Lifeboat Inn

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay . . . Comfortable room with amazing harbor view, great shower and toiletries, local biscuits and tea. Breakfast was delicious with lots of choices, including vegetarian and vegan, and the juice from a nearby cider mill was the best we’ve ever had. Location is super convenient to all the shops, restaurants, museums and galleries. But the best part was the wonderfully friendly staff, all full of genuine, smiling Cornish hospitality. Thanks again for a great visit!

What a perfect find for our one-night stay in St Ives. The Lifeboat Inn is a beautiful, friendly and welcoming pub with fantastic, well-appointed rooms. We were positively surprised by how comfy the rooms were and we were incredibly grateful to the team for the room upgrade offered to us on arrival as we were spending the weekend celebrating our wedding anniversary. This was a really lovely touch. Boasting a beautiful bathroom, huge and very comfy double bed, Elemis toiletries and an incredible view of the sea, we could not fault the offering of the accommodation one bit. Breakfast the following morning was included and was very tasty indeed. We would not hesitate to return to stay. Thank you so much to the team for making us feel so welcome.

Great views of the harbour beach but beware Apartment 2 pitfalls: Very steep stairs down and up BETWEEN the shower-room and 2 bedrooms and no en-suite (not entirely clear on booking and somewhat misrepresented by standard pictures only of other shower/ bathrooms). The Bathroom turned out to be a basic wet-room, with no working plug for sink and poorly designed mixer tap (think very large kitchen one and way too large for a bathroom sink), this resulted in only free running water and difficulty to maintain decent bathroom functionality; some small areas of mould are bound to develop on the sink sealant, and wet floor surround edge therefore not surprisingly. Poor (and in lounge non ambient) lighting -the one lounge lamp not working and main light a bare bulb. Nice functional Kitchen but no dishcloth which might have been nice (you don’t expect to need to pack one), did not ask for one because some of the senior staff can appear a little severe and strict on manner, and unforgiving from the get-go. Rather quickly asserted at check-in, quite rudely therefore, that we had no breakfast included, could have it but would be charged (we knew that); at another time when my Wife simply very politely asked if she could quickly borrow a salt seller from the bar restaurant and return it (she mistakenly thought we hadn’t one in the apartment but not the point) she was abruptly declined when referred to a senior staff person with the reply ‘we need it for the customers’ ….but were we not regarded as customers ?. On early arrival we had requested any possibility of an earlier check-in, fair enough though we were told rather bluntly no (so no flexibility what-so-ever), but even when we arrived back later as requested we were told ‘you can’t check in till 3’ when the time had just turned 3 O’clock ! the check-In person realised the error and then obliged - but just seems indicative of the inherent style of management. So beware and take your own life jacket to the Lifeboat Inn, you may feel like your jumping into rough seas at times !. But hey-ho ‘shipmates’ the location is great, the apartment has some nice charm, great views, nice comfortable beds and fresh bed linen and I think beneath the defensive management style the team are honest and hard-working, and a barman was friendly. But even if you forgive apartment 2 is poorly designed and you may have misunderstood the configuration (no en-suite or proper bathroom) you just do not feel comfortable to ask, nor confident of resolution, to even enquire about such essential matters as no working bathroom sink plug, let alone a non-working singular lounge lamp, so we improvised. I appreciate it is also very busy at the Inn but we booked what turned out to be a very poorly configured basic wet-room facility apartment, which may not have been otherwise taken, at still over 200 per night !

What a fantastic place. We had a fabulous weekend with the most amazing accomadation, food and staff. We just want to say this is a true gem in St Ives. The location is just the best being so the the sea, shops and loverly galleries. We will be back!

Been for a few meals and they were really good, especially the crispy roast potatoes, yorkshires and chicken (or beef). Staff all very friendly and helpful in a really good pub/restaurant. All set in a pretty looking pub in a wonderful location of St ives.

My 1st visit to St Ives and I’m glad I have a small rental car as the streets are tight! The Inn is directly on the harbor and walking distance to everything! The island car park is about a 10 minute walk and got one of the last spots. The rooms are above the bar and mine doesn’t have a view, but it’s spacious, well decorated and the rain shower is so relaxing! Full breakfast down in the restaurant is very nice. Catherine is so nice and friendly and seems to work nonstop! There’s great coastline walks nearby

Our room was extremely comfortable and well equipped with lovely iconic views over the harbour. Ideal for a short winter B&B break regardless of the weather which was mixed. The side entrance stairway up to the accommodation was narrow, steep, and somewhat precarious, but we managed with care. Breakfasts were OK, although we did not realise at first that lighter, as opposed to full English options, were listed on the back of the menu; and this was not brought to our attention. We passed on using the bar after the first night. It was well laid out and potentially pleasant, and good for families, but the over-reliance on large screen TVs on every wall for ambience, showing random Sports News that no one was watching, was an unwelcome distraction. OK if there was a large sporting event on of interest to customers, but all TVs being on at all times detracted from the cosy pub nights out that we were hoping for; and what a waste of electricity in greener climate change times.

We had an amazing and relaxing stay in the inland apartment. It was spacious, warm, comfortable with an incredible view across the harbour and street. A proper people watching nook with everything you need for a group or family. The staff were wonderful and food delicious. We even took part in the quiz on a Thursday evening. Such a brilliant stay, thank you Lifeboat. ♥️♥️♥️♥️ we would move in permanently if we could!

Clare was fabulous - as a family with two 83 year olds in St Ives for a wedding, we were looking for somewhere to eat when we arrived and she went out of her way to make sure we were catered for even though you can’t pre- book tables Food was great too!