In April of this year Cohort Hostel was taken over for two days by a wedding party. They decorated it beautifully, organised fantastic activities and food for the whole party, spending their very special 2 days with their closest friends and family. We were delighted to be a part of their celebrations.

Having never really been to Cornwall before we were struck by golden sand, sparkly green/blue ocean and the fact you could eat a Cornish pasty, triple cooked chips, salt & pepper squid, salted caramel ice cream and a cream tea without ever leaving your deckchair.

Ben Warner: a local surfer, instructor and coasteering guide at St Ives Surf School has written a post for us about why he is so lucky to live in St Ives. It’s not just tourists that appreciate this beautiful town and its surrounds; from a surfer’s perspective it’s the perfect place to be – phenomenal surf in St Ives and within a 30 minute drive.

A while ago we bought Jason a beer in exchange for interviewing him about his holiday in St Ives. We were keen to get a guest perspective on the place and – as you all know – when you’re visiting a place most of what you pick up is from other visitors.

St Ives is a great place to spend the Summer doing seasonal work, be it behind a bar, waiting or cleaning. We have a great Jobs Board at Cohort for those of you interested in having a great time with fab people over the summer.

There is no denying it, St Ives is THE place to be on New Years Eve. The third biggest fancy dress party after London and Edinburgh (allegedly): If you’re not in fancy dress you are definitely the odd one out! Read our quick guide to the best night of the year in St Ives.

St Ives is a great place for a school trip; great art, iconic institutions, beautiful beaches and no need at all to trek umpteen children on and off public transport or coaches. Over the past year we’ve had some great schools and colleges visiting the area and staying with us: The teachers always look like they’re having a relatively stress-free time of it and the kids love the beaches and town.

Now we know there’s loads to do in the area but what does a school trip really consist of and what do you need to watch out for if you’re bringing your class to St Ives?

We love, love, love the Vintage Coffee Shop which overlooks the harbour in St Ives. It serves great coffee in a totally unique environment and the view out of the window is like an ever-changing painting; even on a bad day the view is incredible and, let’s face it, where else would you rather be on a dramatic day in Cornwall than sitting cosied up in a coffee shop that feels like it would have existed in the 1940s.

If you’ve never been to St Ives you wouldn’t necessarily know how beautiful it is, how much there is to do and what the surrounding area is like. This postcard from Visit Cornwall gives you a great idea of what you might expect (it obviously misses out the awesome time you’ll have at Cohort!).

Since we opened in April we’ve been getting more and more families coming to stay with us. Families have quite different requirements from the solo traveller – as you would expect – so as they’ve come in and out we’ve been finding out what they’ve been doing and thought we’d compile a list of family friendly things to do in St Ives based on their answers.