A Family Business
Words by Jamie Crocker | Images by Poppy Jakes Photography
Thurlestone marks 130 years with family hospitality at its heart.
For 130 years, Thurlestone Hotel has adapted to changing holiday trends while keeping family hospitality at its centre. The story begins in 1896, when Margaret Amelia and William John Grose moved from Cornwall to Devon and took on the farmhouse that became the hotel. The arrival of the railway in Kingsbridge had begun to bring visitors into the area, and the Grose family saw an opportunity in the new traffic. They began taking paying guests, establishing a business that would remain in family hands for five generations.
The decision proved more durable than anyone could have known. Thurlestone has grown substantially since those early days, yet the Grose family still regards hospitality as the central responsibility of ownership. For a business that has reached 130 years, that may sound like a simple premise, but the history shows that keeping it alive has required some hard decisions.
The first extension was agreed in 1908, when the existing house was enlarged and a drinks licence obtained. Investment and development have continued across the decades, with additions and refurbishments becoming part of the hotel’s modus operandi. The change was modest, but it established a pattern that would become central to the hotel’s story. The family made improvements as circumstances required, adapting the property to meet the changing needs of the business.
Over the decades, the transformation amounts to something quite considerable. What began as a farmhouse taking in guests has become a resort with the additions of the Voyage Spa, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a par-three golf course, three places to eat and drink and a growing self-catering operation.
That development has always been tied to the way people choose to travel. The hotel’s history records major modernising investments during the 1920s and 1930s, when the family responded to changing expectations from its guests. There is a useful lesson in that pattern. A family business can retain its identity as it moves through different eras, provided that investment is made with a clear sense of what guests value.
There were periods when adaptation became a matter of survival. In 1941, during the Second World War, the hotel was commandeered by the Royal Marines and used as an officer training depot. The property returned to the company and family in 1946, but the years that followed were difficult. Petrol rationing restricted travel and the hotel recorded financial losses for the next five years. In 1951, the family decided to close during the winter months as a way of helping the business recover. The hotel did not reopen for the winter season until 1971.
It is an unvarnished part of the hotel’s history, and an important one. The anniversary also records a family business making a necessary decision when circumstances demanded it, then finding a way to carry on.
Today, the fifth generation remains closely involved. The managing director takes an active role in the hotel’s day-to-day decisions, while other family members serve on the board, live locally and contribute to the promotion and running of the business. Family ownership is therefore a daily presence, placing the people making decisions close to the consequences of those decisions while giving the business a long memory. Matthew Grose is the fifth-generation family member leading the business.
The present operation includes accommodation, leisure, spa and dining, but the family says its central commitment remains the welcome guests receive and the care provided during their stay. The aim is to continue adapting to expectations while preserving the character and personal service associated with the hotel.
The latest development adheres to this maxim. Thurlestone Retreats, the hotel’s self-catering accommodation, is now entering its second year after being introduced in response to growing demand. The idea was informed by experience at the Grose family’s sister property, Mullion Cove Hotel in Cornwall, which already has eight self-catering units. Their success provided a practical model for bringing the same approach to Thurlestone.
The Retreats have quickly found their audience, especially among multigenerational families. Their appeal is easy to understand. One generation can stay in a hotel room while another has the additional space and independence of an apartment, with the group still able to share the hotel’s facilities and services. It is a different way of organising a family holiday, and one that allows Thurlestone to accommodate guests who want greater flexibility while remaining within the wider hotel experience.
It illustrates the way the Grose family approaches change. The self-catering offer has added a new strand to the business while remaining connected to the hotel. Guests staying in the Retreats can use the leisure facilities and enjoy the wider operation, bringing the two forms of accommodation into the same holiday as part of the wider hotel operation.
For guests, the result is a hotel that can accommodate different stays under one name. A couple can arrive for a spa break, a family can build a holiday around the pools, while a larger group can divide itself between hotel rooms and a Retreat. That range gives the business ways to welcome people who all require something slightly different.
It also gives the family evidence about what guests are asking for. The success of the Retreats has confirmed the appetite for self-catering within the Thurlestone offer, among families bringing generations together. The response will inform the next stage of development, alongside investment in the main hotel.
The hotel’s facilities have also diversified. The Voyage Spa provides thermal facilities and treatments, while the pools, tennis courts and golf course give guests more reasons to spend time on the property between outings. The dining offer includes The Trevilder Restaurant, The Terrace Bar and The Village Inn, giving the hotel a range of settings and styles of eating. The Trevilder currently holds two AA Rosettes, while The Village Inn provides a traditional pub setting within the wider hotel operation.
A resort can easily become a collection of facilities, with the guest experience divided into separate compartments. At Thurlestone, the family describes each addition as part of the same purpose: providing hospitality that responds to how people want to spend their time. The measure of success lies in whether those additions make a stay work better.
The 130th anniversary year gives the hotel an opportunity to mark its history while keeping the business firmly in the present. Its next investment will come in January, when the hotel closes for two weeks for refurbishment of the lounge, one of its most popular guest areas. The family also intends to continue developing both the hotel and the self-catering accommodation, with comfort and luxury remaining central to the plans.
There is already a connection to the generation that will follow. The sixth generation of the Grose family is involved in the wider business, with a family member currently working as Deputy General Manager at Mullion Cove Hotel.
For the Grose family, what passes between generations includes property, but also an understanding of what it means to run a hotel where guests place their holidays, celebrations and family occasions in someone else’s hands. The buildings can change, new facilities can be introduced and the shape of a holiday can evolve, but that responsibility remains.
The anniversary package offers a great way to experience the present chapter. Available for stays from the 1st November to the 22nd December 2026, it starts at £130 per person per night, based upon two people sharing, and marks the 130-year milestone with a two-night break in a classic sea-view room. The package includes dinner for two on one evening at the award-winning Trevilder Restaurant, a traditional Devon cream tea and a bottle of anniversary Gremillet Champagne. Guests also have access to the spa and leisure facilities, while treatments booked before arrival receive 20 per cent off. Room upgrades are available at a discounted rate, subject to availability. The price is a nod to the anniversary, but the offer also says something about the business itself. After 130 years, Thurlestone is still selling the same basic proposition that Margaret Amelia Grose began with in 1896: a place to stay, good hospitality and a reason to come back. The difference is the scale of what sits around that original idea.
That may be the most useful way to understand the hotel’s history. Its longevity has come through knowing when to extend the house, when to close for the winter, when to add a spa or pool, and when guests need an apartment with room for the family. The next chapter will bring its own decisions, but the Grose family already has a method for making them: invest in the business, pay attention to guests and keep hospitality at the centre.
At 130, Thurlestone Hotel has plenty of history behind it. More importantly, it still has a family actively deciding what comes next.
