the lychee was brought back to life in the 1980s. blush) and everything goes a bit sepia. This year it’s had a much-needed Dinner is elegant. I have a Brixham crab £1m makeover, overseen by the new starter and an imaginative cod dish with owners. I’ve been invited to check out Thai green curry and tempura broccoli. the refurb, and it’s an excuse to plunder Non-hotel guests can pop over on the sea the dressing-up box. tractor for three courses, plus canapés, Back in the 1930s, the hotel had a for £75. Dance off dessert to the Art Deco glamorous reputation. Edward VIII and Trio, who’ve played this gig for years and Wallis Simpson dropped in by yacht, Noël take requests. The Very Thought of You, Coward was a regular, Nancy Cunard by Ray Noble, gets everyone going. stayed and worked on The following morning, I go for a wander two of her novels here, And Then There around the island, stopping for a dip in Were None and Evil Under the Sun, which the seawater Mermaid Pool, which sits in was later filmed on the island. Churchill a cliff-enclosed cove. In the hazy morning and Eisenhower were rumoured to have light, I nearly manage to convince myself played cards here during the Second it will be warm. It’s not. It’s 10C. World War. Little wonder Burgh Island I warm up afterwards at the 14th-century became known as the “smartest hotel Pilchard Inn, also owned by the hotel and west of the Ritz”. right by the sand. It’s a former smugglers’ It was almost derelict in the 1980s, den, allegedly haunted by the ghost of when Tony Porter (who brought fashion the pirate Tom Crocker, who was shot week to London) purchased it with his dead from the pub doorway. It’s darkly wife, Beatrice. They no longer own it, atmospheric inside, serving pilchards on but Porter’s account of how they turned GLASS ACT Martini time for Jenny in the Palm Court. Below, the ‘coastess trolley’ en route to the hotel toast for £5.50 and fish and chips for £12. it around, The Great White Palace, is an As a hotel guest, you’re beautifully placed insightful read. (The hotel has a copy.) The Nettlefold will open as a public vintage furniture: big tub chairs and a for coastal walks and kayaking expeditions. So, what’s new? The public areas, restaurant in May. There will be a bar by deco dressing table. The wallpaper is Burgh But most don’t venture far. They’re too including the central Palm Court, with its the pool and a spa is set to open in 2020. a geometric black and gold print. Island busy starring in their own period drama. showstopping stained-glass dome, are It’s a drawn-out process because they Newspaper pages full of society stories gleaming. It’s full of the whisper of parties have been running the changes past their from the 1930s line the walls. There’s Salcombe Jenny Coad was a guest of Burgh Island, past. Turquoise and red velvet armchairs long-standing guests. even a Bush wireless and a Bakelite which has doubles from £355 a night, have replaced the antique Lloyd Loom You have to love the art deco aesthetic telephone, both of which work. 5 miles including breakfast and dinner for two chairs and tables (they snagged guests’ to stay here. Everything down to the My two balconies face east, so in (burghisland.com) silk dresses) and the paintwork has doorknobs is deco. The rooms are so in the morning I watch paddleboarders been updated in deep teal and pale sage. keeping, they don’t have televisions and surfers off distant Beach. Even on a grey day, it’s lovely and light, (though there is one in the basement Tea served in your room is with views across the terrace out to sea. snug). I am staying in the spruced-up all part of the service. In the Nettlefold restaurant, where Nettlefold suite, which feels old-fashioned, breakfast is served, you can imagine but that’s the idea. There’s yourself on a liner — especially if you sit in period lighting and the Captain’s Cabin private dining area, which was transplanted in its entirety from the early-19th-century teak warship HMS Ganges. There are more changes to come.