Inside the stunning seaside hotel with views of a pocket-sized Cornish port that stars in BBC’s Poldark and the movie of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park

The views over Charlestown Harbour from the recently reopened Pier House hotel are so glorious it’s entirely appropriate for there to be a ‘day bed’ in my room, a space under the window for lounging and soaking up the scenery.

And what scenery! The Grade-II listed Georgian port, a Unesco World Heritage Site south of St Austell in Cornwall, reeks so much of period dramas that it has been used in numerous film and TV productions, including the BBC’s recent version of Poldark.

The sage-green Pier House overlooks tall ships, a curving pier and, beyond, St Austell Bay.

One of the square riggers in the harbour is permanently berthed here. 

This is the Kajsamoor, a two-masted, wooden trading ketch that is regularly used as a historical backdrop by filmmakers, even though it’s decidedly mid-20th century, not Georgian.

Rather than overlooking the tall ships, my room had a direct view of the curving pier, and I would have gladly spent hours people-watching on the day bed if it hadn’t been for the lure of sea swimming – made all the more enticing by the in-room provision of a hotel-branded dry robe. 

Despite sunshine, the sea was icy and I was glad of the fleecy wrap.

Once a bustling port, exporting copper and china clay, today Charlestown is, at times, a live-in movie set, with filmmakers only having to do the merest of prop dressing to Poldark-erise the place. 

Carlton Reid checks into the Pier House hotel at Charlestown Harbour. He says: ‘The Grade II-listed, Georgian port reeks so much of period dramas that it has been used in numerous film and TV productions, including the BBC ’s recent version of Poldark’

‘The Pier House [pictured] was built in 1794 as the port’s hotel,’ says Carlton, ‘and described as a “commodious hotel” in an 1808 traveller’s guide to Cornwall. It’s still the biggest bolthole in Charlestown, with 27 beautifully furnished bedrooms’

Pirates of the Caribbean’s Jack Sparrow, too, would be at home here, but this is no Disney theme park – the granite quays are real, the uneven setts [cobblestones] are original and the china-clay shute looks like it was last used yesterday. 

However, the two cannons are replicas, the rum barrels are for ambiance, and the port’s dovecote is modern, built to house the descendants of the white doves released by the 1999 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.

The harbour was dug in the 1790s (Poldark era, then) on the instruction of local bigwig Charles Rashleigh. A Georgian New Town – named for the money man -absorbed the pilchard-fishing hamlet of West Polmear and, at its peak in 1911, Charlestown had a population of 3,184.

Charlestown – and its tall ships – is now owned by Sir Tim Smit, founder of the nearby Lost Gardens of Heligan and co-founder of Cornwall’s Eden Project.

The Pier House was built in 1794 as the port’s hotel and described as a ‘commodious hotel’ in an 1808 traveller’s guide to Cornwall. 

Rooms at Pier House start from £109 per night, based on two sharing a classic double room (above)

Carlton’s room had a ‘direct view of the curving pier’, and he says he ‘would have gladly spent hours people-watching on the day bed (pictured)’

Carlton says: ‘The hotel is owned by the local St Austell brewery, known nationally for its Tribute beer.’ Above – the hotel bar

It’s still the biggest bolthole in Charlestown, with 27 beautifully furnished bedrooms, many boasting harbour and sea views. 

All feature Roberts radios, Elemis toiletries, and Richard Haworth, upscale, bed linen. 

While some hotels, if you’re lucky, provide a couple of in-room biscuits, my Pier House room was stocked with two bags of gourmet crisps, two chorizo sausages, and a packet of dry roasted peanuts. 

There was also a Nespresso machine, natch.

Doors inside the Pier House are heavy and stiff, a belts-and-braces fire-prevention measure, reminding guests that the hotel has suffered from two recent conflagrations.

Decommissioned by a blaze in January 2023, the Pier House reopened in June of this year after a multi-million-pound refurbishment. The new decor is country-house meets the seaside.

Charlestown is, at times, a live-in movie set, says Carlton, with filmmakers only having to do the merest of prop dressing to Poldark-erise the place

 The picture above shows Poldark being filmed in Charlestown in 2015

Carlton went ‘sea swimming’ in the harbour (left) and says that ‘despite sunshine, the sea was icy’. Of the town, he adds: ‘The granite setts [cobblestones] in Charlestown are original, but the barrels (both pictured right) are for show’

Charlestown Harbour is an ‘unspoilt’ Unesco World Heritage Site

The hotel is owned by the local St Austell brewery, known nationally for its Tribute beer. 

The brewery’s ownership of pubs and hotels started with the founder, Walter Hicks, who began his booze business in 1851.

I know that because I went on the brewery tour at the company’s HQ in St Austell, a ten-minute bike ride away. 

The firm is still run by a descendant of the founder, while all the shareholders are members of the extended family, unable to sell to anyone outside of the brood.

This family feel is evident in the immense care enveloping you throughout your scenic stay at the Pier House – you won’t want to leave.