Recommendations for self-catering accommodation in South-West England

[FreddoBaggyMac]

Hi,
We haven't managed to get away this summer and I'm wanting to get booked up for next year to give me some hope for the future
I'm thinking of going away at Easter (early April) rather than in the summer hols as it seems to work out much less expensive. I have four small DCs and would like to rent a three bedroomed lodge or child-friendly cottage somewhere picturesque around Exmoor/ Devon/ Cornwall way. Would probably prefer countryside to coast as we're going in the spring. Am quite unfussy really, just would like some recommendations for places where my DCs will enjoy themselves. We will probably spend time going for walks and have days out to national trust places and similar.
Our budget is around £500 for the week.
Have seen some places on the Hoseasons website that look promising but it's hard to tell what they're really like...
Any advice would be most appreciated!

bump. Has no-one been to the South West then?!

Have been looking at some other threads which I suppose answer my question quite well. Bosinver Farm looks wonderful, a bit more than I wanted to pay though and they seem very booked up for Easter already! I've had a look on the Devon farm holidays website- but there are so many to choose from! There seem to be some that are less expensive than Bosinver and I'm just wondering if they're as good. The DCs really fancy a farm. Has anyone stayed on any farms in the west country? Is there anyone out there?

We've stayed at Bampfield Farm 3 times in the past 2 years.

Loads of stuff for children to do - collecting eggs from the chickens, feeding the goats & horses, visiting the cowshed, a playroom full of stuff, including kites and beach stuff and a play area with slides/swings/ride on tractors. The owner is lovely, and could not do more for you. We'll be going back again sometime next year (so don't book up our week )

We've stayed in both cottages - More living space in The Granary, but The Haven is lovely & cosy.

Loads to do in the area within a short drive too.

Ooohhh Mrs Kitty it looks perfect! Just what I'm looking for. The Haven would be big enough for us, but it's a bit more than we'd wanted to pay (690 pounds for Easter holiday week) - it's still less expensive than Bosinver though as there is nothing left big enough for us under 800 pounds there. I HOPE I can talk DH into it... I know the DCs would love it.
Thank you, and I will try not to book your week

We won't be going over the school hols (the benefits of having under 4's!) so book away...

re: price, it's one of the cheaper child-friendly farm stays I've come across, and you'd probably be hard pushed to find anything much cheaper with 3 bedrooms during the holidays from what I've seen.

You don't say how old your kids are, but things to do...(Apart from all the stuff on the farm itself)

Beaches within 15-30 mins drive (Saunton/Croyde)

Exmoor Zoo is only a few miles away (use your clubcard vouchers)

The Big Sheep (clubcard vouches again - otherwise it's extortionate to get in!

Lynton & Lynmouth are around 40 mins away - my DS (3) loves riding the clifftop railway

Nice litte aquarium at Ilfracombe, also boat rides and the Tunnels Beaches

Barnstaple Market

National Trust - Arlington Court has lovely grounds that DS enjoyed exploring, they also have the carriage museum there. The house itself has some incredible collections, but skip it if you have small children - unless you fancy an hour of "look, don't touch..look, don't touch...") When we went, DS got told off for touching a display cabinet! He was being soooo good, and not touching, then got pounced on for touching the cabinet whilst he looked at the things inside .

Tapely park makes itself sound good for kids, but we were disappointed and thought it was a bit rubbish actually. Nice tearooom though.

There's soft play in Barnstaple (opposite Tesco) if you have horrendous weather and can face it!

Places to eat...we tend to eat in when we're there (morning on the farm, then early lunch or a picnic, then out for the day) but there's the usual places in Barnstaple - Pizza Express etc, The Tarka Inn is pretty nice, The Railway Inn (I think) at Blackmoor Gate does OK food, has a good play area for younger children. Fullams Chinese restaurant is lovely - bit pricey to eat in, but a big discount on takeaways makes the price a bit more average, and it's only a 5-10 min drive back to the house so you can collect & still have it hot. Great Fish & Chips in Braunton.

Hope you can talk DH into it, and if you do, I hope you have a great time!

You're not missing anything at Bosinver IMHO. I know they are highly rated on MN, but we thought that they were expensive for what they were - in our case we got a cottage with damp, no private garden (families could use 'our garden' from 0700h - 2100h) and the leccy was metered so a hidden additional cost.

Can you tell that I was impressed :o?

Thanks again MrsKitty and also thanks saltyseadog! Bosinver does seem expensive to me (but there's always that thought in your head that that means it must be good ) so it's nice to feel we're not missing out!

DH is sadly reluctant about the Bampfield price (although I will keep it on my list for a future year, it looks so lovely!) He is probably right as we've just moved house and really need to watch how much we spend. So I am hunting for somewhere less expensive. There are actually a few places around, perhaps the accommmodation will not be as modern but we'll just be using it as a base anyway. Thinking about this at the moment, a smallholding rather than a farm, but the location looks good and it's less than £400 for a week at Easter!

DCs are 1, 3, 4 and 6 Mrskitty so your advice about places to visit is extremely useful, I shall be taking notes

Good find, Freddo - looks lovely! You'll have to report back on it...

Have fun

we have just been to Edeswell Farm Cottages nr Totnes, south Devon. They have a larger- than- it- looks -online, indoor swimming pool (although fairly deep at shallow end - our four yr old confident in water and came up to his chin). Could put a little inflatable pool next to main pool as completely empty almost all week in the main pool!

Loads to do nearby - river trips from totnes to dartmouth with seals swimming alongside, great country walks, 2-3 national trust properties (Greenway House - Agatha Christie holiday home), Coleton Fishacre (D'Oyly Carte family home)etc. Great beaches nearby (30 mins drive) at Paignton and Torquay and picturesque Brixham and all the usual crazy golf, arcades, bowling at these resorts.

We are going back end of August as didnt have time to do all of the things we wanted to.

forgot - steam trains galore including one from Totnes to buckfastleigh on Dartmoor where there are great walks, dartmoor 'wild' ponies etc ...

Thanks ican, haven't booked anything yet so am going to check it out now...

Edeswell looks lovely ican, only problem with it for us it that there doesn't seem to be any three bedroomed cottages which I'd really prefer as we have four DCs. I will keep it in mind though, it looks lovely.
I love the sound of the river trips!

Try Helpful Holidays - certainly not always cheap but a good range of prices. Also good last minute booking opportunities if you want to take a chance. I always do and have never been disappointed. Classic Cottages are very good, have a lovely property Colenso, although its a little pricey.
They also have special offers.

Sadly, the south west does tend to be expensive. On another note, I dont much care for the cottages on complexes and find them expensive for what they are.

saltyseadog, which cottage were you staying at out of interest? (sorry for thread hijack, OP) We love Bosinver and have been 3 times. Just came back yesterday. It IS expensive, but in our opinion the facilities and personal touches are worth the extra.

I'm worried that you're mentioning damp cottages as we want to book next year so don't want to land in the one you experienced!

ps saltyseadog, we put about 4 quid in our leccy meter for a week - we paid more than that to park in Padstow so we didn't see the leccy meter as an issue.

these. We have stayed in 3 different cottages ont his farm, all booked through cottages4you,and they are great, countryside with less than 30 min drive to Torquay/Paington. It's showing £575 for the week I put in (16th April) so it might be different depending on which dates

Also, all these kind of places are more expensive during school holidays. Going the week earlier or later than Easter might make a difference, although if you school age children that might not be easy