We stayed at Red Doors Farm, near Honiton, Devon, for three nights in March. We stayed in Courtyard Cottage, a two person part-barn conversion. Red Doors has seven cottages in total. Most of this review will be general, with a specific focus on Courtyard Cottage at the end.
Price: Reasonable - however, much more expensive, about double the price of, the last self catering holiday cottage we stayed in (
review here).
Service: Fine, no complaints. The emails/letters leading up to the holiday were very business like but the welcome when we arrived was very friendly and cheerful. A "welcome hamper" was put in the cottage for our arrival and milk in the fridge. Note - the welcome hamper was lovely but it was extras and luxuries, not catering supplies.
Facilities: These were excellent. The swimming pool was a good size (although we found it a little chilly - you had to keep moving to stay warm!), and we enjoyed the ping pong in the open air barn shelter. Also there was a table football which although we tried out, it was heavy and stiff - not the best! There is also a games room, with a pool table, a decent DVD library and children's play area. Although we don't have children, I'm sure this area (and the babysitting service offered) would be appreciated by those with young families. In addition, every cottage has a PS2 (games in the games room), and there are outside games (croquet and giant chess). The website gives a full list of facilities, these are just the ones we tried out. In summary - there is a lot to do, you don't need to leave the site if you don't want to!
Area: Very pretty. We walked out from the cottage one day and explored the footpaths in the local area. We were even lucky enough to see some deer, and the views from up the hills were great! We also visited Sidmouth, and took a walk along the coast. Very hilly, but again, stunning views.
Courtyard Cottage: For two people, Courtyard Cottage is wonderful. The kitchen (with aga, gas cooker and oven, fridge and dishwasher) is on the ground floor and was big and spacious. It also has a dining table.
Halfway up the stairs is the bathroom - very nice, with shower and whirlpool bath. The bath is fun, but when the bubbles are on it is a little too noisy to be as relaxing as you might hope.
Up some more stairs is the living room which is huge - sofa, large (board game sized!) coffee table, TV, PS2 and log burner (logs provided free of charge). At one end of the living room is a tiny nook (pictured - right), with windows overlooking the valley (facing the sunrise!). This space is really lovely - do take your breakfast there to enjoy the view and the sunshine.
Up a few steps from the living room, is the bedroom. With kingsize bed and it's own little ensuite toilet room, it's lovely. It also has stargazing windows in the ceiling.
The cottage also has a shared patio garden and terrace although we didn't try this out as it was chilly weather!
Other information: Lovely touches throughout including candles, flowers, binoculars (good for bird watching and stargazing) and the hamper of food! In the games room there are ready meals available (good quality with local ingredients) - which were delicious, and it was nice not to have to cook. There is an honesty box system to pay for them, and they were very reasonably priced.
Website:
http://www.reddoors.co.uk/index.html
Facilities: Great. Lovely ensuite room, and we played croquet on the lawn. The pre-dinner drinks room seemed very nice too.
