Hotelier Grace Leo's latest venture, the four star 45-room Relais Cooden Beach on the East Sussex coast, showed no signs of infancy other than the fresh interiors when we arrived on a blissfully sunny weekday in early September. The guests out on the terrace or relaxing in the public areas of the hotel looked as at home as if they'd been visiting for the past ten years, while the assured front of house team echoed the impression that the new Relais hotel was a well established fixture of scenic Cooden Beach. Opened in late 2022, the cool blue and terracotta-toned décor by French designer Pascal Allaman creates a contemporary yet timeless appeal with understated nautical hints and nostalgic seaside glamour. Think zig-zag striped bedroom carpets and vintage-style wicker seats in the lobby that look like they came from the set of a period drama. Although the mock-Tudor property has been a hotel for almost a century, it was once the home of the aristocratic De La Warr family, a