Welcome to the Most Sinful Romantic Getaway in Cornwall: Fallen Angel

For couples who want a little naughty decadence, the Fallen Angel hits the spot. Forget rising early or counting calories. Forget cooking for yourselves or others. Forget hectic schedules, turning the music down or leaving the champagne unopened until the evening. Here, in this secluded spot overlooking Mousehole harbour, your wicked side will enjoy a renewed lease of life.

In one devilishly romantic weekend getaway, you can enjoy the virtues of long, lazy bubble-topped baths eye-to-eye with rooftops, mid-morning snooze-fests, a la carte in-house chefs, a professional massage by the fire, endless cups of sun-drenched coffee as you watch seals play in the sea, and star-studded fizz late into the night alongside the one you love.

Repentance is not an option. Moderation, so yesterday. We checked into the Fallen Angel for a mini-moon staycation – and quickly realised: being naughty is a lot more fun than the alternative.

For more unique and romantic getaways in Cornwall see: 10 Glamping Weekends in Cornwall with a Hot Tub, Luxury Glamping in Cornwall, and 8 Blissful Shepherd’s Huts to Book in Cornwall.

The Fallen Angel in Cornwall is a romantic one-bedroom getaway that easily takes the silverware for being one of the very best honeymoon or couples’ escapes in the UK.  This split-level luxury hideout is a masterpiece of razor-sharp architecture and decadent interior design, created by its owners, Jane and Mark, for one thing: to give lovebirds and newly-weds a dream venue where they can make unforgettable memories.

No expense has been spared on Fallen Angel. And the property has been cleverly designed by architects to stand apart from the traditional stone cottages that huddle around Mousehole, yet stealthily sink into its surrounding sub-tropical garden so you can forget the outside world. It faces The Lizard Peninsular and has been built onto one cascading plot, replacing the gamekeeper cottage that used to lodge here and given enough modern sex appeal to make a saint blush.

On the outside, the ultra-contemporary black rubber cladding of Fallen Angel has a lot in common with Lord Vader (it is, curiously, the only rubber house in the entire South West). Step inside, however, and the heavy black fades into soft romantic pastels: ghost-patterned Spanish tiles, sand-blasted oak, antiquities plucked from the foothills of the Himalayas, original works of art, and floor-to-ceiling windows that flood your irises with Cornish blues.

You’ll find the Fallen Angel in Mousehole (pronounced ‘Mouzle’) – a village in the south coast of Cornwall that’s as cute as a sailor’s button. Three miles from Penzance, this harbour-front clutch of fishing-pot cottages, salted sea air and roads like ribbons is ideal for a weekend of monk-like seclusion.

Mousehole’s unusual name is thought to come from the opening to its tiny harbour or the small cave a few hundred yards along the coast from the village, but no-one really knows the true origin of the name. One thing we do know, is that the village is famous throughout Cornwall for its Christmas lights (there are even helicopter flights from Penzance to see the lights from the sky).

Fallen Angel sits above the village on the hill, and you reach it by foot (or wings) via a steep, private lane. Because the village isn’t really built for cars – and Fallen Angel doesn’t have an allocated parking space – you’ll need to park up in one of the nearby car parks or stop temporarily on the closest lane to unload.

We left our car 5 minutes away after finding a free space, then slipped through the sleepy afternoon streets with too much luggage (it’s heavy work carrying bags uphill, so pack light!). After playing cat and mouse with Google maps, we admitted defeat and sought out directions from a passer-by who pointed us in the right direction.

We found the Fallen Angel bandaged in sunlight, behind a huge wooden door (one of two that originally hung as the entrance to a Moroccan hamlet). As soon as we stepped into the garden, which is an oasis of succulents, palms, lavender, inspired by nearby Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, we knew we’d reached heaven.

There is not an inch of the Fallen Angel that doesn’t feel sinful. The first rush you get comes courtesy of the open-plan kitchen and lounge, which sit behind the heavy front door on the upper portion of this two-storey retreat. Where the kitchen starts and the lounge stops, isn’t hard defined; both areas running into each other as intimately as best friends, giving you a celestial space  where you can rest and eat in the utmost comfort.

In the kitchen’s contemporary cool, everything is high-spec; even the kettle and toaster come with an IQ. Added to the intelligence is the beauty of the bespoke design: sandblasted soft-touch oak units, work-tops as shiny as new coins, leather-strapped tall chairs for watching your private chef sauté the scallops (more of that in a moment).

To invite Cornwall in, simply slide back the floor-to-ceiling glass doors that lead onto the balcony and take a seat. You’re deliciously hidden from the eyes of Mousehole; as cloistered as if you were in a nunnery, so an al fresco breakfast, lunch or dinner is your business and your business alone.

If rain flecks your view, sink back into the sofa, wrap your dressing gown around you, fire up the log burner, and remove your crooked halo. Should you tire of the views (not possible), there’s a snug room in a separate side alcove with a soft two-seater sofa, plenty of books to look through and Sky TV to binge watch.

From the open-plan innocence of the lounge and kitchen, you descend down a spot-lit tunnel of stairs, past exotic urns, to the Fallen Angel’s masterful bedroom and bathroom. And by bathroom we mean, an oversized brushed-steel tub, set sexily at the end of your double bed, in front of a huge picture window that spills the most incredible vista of Mousehole over your duvet.

Each morning you wake, raise the remote-control blind with the light touch of your finger, and there waiting, in all its cinematic vastness, is Cornwall. Sweet Lord, getting out of bed has never felt harder in all our life. it is utterly stunning. And almost impossible not to just spend your entire Cornwall romantic getaway slipping from bed to tub and back again.

Of course, there are additional luxurious touches to offset the tub. The bedroom is faultlessly elegant and thoughtfully furnished. Di Palomo toiletries to scent your bathing. A hand-carved Malaysian headboard to crown sleeping lovers. A pebble-grey wet room with motion-activated lights and glass-front slot-window to secretly spy Mousehole (and hope it can’t spy you back). There are also complimentary robes to wrap yourselves in for your entire stay – forget getting dressed.

Then there’s the meringue-soft double with feather mattress-topper and polar Egyptian cotton sheets, and a large Sonos speaker tucked away in a corner so your mornings and evenings come with the soundtrack of your choice.

To seal your descent from grace, you can book a number of fabulously indulgent romantic bolt ons for your stay at the Fallen Angel in Cornwall, perfect for couples honeymooning or celebrating. We highly recommend you book one, if not all of them if your budget allows (because if ever there was a place to indulge, the Fallen Angel is it).

3 Course Dinner Cooked by Private Local Chefs | From £210: for the ultimate evening-in treat, you can enjoy fine dining brought to you by the lovely and hugely talented Rebecca and Robin from Indulgence Catering. They arrived wide with smiles, arms overflowing with the best ingredients Cornwall has to offer. Then they cooked up the menus we’d pre-chosen in Fallen Angel’s gorgeous kitchen; creating, serving, then cleaning-up with military precision so not a spit-spot was left for us to tidy away.

Naturally, the food sung. For me: pan-fried scallops with pancetta and pea puree, followed by chicken breast stuffed with goat’s cheese and wrapped in pancetta with seasonal vegetables and dauphinoise potatoes, then the final corruption: cranberry and white chocolate bread and butter pudding with clotted cream. Oh my. For him: lobster tail with thermidor sauce, hazelnut crusted brill fillets with sautéed ceps and artichoke puree, finished with a board of local cheeses. All washed down with friendly chat and the sweetest Cornish views from the balcony. It goes almost without saying that we were two very happy fat Mousehole cats indeed.

We were also fortunate enough to be gifted a charcuterie welcome grazing box for two prepared by Indulgence Catering, waiting for us in the fridge alongside a bottle of Camel Valley Brut Sparkling Wine. The platter was stuffed with local cheeses, fresh Cornish charcuterie, chilled fruits, Baker Tom’s soft bread, Trewithen Dairy butter, cornichons, side salad and mustard mayo – indeed, plenty for the two of us to munch on for dinner on evening and lunchtime the next day. For snacks, we tucked into mixed olives and salt and cracked black pepper cashews, left for us in Kilner jars. Spoilt – you will be.

Romantic Dining Experience | From £300: Every show-stopping meal deserves a special stage to eat it from. Which is why Fallen Angel have teamed up with Stargazey Hire who create the ultimate dining setting for your romantic meal either inside or outside – or further afield in one of the area’s local beauty spots, should you fancy it. They bring the seating, the table and all the styling finishing flourishes to create an Instaworthy set for the two of you to swoon over. Our beautiful boho table overlooked the ocean and was dressed with a soft gauze table runner, grasses in vintage clay pots, and pillar and taper candles that danced in the sea breeze. All we had to do was turn up. Not a problem.

In-house Pampering Treatments | From £60pp Add another level of bliss to your couples break in Cornwall with Philpott’s Massage Therapies. Yolande is the friendly, affable lady behind the treatments who’ll come to Fallen Angel and turn you into jelly with her magic hands. We booked a one hour deep tissue massage and a bespoke Neal’s Yard organic facial, also for 60 minutes – but you can book her for 2 hours per treatment if you want to really max out on your pampering.

Yolande was professional, courteous and very knowledgeable; she took time to share details of the products and techniques she was using and regularly checked in with us to make sure we were comfortable and happy. By the time she’d finished, we’d been rendered into another state of consciousness – and had to break the spell with a glass of fizz (it was the only way). Heaven. With a captial ‘aaaah’.

Also available to pre-book: guided meditation, surfing lessons, celebration photoshoot, luxury picnic baskets, breakfast hampers, local food hampers.

The Fallen Angel has it all: a heavenly Cornish location, sublime privacy and solitude, luxury treats and indulgences, and beautiful interiors that’ll make you ugly cry with the thought of leaving behind.

Of course, this sort of decadence doesn’t cheap: short breaks start from £200 per night and there’s a minimum stay of 3 nights. But that’s far from extortionate (compared to other places we’ve stayed), especially if you’re happy to splurge for a special couples break in Cornwall or you’re after the perfect honeymoon staycation.

So, as you’ve probably guessed, we think it’s worth every single penny. In truth, if we could rest our broken wings at the Fallen Angel for just one more weekend, we would happily sell our soul and never look back.

Disclosure: We were hosted our stay at Fallen Angel courtesy of the owners, Jane and Mark, in order to produce this review.