Last Updated on 13/12/2024
The Headland is an iconic hotel in Newquay, with a dominant position overlooking Fistral Beach, which can be seen far and wide along the Cornish coastline. It’s somewhere I’ve been longing to stay for many years and not just because I have seen the hotel from afar during previous visits to Newquay’s beaches, but because this hotel holds much significance from my childhood.
The Headland Hotel in The Witches – Hotel Excelsior UK
Roald Dahl’s 1990 film adaptation of The Witches, starring Anjelica Houston and Rowan Atkinson was filmed at The Headland Hotel (under the alias Hotel Excelsior) and the film was a firm favourite of mine growing up.
Disclaimer: My stay, meals and spa experiences at The Headland Hotel were part of a press stay. However, all views and photos contained within this post are my own. Thanks for supporting my content.
In the days leading up to our stay at The Headland Hotel, Adam and I couldn’t resist rewatching The Witches film, with Adam amusingly reciting iconic lines from memory! At this point, I must suggest watching before any upcoming stay!
As we approached and drove the long and equally dramatic driveway to the hotel, I shared an Instagram Story asking followers if they could guess the kids’ movie filmed at the hotel and I was honestly astounded at how many responses I received correctly guessing “The Witches”. Thus, not only demonstrating that I’m not the only film geek around…but, highlighting just how memorable both the film and hotel are!
You may be wondering what it’s like staying at The Headland Hotel almost 35 years after The Witches was filmed… You’re about to find out in my Headland Hotel review!
In a rush and hoping to stay at a later date? Click the pin image icon below to save to Pinterest to read later…
The Headland Hotel Newquay Review
There’s much expectation from visiting a beloved film location and from staying at a renowned luxury 5-star hotel. On this front, The Headland exudes both a grandeur and decadence that one would expect from a Victorian Grade II listed building, with fittings appealing to fans young and old of The Witches.
Think chandeliers, imperial staircases with patterned carpets, heavyset curtains, Chesterfield sofas and a revolving door with a wooden reception area reminiscent of the original scenes in the iconic film (as seen on my Instagram highlights).
Contrasting old and new, the hotel sympathetically blends its traditional decor and history (having welcomed its first guests in June 1900) with modern features, including an award-winning Aqua Club, with swimming pools and spa facilities located both in the hotel building and in a recent adjacent extension, along with a refurbished restaurant, including an open kitchen and fancy bar area.
The Headland Hotel has retained its character and style worthy of its Victorian build, exuding a majestic old-world charm, whilst introducing contemporary features to appeal to modern-day guests. Personally, I was delighted that the hotel met my expectations of its appearance onscreen and it was great to see so many guests lounging and reading papers in the Ballroom area (an area next on the list for refurbishment… I hope it retains its charm!)
Rooms at The Headland Hotel Newquay
The Headland Hotel has 85 rooms with various room types to stay in, from double rooms to suites, and adjacent to the hotel there are 39 Headland cottages, some even have gardens of their own, which is a great option if you are looking for a dog-friendly stay in Cornwall. The hotel is dog friendly too and, as someone who can be wary of dogs I am unfamiliar with, I can honestly say I had no issues! If anything, I was hoping to see a few cats with it being The Witches Hotel!
Let me tell you, I was absolutely blown away by our suite at The Headland! We stayed in room 303 located on the third floor, and everything from the design, style, size and the views from the suite were incredible. We even had an ice bucket with bubbly waiting for our arrival, which was a lovely welcome and truly needed after our 5-hour road trip to Cornwall from Milton Keynes.
Psst – If you head to the first floor you can see room 103 where Anjelica Houston stayed during filming. The first floor also has an amazing Lego replica of the hotel, which was kindly gifted to the hotel by a regular guest.
Many of the rooms at The Headland Hotel have been modernised as part of ongoing renovations, and as with the main areas of the hotel, the rooms have retained a traditional feel with modern additions such as smart TVs with movie channels, underfloor heating, modern wall-mounted radiators and rainforest showers. On this note, I must say, that I adored our bathroom suite with twin sinks, a large shower with Molton Brown toiletries, and a roll-top bath complete with wooden bathboard providing the perfect place to read my book. First on Adam’s list now we’ve returned home is to recreate The Headland bathroom suite!
The room’s bold orange and teal styling works well with the more traditional wallpaper and, after spending our day exploring Cornwall we simply melted into the soft mattress with equally appealing pillows.
In fact, one of the key features I look for when staying at an acclaimed luxury hotel is the quality of the mattress and pillows, as often the pillows do not complement the mattress. This was not the case at The Headland, the quality of the mattress and pillows were some of the best I’ve stayed in. If anyone from The Headland is reading this, please send me details of the brand/name of the mattress and pillows…thank you!
The suite contained other mod cons, such as a Dualit coffee machine, a digital radio, and a huge selection of movies to binge, which were particularly handy when the weather wasn’t playing ball.
The Aqua Club Headland Hotel Spa
Of course, one of the benefits of visiting Cornwall come rain or shine involves relaxing activities close to the sea.
The Headland’s Aqua Club located in an adjacent building to the hotel has a 25m swimming pool, kids splash area, a hydrotherapy pool, sauna, and adults-only areas including an infinity pool adjacent to an open-air sunset spa with views over The Atlantic. I loved being outside with sea views as I sat all toasty in the hot tub. The views were incredible, particularly at sunset, hence the name Sunset Spa!
The Aqua Club restaurant Deck is positioned in the spa area and serves a range of healthy dishes, as well as pizzas and cocktails to enjoy on your spa day.
If you don’t fancy venturing further than the hotel building, The Headland Spa located on the lower ground floor of the hotel offers guests a range of spa treatments, including facials, pedicures and massages. There’s also a pool, hot tub, Cornish salt steam room, sauna, and a well-equipped gym. We pretty much had the place to ourselves during our visit, so don’t miss checking this area out too! I understand this spa area is child-free, which may offer a more relaxing experience if visiting during the Summer months.
In addition, the hotel has a variety of watersports on offer on its doorstep (for an additional fee), including surfing, kite-surfing, coasteering and paddle-boarding. Sadly it was too windy during our visit to bring our paddle-boards and venture out in the sea. Though, this surely means we must come back…!
Headland Hotel Restaurants
Another highlight of our stay at The Headland was the dining experience in The Headland restaurants. The hotel building has two main restaurants and unlike other hotels I’ve stayed at, it was great to see both on-site restaurants packed full of guests and locals alike, which is a testament to their quality, particularly as Newquay has such a wealth of top restaurants to choose from.
Needless to say, despite The Witches connection, none of The Headland restaurant menus included cress or cock-a-leekie soup!
The Terrace Restaurant The Headland
Ideal if you’re looking for a bite to eat with a sea view, or if you have your dog in tow, The Headland’s Terrace Restaurant has a more relaxed vibe where dogs and wellies are welcome!
The Terrace Restaurant menu has an array of comfort foods from soup, burgers, seaside fish n chips, pork belly, as well as salads, seafood dishes and charcuterie boards.
Adam and I shared the roasted tomato soup and pig cheeks on toast to start. The pig cheeks were served in a pulled pork style with a delicious warm sauce, which we both enjoyed.
For our mains, Adam devoured the Cornish beef burger and chips. I chose the Cornish-bred pork belly, which I would have preferred served on a bed of creamy mash and seasonal greens, as it came with too many lentils for my liking. But, washed down with a Cornish Spiced Cocotini Cocktail, there were no complaints from me!
Despite not having room for much else, it didn’t take much convincing from our host Shub for us to share the Rum Baba pudding; comprising a rum-glazed brioche filled with pistachio, raspberry and white chocolate cream, which we happily polished off before calling it a night.
I loved the rustic vibes of The Terrace Restaurant with the white twig fairy lights decor and wish I’d had a chance to revisit during the day to enjoy lunch with the fantastic views over Fistral Beach.
RenMor Restaurant The Headland
The Headland’s main restaurant RenMor offers visitors a more formal dining experience, with a menu curated by Executive Chef Gavin Edney which showcases the best Cornish produce from local fishermen and farmers.
Whilst relatively compact as all good menus are, we were spoilt for choice in terms of dishes to choose. Luckily, we had the assistance of RenMor Restaurant Supervisor Shub, who was on hand to talk us through the menu and help us narrow down our meal choices after much deliberation!
Adam chose the Fried Chicken Appetiser to start, which is served with a hot sauce. The dish had the right amount of kick, and he advised, tasted great paired with the Old Fashioned cocktail, which he said resembled the taste of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee (a favourite tipple of his!)
Undecided on a starter, I was glad Shub convinced me to order the Cornish Crab Tart, which was simply bursting with flavour. The pastry of the tart edges crumbled away and had spice, with the creamed crab topped with jalapenos and a chimichurri sauce! This was a dish that surprised me as I’m not a fan of potted crab. Each layer of the Cornish Crab Tart tantalised the tastebuds and I was equally surprised to learn the dish also included duck egg custard, after Executive Chef Gavin kindly talked me through the dish.
For my main, I chose the Line Caught Wild Seabass, which was tasty. Though, to be honest, my dish was totally eclipsed by Adam’s choice of Loin and Cutlet of West Country Lamb, drizzled in a courgette and basil puree, pine nuts, tomato and barley jus. The lamb dish is simply divine, especially paired with RenMor’s thousand-layer fries, which are unmissable dishes in our opinion! In the words of Bruno from The Witches film “Got any more…?!”
My Sparkling Pear Spritz cocktail is worthy of a mention as I have been Googling how to make these at home since I returned! This refreshing cocktail is ideal to accompany a meal at RenMor.
The Manjari Chocolate Ganache and Peach and Raspberry Pavlova offered us the perfect end to our dining experience at RenMor, and it was little wonder why the restaurant is so popular!
We had exceptional service dining in The Headland Restaurants, particularly from our host Shub who expertly talked us through the dishes, provided recommendations, as well as kindly arranged for Executive Chef Gavin Edney and Terrace Assistant Manager MK to join us. It was great to see the teams working together to provide exceptional service for customers, from the kitchen, bar and table service.
Breakfast at RenMor
After a wonderful relaxing sleep (despite all the food the night before…) we enjoyed breakfast at RenMor. The breakfast dishes are made to order (which I much prefer to a breakfast buffet) and range from a classic English breakfast, eggs benedict, avocado on toast, sweet and savoury pancakes, plus others.
Diners can also select fruit, yoghurts and bread in a pantry area, which I was delighted had the biggest tub of Marmite! From experience, only place your toast through the toaster once to avoid smoking out other diners…
Service was great as the staff places your breakfast dish and hot drinks order once seated, and you can go up to the pantry to pick up accompaniments, which offers good value for money and is ideal to keep you full on busy days exploring.
Breakfast at The Deck Restaurant The Headland
On our last morning, we dined at The Deck Restaurant located inside The Headland’s Aqua Club, which has lovely views of the outside spa area and The Atlantic beyond.
The Deck serves a full and vegan breakfast, as well as dishes such as salmon scrambled eggs, avocado on toast, baked eggs with chorizo and a bacon sandwich. For £25, The Deck offers a three-course breakfast, which includes a hot drink, juice and a small pastry, served with fruits and a choice of hot breakfast.
However, we did find dishes on the small side and with the full breakfast shown below priced at £18 on its own, we did not consider the portion sizes as generous when compared to the breakfast at RenMor, where guests can pick an array of breakfast accompaniments from the pantry area in addition.
This may be something we were more conscious of as we were travelling back on a 5-hour car journey, but personally, on a return visit, I would opt for cocktails and a spa-sharing dish, such as a pizza to enjoy over breakfast at The Deck.
Nonetheless, as with our other dining experiences at The Headland, we had impeccable service and I would highly recommend popping into The Headland restaurants, whether you’re staying at the hotel or not.
The Headland Hotel Witches Coven
One thing we discovered during our stay, despite it being over 30 years since The Witches was filmed at The Headland, the hotel has truly found its coven with devout guests returning time and time again. The hotel even has a loyalty card for returning guests, who require no incentive to return as one stay leaves you craving more!
Loyal guests Darren & Liz have stayed in various rooms within the hotel and after enjoying their 25th wedding anniversary at the hotel in June, they were back again in September to stay in one of The Headland Cottages.
As we left the couches in the ballroom to check out, we got chatting to a gentleman from Ampthill (not far from us in Milton Keynes) who proudly told us he’s been visiting The Headland Hotel for over 16 years and once stayed for six whole weeks! After his wife sadly passed away, he continued visiting the hotel and found solace with a female companion at the hotel who also lost her partner, and they now visit The Headland on their holidays together, which is lovely.
We also spoke to Cornish locals visiting the spa with their daughter who confirmed the hotel’s popularity with locals and delighted in our pronunciation of local landmarks! I think we need a Cornish translator…!
The sense of community and compassion for The Headland is not only evident in its guests, as the staff all work with a passion and vigour that shines through; working well to support each other in their roles to give guests the best experience.
As I write this post with fond memories of our delightful stay at The Headland, I am already hoping to return before Halloween to check out the hotel’s Witches Afternoon Tea, which reportedly has a Grand High Witch patrolling around…
I hope you enjoyed reading my Headland Hotel review…
Click here to find out how to win a stay at The Headland Hotel
Until next time Witches!
Jaz
Check out things to do in Newquay<— to plan activities around your stay at The Headland!
Check out my other Cornwall posts below:
Pretty Fishing Villages in Cornwall to Explore
Cornwall’s Best Beaches You Won’t Want to Miss