Beaches near The Whipsiderry Hotel

The Hotel is under 2 miles from the centre of Newquay, and is easily accessible. The Hotel is situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Renowned for its rugged cliffs, Whipsiderry Beach, from which the Hotel takes its name, is a safe, sandy beach with interesting rock pools and coves. It is possible to walk for miles along the golden sands at low tide.

Europe's top 20 beaches Extract From The Sunday Times May 25, 2003 Looking for the perfect beach? Well, you’ve just found 20 of them. Our writers — the most exacting judges in travel — bring you their personal pick of Europe’s best.

WHIPSIDERRY, England

Where? At Porth, half a mile north of Newquay, in Cornwall.

Why? For all the things proper British beaches are great at: acres of hard sand for castle-building and cricket, fantastic breakers to hurl yourself into, crinkle-cut cliffs complete with pongy caves, and lots of rock pools. If you have children, it's the best beach in England's best beach resort.

Where to stay: the Whipsiderry Hotel (01637 874777;) is family-run and brilliantly positioned.

Where to eat: the Beach Hut Bistro (01637 860877), overlooking next-door Watergate Bay. Go for a bumper bowl of fishing-net-fresh chowder (£8).

Getting there: on the B3276, just north of Porth beach.

'SECRET' BEACH NAMED ONE OF EUROPE'S FINEST

Western Morning News
28 May 2003

A little-known Cornish beach has been named as one of the best in Europe.

Whipsiderry beach at Porth, half-a-mile north of Newquay on the North Cornwall coast, was ranked by a group of leading travel writers alongside idyllic shorelines ranging from Corsica and Greece to Spain and France.

And it was one of only three UK beaches in the prestigious Sunday Times listing - the others being Traigh Scarasta on the island of Harris in the Outer Hebrides and Oxwich Bay on the Gower peninsula in Wales.

The Sunday Times asked its exacting travel judges for a definitive list of Europe's perfect beaches and writer Vincent Crump duly obliged - heaping glowing praise on the unspoilt Cornish sands.

"It was chosen for all the great things proper British beaches are great at - acres of hard sand for castle-building and cricket, fantastic breakers to hurl yourself into, crinkle-cut cliffs complete with pongy caves and lots of rock pools.

"If you have children, it's the best beach in England's best beach resort."

A must for any visitor, the article added, was "a preliminary stop at the brimming beach shop in Porth for fishing nets, buckets, badminton gear and Frisbees".

It also recommended a stay at the family-run and "brilliantly positioned" Whipsiderry Hotel - a fact that delighted owners Andy and Lisa Burbidge.

"It has always been my favourite beach," said 31-year-old Andy, who is originally from Plymouth.

"There are 136 steps to get down to it, which helps to keep hordes of people away. There is also no shop and there are no toilets, it's just a totally unspoilt beach."

He was pleased that the lesser-known beach - in comparison to Newquay's famous Fistral and Towan sands - had been picked out.

A firm favourite with families, he said, Whipsiderry was also a regular haunt with locals keen to avoid crowds on more popular and accessible beaches.

Andy and Lisa, who is also 31, recently took over the hotel from her parents Dick and Anne Drackford.

They bought little more than a boarding house in 1972 and developed the site into a 23-bedroom hotel, standing in two-and-a-half acres, which boasts it's own swimming pool.

Unsurprisingly, the couple were pleased with the free national publicity which has already started to have an effect.

"I took a booking on Sunday morning from someone who had seen the article," Andy explained. "At the time I hadn't seen it so went straight out and bought the paper."

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