Hotel Review: Karma St Martin’s, Isles of Scilly.

After wanting to stay at the ‘luxury’ Karma St Martin’s Resort on the Isles of Scilly for yeeears (literally about a decade), I finally got there a few weeks ago.

As many of you will know if you’ve been here a while, I’ve visited the Isles of Scilly a few times as my dad’s grandma is originally from there, and my grandad spent some of his childhood living there.

It’s one of my favourite places in the world, and I’m always looking for an excuse to go back.

I’d previously stayed at Karma Rottnest Lodge, on Rottnest Island in Australia, quite a few times, and I’m a reciprocal member of their concierge service, so I was familiar with the Karma brand. One of my reciprocal perks is two complimentary nights at any Karma resort in the world, so obviously I jumped at the chance to finally stay at Karma St Martin’s. And, I took my dog, Frank, with me!

Karma St Martin’s Location

Karma St Martin’s Resort & Spa is located on St Martin’s, a tiny island off the coast of Cornwall that’s part of the archipelago called the Isles of Scilly.

It is truly paradise, and you really are paying for the location when you stay at Karma St Martin’s.

St Martin’s is the island in the group known for its beaches, with clear turqouise waters, beautiful white sand beaches, and very few people. Karma St Martin’s is located right on the beautiful Lowertown Beach.

Arriving on St Martin’s

To get to St Martin’s, you need to either get the 3-hour Scillonian III boat from Penzance, or the plane from Exeter, Newquay, or Land’s End, to the main island of St Mary’s.

Read more about this in my Isles of Scilly Travel Guide!

Once on St Mary’s, you’ll then need to transfer onto the inter-island boat run by the St Mary’s Boatmen’s Association. The boat from St Mary’s to St Martin’s takes about 20-minutes.

Depending on the tide and boat times, you’ll either arrive at Lowertown Quay (which is directly outside Karma St Martin’s), or Highertown Quay. Highertown Quay is about a 30-minute walk from Karma and Lowertown, but the hotel will make sure a car meets you at the quay to take you to the resort.

I was very grateful for this pick-up as I had a lot of bags + Frank to manage!

Ocean View Room

Unfortunately, the room is where things went downhill. The check-in experience was great, the staff were really, really friendly, and I was really excited for my stay. But as I walked into my room I felt…deflated.

I was instantly wowed by the view, because come on, how can you not be? But the room itself felt like a 3-star bed and breakfast room from the 90s.

It was not luxury. It was soulless. And it was absolutely not worth the £500 per night price tag.

There was no air-conditioning, the bed was lumpy with huge dips in the mattress, the furniture felt tired and dated (as did the rest of the decor, from the carpet to the wallpaper), and the worst part? They don’t even provide complimentary biscuits with your tea and coffee station…you have to pay £2 per packet (they even charge for those tiny little Haribo packs in the photo below that used to cost 10p at the tuck shop).

At £500 per night, I at least expect free biscuits.

Even the £54 per night Travelodge provides free Biscoff biscuits – and I should know, I had to stay in the awful place every two-months for work! The Biscoff was the one thing I enjoyed about the Travelodge.

The bathroom was even worse than the bedroom. Cold and lifeless, with awful Scottish Fine Soaps shampoo and conditioner that completely dried out my hair and for some reason the conditioner lathered-up like shampoo. We’re in Cornwall – where are the local organic Cornish products!?

I felt desperate to get my hands on it all and renovate and refurbish it for them! There is SO much potential here, and I feel it’s totally wasted. Honestly, if they gave me the budget, I’d redesign and refurbish it in a heartbeat. Or, ya know, I feel Alex Polizzi would do a great job with it design-wise.

The Resort & Area

Of course, the benefit of Karma St Martin’s is, naturally, the location.

It is breathtakingly beautiful. Nothing can quite prepare you for how beautiful it is.

The resort overlooks Lowertown Beach with it’s old concrete quay, and the nearby uninhabited island of Teän. Boats bob up and down between the islands, and the water sparkles with a gem-like quality.

Karma’s gardens are lovely and a good-size, and Frank loved running around them and sniffing all the plants and flowers. There are lots of outside tables and chairs where you can enjoy food and drink from the hotel’s restaurant. There are also a handful of sunbeds dotted around, but again, these felt old and tired, and not at all luxurious.

I didn’t use any of the dining options other than room service on my second evening, as I made the most of being a 4-minute walk from the nearby Seven Stones Inn instead. This was mostly because the restaurant felt like the room: tired and soulless. However, to be fair, the fish and chips I had through room service was very tasty!

There used to be a swimming pool, only it’s been closed for years for ‘renovation’, and has never reopened. I didn’t try the spa as I’d just got back from Bali where I’d had a massage every day, so I was a bit massaged out (I never thought I’d say that). There’s also a nice little library with a wine fridge, and a large and spacious games room which was lovely for relaxing on the morning when it rained, but it was incredibly echo-y and again, could have done with an overhaul on the design.

How Dog-Friendly is Karma?

Karma St Martin’s is probably one of the most dog-friendly hotels I’ve stayed in so far (the winners are definitely Hotel Bel-Air and Beverly Hills Hotel though). The staff were kind and attentive with the dogs, and the hotel is well set-up for four-legged friends.

Bowls of water are in the reception area, as well as dog towels to dry off any damp and sandy dogs. In the rooms, you’re provided with a lovely thick blanket and a set of bowls. There are also plenty of dog treats dotted around the hotel.

Frank really loved his stay here and I do think it’s a very good hotel for dogs, I really couldn’t ask for more when it came to Frank and everything I needed for him.

Would I stay at Karma St Martin’s again?

If Karma St Martin’s updated the rooms, opened the swimming pool, and added air-con to the rooms, then yes, I would. The staff were truly outstanding and the position was unbeatable.

However, in its current state I just don’t think it’s worth the price and what they charge per night.

As a comparison, I stayed at Tregarthen’s on St Mary’s on the Friday night (which is also dog-friendly), and the interior design of the hotel was far nicer and felt much more luxurious. It was under £200 per night. I’ve also stayed in £500+ per night hotel rooms that were totally justified – from St Regis Saadiyat Island, to the Beverly Hills Hotel.

This review was honestly quite hard to write as the staff did go above and beyond, but I think it’s important that people know these things before they drop £500 a night on a stay.

As an example, I had a really silly accident on the beach and cut my face badly, and the manager and staff were really lovely and patched me back up and organised my room service. They also really did spoil Frank and gave him lots of love.

The frustrating thing is the resort has the bones there, they just need to re-design and overhaul the rooms and restaurant design-wise!

And please, please add air-con to the rooms.

If you’re going to stay at Karma St Martin’s, I’d advise making sure you book when they have a special offer on, or you can find a good rate around the £250 mark. I think £250 a night is what it’s worth, so if you can find it for that price then it’s 100% worth booking just for the location alone.