In The News
Chapel House PZ - one of the best hotels in Cornwall
February 2025
'The best hotels in Cornwall' House & Garden
"The food is a highlight here, first sampled with the home-made brownies in the bedrooms, then later, downstairs in the flagstone kitchen where Susan whips up Ottolenghi-style plates for guests perched along the long farmhouse table. Her passion for cooking and locality is infectious, along with that of Penzance itself (you can tap Susan’s wisdom for the best independent galleries, hole-in-the-wall coffee shops and less-crowded swimming spots). "
March 2025
'Where to stay in Penzance' - Olive
"Chapel House is a graceful, light-filled Georgian home in Penzance’s Old Quarter, where white walls are hung with landscape paintings by students at nearby Newlyn School of Art and where antique furniture sits alongside stylish Nordic pieces. The six rooms all have sea views, painted white floors and vibrant modern artworks. The huge, stone-flagged, kitchen diner in the basement is the scene of owner Susan’s regular weekend suppers, and lengthy brunches. Susan champions local producers, rarely straying far from Penzance to buy ingredients. Try the breakfast speciality: cod’s roe, smoked bacon, samphire and a poached egg. It’s a cheap, nutritious dish and it’s easy to see how it became a favourite with fishermen.."
May 2024
37 of the Best Hotels in Cornwall - The Times
"The light of far west Cornwall has captivated many an artist — as evidenced in the collections of Tate St Ives and Penlee House — and this serene boutique hotel, offering views of St Michael’s Mount, captures it beautifully. A 10-minute walk from the Penzance sleeper train, this renovated Georgian townhouse on historic Chapel Street has six rooms featuring a mix of antique, mid-century and contemporary furnishings with Cornish art, and two colourful suites with kitchens.."
July 2024
The Best Hotels in Cornall - Evening Standard
"This white-washed Penzance beauty is the stellar work of ex-banker Susan Stuart. She has preserved the building’s Georgian character while adding a little contemporary glass here and a little out-house renovation there. It’s easy to imagine its past life as an admiral’s home, with the house leaning grandly over the harbour, with all its soothing clanks and clatters spilling into the rooms, along with the salty air. Fresh, powder-white drawing rooms and corridors are the ultimate canvas for artworks from Cornwall’s Newlyn School and somehow ease all the mahogany furniture, the grand piano and marble fireplaces into the 21st century.…"
July 2024
' The Best Hotels in Cornwall - tried and test by Vogue' Vogue
"This historic townhouse hotel perched above Penzance’s harbour feels more like your fabulous aunt’s home than a Cornish tourist attraction. Proof this is not just PR spiel? Susan, the owner, bakes a fresh cake every morning, so you and other guests occupying the six rooms and two suites can watch the fishing boats bobbing below with a cuppa and a slice (sharpen your elbows if it’s walnut, ginger and beetroot day). Forgotten your wellies? Fret not, Susan has plenty – plus waterproofs and locally-made woolly scarves – to borrow for walks to St Michaels Mount. She’ll even invite you to join the locals’ sunrise swim at Battery Rock, and have a flask of hot tea waiting once you’re safely wrapped in a Chapel House Dryrobe. Need further convincing? Harry Styles has been spotted braving the waves. There are few places as inviting in the winter as the summer months, but Chapel House, with its plump velvet sofas and honesty bar boasting Cornish wines to sip while watching the sun go down on Mounts Bay, might just be the perfect all-weather bolthole.."
July 2024
The Best Hotels for Art Lovers' The Sunday Times
"The entrance hall to this Georgian townhouse has become an exhibition space, displaying an ever-changing roster of work as part of the hotel’s collaboration with the Newlyn School of Art. The owner of Chapel House, Susan Stuart, is a passionate collector, and pieces pepper the property’s six rooms and two suites. The ocean is a rich source of inspiration for many — for example, Tom Leaper’s Diving Gannet sculpture and Kate Jmo’s textured seascapes — and the island castle St Michael’s Mount is visible through several windows. After a bracing dip in the ocean, warm up in the hot tub and sauna...."
January 2024
'The 14 best luxury spas to book for 2024 — in the UK and beyond' The Times
=A ten-minute walk from Penzance railway station, past the sea and down cobbled streets, the charming Chapel House hotel equips its bedrooms with jars of fresh coffee, pretty mugs and flasks of milk — all of which you’ll appreciate ahead of the 8am sea swimming you’ll be doing, whatever the weather, on the two-day Wellness Retreat. Back at the hotel, jump into the hot tub or sauna in the garden, which overlooks the stunning coast. The retreat also includes swimming in the art deco geothermal Jubilee Pool — the UK’s largest seawater lido, which has been around since the 1930s and is a five-minute walk from the hotel (closed until May) — plus a spa treatment of your choice. Bracing Cornish coastal walks and indulgent pampering, what more could you ask for?