Visitors to Lana de Savary’s ‘fabulously secluded’ cliff-face hotel are rewarded with ‘unrestricted views and a genuine, good-humoured welcome’. A seaside air drifts through the ‘unpretentious’ building, which bears nautical ephemera, binoculars and New England colours. A log stove in the rustic bar is ideal for when the breeze becomes nippy, and for recovering from the English Channel’s sharp bite. Children and dogs are warmly welcomed (buckets and spades for the former, a ‘high-quality dinner and well-produced guide of local walks’ for the latter). ‘Spacious, attractive’ bedrooms look out to sea; all but one have a private terrace or balcony. Chic beach huts, each with a light, bright interior and private terrace, pepper a sheltered, sunny spot in the grounds. The dining room specialises in seafood, paired with an ‘eminently quaffable’ wine list – ‘not gourmet, but beautifully cooked’. Fine weather opens up the tempting prospect of eating on the terrace, where hangs a bell ‘with a request that it be rung when dolphins are spotted’. Moorings are available on the Teign estuary, for guests arriving by sea.