While Jono looks after the restaurant kitchen and food-ordering Marianne runs the bar and reception area Ann is housekeeper-extraordinaire and

While Jono looks after the restaurant, kitchen and food-ordering, Marianne runs the bar and reception area, Ann is housekeeper-extraordinaire and George, a former insurance broker, does the books and paperwork. Although it’s business as usual at the Boskerris, the Bassetts are refurbishing around their guests. “Most of the interior is old-fashioned and faded and hasn’t been touched for 20 years. We’re cutting our costs by revamping in phases.”First it was the roof, then the kitchen and now it’s the six main seaview bedrooms,” says Marianne.

Apart from a one-and-a-half-acre garden and an outdoor swimming pool, their proudest asset is a bayside decking area. “Keen summer surfers will be able to sip champagne and watch the dolphins while their wetsuits dry out,” she adds.Many of the Bassetts’ first guests were London friends. “We’ve moved on a bit since then with some new advertising and brochure-design,” says Jono. Their two best outlets are a local magazine and their own website. “Eighty per cent of our guests come from these sources including a number of German, Japanese and Swiss visitors,” he says.Couples who stay in the March-September high season pay pounds 130-a-night (including VAT) for a double room plus full English breakfast or pounds 80 the rest of the year.”We’ve had a good winter so far and it looks as if we’ll easily exceed our 50 per cent room occupancy break-even point,” says Jono Bassett..

What you get: Fourth floor studio conversion of an interwar office building comprising open plan living, sleeping and dining area with oak timber floor, high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows. High spec Italian white gloss kitchen with granite worktops, glass splashbacks, integrated appliances and silver green slate floor Contemporary bathroom with white Villeroy & Boch suite. Where: In the heart of Clerkenwell, 10 minutes walk from the Square Mile, St Paul’s Cathedral and The Old Bailey. The next step up in Knights Court is a one-bed apartment costing pounds 355,000.Potential:The studio with a 125-year lease is one of 13 apartments including a penthouse, developed by Modern City Living and the lack of properties at this size and price in the immediate area should give it a “rare” tag It would rent for around pounds 250 a week. It’s small but perfectly formed and it’s wired up for multimedia. The impressive entrance lobby has an audio visual door entry system and a lift to all the apartments. Offices have been retained on the ground and basement floors.

While the neighbourhood is buzzing during the week – numerous bars, clubs and restaurants abound – the weekend is peaceful. Be warned, the local market charter means local pubs can serve beer and stout from 6am weekdays.Information correct at time of printing All quotes subject to status.. Highland cattle optional

KNOCKDHU
Lairg, SutherlandPrice: offers over pounds 165,000Agent: Bell IngramTel: 01863 766683They say: A superb opportunity to acquire a charming two-bed croft cottage with outbuildings and about 18 acres of land. Recently modernised, the cottage is surrounded by its own fields, is a mile from the village, pub, school, shops and petrol station and is opposite the Forestry Commission’s D Gunns Wood. A working croft on the Lairg Estate, it comes with a stone steading, but the Highland cattle are available only by separate negotiation. There is a kitchen with Brazilian slate floor, mains electricity and water. Broadband is due in the area soon.We say: Legal rules on crofting should be carefully studied before throwing in a career in accounting to head for the hills.A pastel fantasyWATERCOLOURSTurtleback Ridge, BarbadosPrice: $2.95mAgent: Knight FrankTel: 020-7629 8171They say: Spectacular property set on the edge of a ridge in over an acre of land, with panoramic views of the west coast, taking advantage of the cooling trade winds which gently flow through the house.

Built in 2001, the four-bedroom house is arranged on three levels, with a top-floor master suite. In immaculate condition and in beautifully landscaped gardens, it is one of 20 in the development. Ideal for entertaining, it has living and dining areas, large covered patio, pool deck, double garage and an exercise room.We say: The rich person’s holiday home.Thinking big in BucksHICKWELL HOUSEClaydon, BuckinghamshirePrice: pounds 825,000Agent: Jon Drew-SmytheTel: 01296 658270They say: A fine 17th-century thatch-and-tile former farmhouse in three- quarters of an acre of gardens, with views over the Vale of Aylesbury. Updated and improved, preserving the original features, it has a 21ft sitting room with part-vaulted ceiling, study, sun room, dining room. large kitchen and a 24ft snooker room with a beech sprung floor and antique snooker table. There is a ground-floor guest suite, five more bedrooms upstairs.We say: Much bigger than it looks, would suit large family looking for good, nearby grammar schools.Poetry in motion – and a short walk from the seaMASEFIELD HOUSEHelford Passage, CornwallPrice: pounds 1.9mAgent: Knight FrankTel: 01392 423111They say: An outstandingly situated house with views to the Helford River and Falmouth Bay.