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"A Brilliant Family Holiday"
Hill Farm Cottages, North Devon
When we found out we were going on this holiday
we were all so excited!!
Child Friendly Cottages has a fantastic selection of accomodation across the country to suit any family from newborn to teenagers!
The website is very easy to access and navigate around and has great information on every holiday home and wonderful pictures too.
Vivien at childfriendlycottages.co.uk was very helpful, answering any questions we had and sending emails to us.
Also Mary at Hill Farm sent us a welcome pack which contained a lovely pamphlet on the cottages and information on the surrounding area. Mary also emailed us to let us know answers to the questions that I had asked.
When we arrived at Hill Farm Cottages we parked in the car park next to the fields and play area. The first thing that my husband and I noticed was how peaceful and lovely the scenery was there.
There are five cottages including the owners' own cottage in a courtyard setting with a gated entrance.
We were greeted by Mary and Bob, the owners, and shown into our cotage.....Pebble Ridge.
First impressions were how homely it felt and the girls soon settled in and went exploring. The cottage had excellent facilities, fridge freezer,microwave,cooker,kettle,all kitchen utensils and crockery....everything! In the kitchen the owners had left milk, fresh juice and tea and cofee to welcome us which was lovely for us to sit down after the long journey and enjoy!!
The 3 bedroms upstairs were all immaculate and well decorated.There was a cot in the main bedroom which was in good order. Also door buffers on the downstairs doors and stairgates which could be removed if not needed.
There were no plug socket covers and this is one thing that I felt was needed with a crawling exploring baby!! The highchair in the cottage was very clean and well maintained though.
Across the courtyard at Hill Farm was the laundry room which is a shared facility. It has washing machine and powder and conditioner is provided. A small charge is asked for the use of this. There's also a tumble dryer for which you have to collect a token from reception. They even provide an ironing board, iron and pegs etc if you want to hang washing on lines in the orchard(weather permitting!!)
The owners liked us to use the side access area to get to the swimming pool and games room. This was a little tricky with the buggy as there were steps but you can use the track from the carpark to go to the swimming pool too.
The swimming pool is fantastic. It's Lovely and clean and has large changing rooms with separate shower room and wc.
There's a sauna room just off the changing rooms but we didnt use it
The pool really was very clean and well maintained. The girls absolutely loved it and we spent every day in the pool. There are swimming aids to use and floats and inflatables.Tables and chairs to relax on too. There is a drying room in the pool area to hang wet towels and costumes which is a great idea and we used this facility as well.
The games room is just next to the swimming pool in the converted barn and the girls really loved this room. We spent some time in there after swimming - relaxing and letting the girls play. There is a play house, toy farm, loads of books and toys...... a pool table and table tennis table as well.
The farm has an extensive range of animals - chickens, pigs, goats, ponies, donkeys and even a tortoise! We all got involved with the animals and this was the girls favourite part. Mary and Bob feed the animals at 8.30am and 5 pm. The girls helped with the feeding many times and really enjoyed it. The other residents' children also helped and the owners Mary and Bob really get the children involved which is lovely.They even get to collect their own eggs for tea!!!!
We visited some nearby attractions whilst we were there.The weather was quite bad so some things we couldn't visit unfortunately.
We visited the dinosaur and wildlfe park which was a good day out though it was very steep and hilly. We watched a fantastic sea-lion display and you can get very close to the animals especially the wallabies.
We also visited Ilfracombe and had fish and chips in a sea side cafe which was lovely!! Despite the torrential rain, we made the most of it!
Also because of the weather we found that we ended up staying at the cottage most afternoons and evenings. Even if the weather is bad there is so much to do whilst you are there that it doesn't matter.
We had a few meals out at some local family pubs. We had a lot of meals at the cottage and as the kitchen was just like at home, it was easy to cook. Tesco and Sainsburys were nearby for all the grocery essentials!
We really enejoyed our stay and the slower pace of life at Hill Farm Cottages! We were made to feel very welcome and nothing was too much trouble for the owners who were fantastic with the kids.
We are hoping to go next year too. Alice-May will be walking then and she will be able to feed the animals too!!!
A couple of things......... Make sure you take some wellies as everyone gets stuck in with the animals..... an umbrella in case of the British weather.... and most important of all....your swimming kits!!!!
Go on log on to www.childfriendlycottages.co.uk and take a look....you'll be pleasantly surprised!!!
This is what Lucy and Emily had to say about their holiday....
"I liked the cottage that i stayed in. The bedroom was great and I liked living by the swimming pool and the games room.
The toys in the games room were really good. My favourtite animal was Lizzie the horse. Emily's favourite animal was the same.
When we had to go we didnt want to. I liked our holiday.
By lucy and emilyx"
Member review by louise - Mum to 3 Girls
- review date 27th May 2007
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