Did you find a gem of a holiday cottage / self-catering accomodation ... reviews please here

[Twiglett]

we went to fairviewfarm ... North Devon

would recommend if you have young kids

• small and bijou but clean and really everything you could need in cottage (tv and dvd player too)
• fridge didn't seem to keep stuff so cool
• great play area for kids - field with trampoline etc and play barn which had rusty old bikes but a sand pit .. playhouse
• good location .. 10 mins drive to beach .. lots of stuff within an hour's drive

would definitely go again .. but don't tend to go back once been ..

please share your gems

oh it had meters for electric and gas a little bit of a surprise .. but not too expensive probably spent about £20 all in.. and laundry it cost £3 for a washing cycle

Great idea Twiglett...
We went to December Cottage in Windermere.
It had a loft den with a playstaion and a gorgeous, well equipped kitchen. Very good playground just over the road - newly refurbished

p.s. Lakelovers is excellent for self catering cottages in the Lake District - you go to a central office in Bowness to pick up keys and they are really helpful

Oh yes, I'd thoroughly recommend The Boat House from Niche Retreats because:

• It's very quiet, in a village of 15 houses and one shop that opens every second Tuesday when there's a full moon or something

A small beach right outside, so the waves are crashing within feet of the window at night and first thing in the morning and the beach is full of rockpools and crabs and starfish and mussels (we ate loads of them) when the tide goes out

There's no mobile signal, marvellous!

Well equipped, tasteful, calm, fluffy towels, wonderful duvets, board games, cbeebies (iirc)

2 bathrooms

housekeeper who'll put your Tesco.com shop away before you arrive. If you post the shopping list on mumsnet you too can get the piss taken

Reasonable price - £450 for a week in Feb

My sister has stayed at their house Westward too and says it's lovely and we're staying at another one later this year too.

We went to this lovely house in Spain at Easter and are going back next May/June.
It's a beautiful house with an enclosed pool area, a large garden and a 1 minute walk from a stunning, huge sandy beach.
The area it's in is very quiet, and the British owner lives round the corner and is friendly and helpful.

(Angeliz has been too, she can vouch for its loveliness)

We've just been to Tredethick in Cornwall and it was totally fabulous.

Cottages were lovely and on site there is:

Indoor swimming pool (beautifully done with nice changing rooms)
Indoor play area with big soft shapes and padded walls (hehe!)
Huge indoor playroom with table football, pool etc plus enormous sandpit with a tower and slide in it
Outdoor play area - lots of nice wooden equipment
14ft trampoline

There is also animal feeding at 9am every day - feeding lambs, pigs, goats and chickens and collecting the eggs from the chickens and taking them back for breakfast!

Twice a week there the children can have a pony ride after animal feeding.

It really was fabulous and really well located for beaches etc.

The only thing is, it gets very booked up and it's almost completely booked for 2007 already. We've booked for 2007 and 2008

Oh yes, cottage had DVD player and video. Also washing machine and dishwasher and access to a huge tumble dryer.

We tend to have a few holidays - week long and long weekends so we are happy to go back here again adn again as we go to different places for our other hols.

WE had a great week at Flear Farm in Devon.The cottage was lovely and the children loved the playroom and the pool. Although in the countryside there were lots of beaches within about 20 mins drive.

GDG - we tried to book that this Summer as it was reviewed in one of the Sundays. It was fully booked but this was also mentioned and we are going there next Easter. Looks a similar sort of set up and, again, gets booked very quickly but you can go on a cancellations list which is what we did.

Blakes Holiday Cottags do some great deals and we've always had lovely cottages from them - in Cornwall and Norfolk

Ooh Yoyo, that looks lovely.

WWW - I am realy looking forward to it. They sound incrdibly friendly over the phone and they take your children to feed the animals in the morning. There will be lambs when we go which my children will love. They also provide meals if you don't want to cook!

Looks lovely yoyo - Tredethick has meals too - really nice dishes that are frozen and you can buy from their shop.

The only thing I'd miss at the one you linked to is a pool. At Tredethick we went in the pool once or twice a day. We went in every night after tea up until bed time and it meant the kids slept brilliantly because they were exhausted

Spent last week here - pictures don't really do it justice. Only a 5 minute walk to a lovely pub, where the kids spent on raining evening waving at passers by! Close to the wonderful beaches at Holkham Bay (anyone remember the end of Shakespeare in Love?), plus loads of other attractions. Holt boasts a magnificent cake shop - stocked up on their coconut treacle tart topped with dried fruit & nuts on a regular basis. Will definitely be going back.

Sorry link doesn't work . Try this and put 868 in the "search by property reference" box.

My sister has used cartwheel holidays twice. They do child friendly cottages etc. Not all cheap, but loads of facilities.

We stayed at Sorne Cottages, Glengorm, Isle of Mull as recommended by Milge - thanks Milge.

The cottage had everything we needed, including dishwasher, washing machine, and tumble drier; gorgeous quality duvets, pillow, and bed linen; and plenty of space. Also had open fire and plentiful supply of wood (and an axe - which dh enjoyed!)

It was also within easy walking distance of an excellent spot to see golden eagles, 30 mins walk of the coast, rocks, cliffs, seals on the rocks, standing stones. We also saw within yards of the cottage red deer, hare, and buzzards.

We did a home exchange (am becoming boring on the subject) and only looked at houses with children who were a similar age to ours. That way we had toys, beds, car seats, etc. and useful relevant information about the local area - parks, playgrounds, museums, etc.

Much cheaper (Free!) and more interesting (to me) than renting a self-catering cottage. Friends spent £700 on a 3 bedroom cottage in Dorset for a week, we spent £200 getting to Sweden for 10 days and stayed in a big 4 bedroom house.

Not what you were asking at all, but you might be interested in considering it.

this was magical

We went to Lochgoilhead in scotland near loch lomand in wood chalet with hoseasons and was great. dd was 24weeks and had own room, with travel cot and high chair-There was 2 bedrooms 3 bathrooms with bath, microwave, d washer and sky TV! Cost about £400 per week
We also took dog and was lovely walks along lochside. Also can go to Balamory!! which is an hours drive then a ferry trip. Best holiday ever- But weather was good.

We stayed at this gorgeous cottage in Tintagel During Whitsun half-term.
Cottage was cosy, enclosed garden. Very short walk into Tintagel, and to cliff paths. Wonderful week.

If you like sea views/river views, the cottages along irsha street in appledore in north devon are perfect! the ones on the sea-ward side of the road have gardens overlooking the estuary, with uninterrupted views. increbible. the sea laps against the garden walls at high tide. just google 'farm and cottage holidays'- they have a good selection on that street.