Just a hop, skip and a jump away from the beautiful beach at Camber Sands, The Gallivant hotel is the perfect spot for some coastal R&R

The room door signs at The Gallivant sum up our beautiful beach break perfectly: ‘Resting’ or ‘Out Gallivanting’. The former sets the scene nicely for our peaceful garden room with patio to the wild coastal garden outside, and the latter is a spot-on description for the hotel’s bar and restaurant, which serves up local ingredients, champions English wine and has a cracking cocktail menu.

For lots of southern residents of the country, Camber Sands needs little introduction, but for the uninitiated: this is a showstopping Sussex beach with unrivalled sand dunes and views for days. The Gallivant is a gorgeous boutique hotel and restaurant perched right across the road from the dunes – think of the most luxurious, beautiful beach hut you can imagine and you’ll be halfway there.

After checking in and sipping a glass of local fizzy Appledore chardonnay in the bar, we head out to Camber Sands with a picnic blanket and beach towels from reception. Following a blustery few hours of paddling and strolling, we head back to our room for a complimentary gin and tonic for my partner Simon, and a long soak in the impressive bathtub for me, before sprucing up for some wining and dining.

We both go ‘full fish’ at dinner, tucking into Dungeness crab and Rye Bay cuttlefish to start, with wood-grilled monkfish and local silver mullet with steamed spuds and seaweed butter for the main event. There’s limited room for pudding, but we can’t resist sharing Sussex strawberries with custard cream meringue, before quite literally rolling back to our room – where we are thrilled to discover a delivery of hot ‘sleepy time’ tea, rather brilliantly called ‘We Have Drift Off’.

You can book ‘room only’ at The Gallivant, but the ‘complete package’ is well worth splashing out on – it includes breakfast and all-day elevenses (try the carrot cake), English wine at 5pm, a delicious dinner, and wellness classes, including yoga. If you need a little more relaxation, you can book a treatment at the cute garden spa to ease any aches and pains.

It’s the extra little touches that make The Gallivant special: yes, the food is fantastic and the wine list outstanding, and, yes, the accommodation is an absolute treat to experience. But when was the last time you stayed somewhere that packs you off to the sand dunes with a just-mixed cocktail hamper and blanket to enjoy the sunset? Or a hotel that quietly drops off a little bag of hot tea just before bed to help you nod off?

This is one beach break that really breaks the mould – and I can’t wait to gallivant about there again soon.