Malvern & Malvern Hills District Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Alvin - Verified booking

  We stayed at the end of July (5 adults and 3 children) and had a wonderful time.

  I have stayed in many cottages and houses for breaks around the UK, and Phoenix House is one of the best properties we have experienced. It started with a very warm welcome from Pam who showed us around the house. She greeted every single one of us and interacted with our children. We loved the open planned living, and the cleanliness was very important to us. In fact this is the first property where I felt I could walk around barefooted on the clean floors downstairs and the lush carpet upstairs (I would always wear socks or slippers in other properties). The house is modern as shown in the photos, accompanied by art and decor with Asian influence to give the interiors warmth and character. I particularly like that there are many different sofas in the right places to relax on - near the kitchen, in the downstairs bedroom, in the sun room, and of course the main living area. All of them were of decent quality, and we all commented that the grey sofas in the sun room were incredibly comfortable! Another thing that cannot be overlooked is the powerful water pressure, and if like me, you like a good rainfall shower over your head, this is spa-level greatness. It's so powerful that you may have to be slightly careful if you are using the hand shower. I see that the last review said that there is no privacy. We had no problems at all during our stay, and felt we had the privacy we wanted. There were no intrusions, and owners' houses were far enough. It was never an issue that they were "on site", and it was reassuring that they were close by in case we needed help with anything. You do have to open and shut the gate as mentioned as you drive in/out, and this was a light banter in our family as to who's turn it was to do it. The beds were comfortable, and the linens were all fine. There were a few bits and bobs that can be improved, mainly saucepans that needed replacing, and Pam was very receptive to hear about them so I made a snag list for her. No need to go into detail. Most are relatively minor things, but would make the whole experience even better such as improvements to kitchen cutlery, having regular glass tumblers, and I actually forgot to mention that the can opener doesn't work. Pam said she had ordered some new furniture and a new barbeque after our stay so I'm sure future guests are going to benefit as a result! In summary this is an amazing property, and we had a brilliant family time away. Finally, I left my laptop at the house, as it had slipped down the side of the bed. Pam was kind enough to call me on the same day of our departure to let me know. She then kept it save for me at her house and I went back to pick it up. I'm very grateful for this, so thanks very much again Pam!

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• Anthony - Verified booking

  Perfect location and really well converted barn.

  Owners were lovely and responded quickly to requests. 3 generations of the same family stayed at the same time and all were asked for their input. Cleanliness : Kitchen items were filthy. Several glasses had been put back in the cupboard with lipstick and saliva on them - appalling in the current environment. Frying pan had the remains of an omelette in it, cutlery was filthy, nachos still in the crisp bowls - all put back in the cupboards. We put the entire kitchen through the dishwasher. Crumbs from previous occupants all over the worktops and table. Being generous, this may have been the previous occupants putting things back, however the owner and/or cleaner MUST check this as to not to leaves the building filthy, not to mention the health hazard component. Comfort : Beds hard (completely personal view), bedding cheap. Central heating worked well, however no ability to change this as ALL of the central heating controllers had run out of their batteries. We were out most of the time, so didn't really affect us that much. Kitchen utensils, crockery and cutlery was a mismatch of items and lacked many things to enable someone to prepare a meal (scales, sieve, measuring jug, full set of saucepans). Insufficient glasses, cups and plates for a house that can sleep 9, and again a hodge podge of makes/shapes and not a set. Internet was patchy at best - not a wifi signal issue - this is an external line issue. OK for email, but not good enough to work or carry out a zoom call as many need to, even on leave. The grounds were great and more than enough room to play football/frizbee. Hot tub looked fantastic, though didn't use it - too busy seeing local sights. Enough parking for 3 cars, again great use of the outside space. Very useful laundry and coat room with washer AND dryer. We live overseas and frequently stay in holiday homes in the UK and further afield, so do speak from some experience. - I would restock the kitchen with a full set from Argos/Ikea/Tesco/etc - matching items with enough for 9. - ensure there are the basics for cooking. - put bedside lights in all the bedrooms - there were none. - a bluetooth sound system of some sort would be lovely and is pretty much ubiquitous in these types of property. - ENSURE THE PROPERTY IS CLEAN Summary : a great location, wonderful conversion, helpful and responsive owners, but poorly executed. Just going the extra 10% would make this a perfect 5* property.

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• Brian - Verified booking

  Excellent location with views of the Malverns and a cottage presented in immaculate condition.

  The Good: 1. Excellent comfortable beds 2. High quality kitchen with every amenity 3. Cosy lounge with excellent TV options (Freeview/Amazon Firestick/Apple TV) 4. Super efficient heating and hot water 5. 15 mins walk to the main shopping/restaurant area 6. Morgan pub nearby very friendly and cosy 7. Good range of local food shopping and take away foods within 500 yards 8. Ideally located to get to all walks and towns such as Worcester/Cheltenham and Hereford What you also need to know (not necessarily bad but you should be aware) 1. Its a dormer so space on one side of each of the bedrooms is compromised, position the smallest person on that side if your prone to getting up in night! 2. Shower space is very tight due to the dormer, I am 6 ft tall and my head when stood straight touched the roof when in the shower, toilet in the same bathroom you need to be aware so you don't bang your head 3. Parking is tight...You need to be good at reversing as there is pressure from the traffic that goes down the road. Take your time, if you have rear parking sensors then ideal. My car is an Audi Q3 (not a huge car) anything bigger will hang out over the path 4. The house is at the low point in terms of sea level for Great Malvern, no issue but it means that a walk up to town is all uphill and relatively steep near the top end so if you have mobility issues you should be aware.

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• Kavita - Verified booking

  We stayed at Phoenix house, at the end of August, to celebrate my mums 70th.

  The house itself is simply beautiful, with plenty of gorgeous light and green views all around. This meant that when the weather was wet we could still appreciate the outdoors. Its set back away from the other building so plenty of privacy and space, but nice to know there is a family nearby a minute or two walk from the property. The owners are a super friendly family, at hand for anything needed and quick to respond. On the morning of my mums birthday the owners left a small potted plant, that my mum had commented that she liked, as a gift, with a very thoughtful message in a card. It was such a kind touch and really made my mum feel special. A couple of minor improvements I'd suggest would be to have a couple of extra tea towels, and to provide a couple of basics in the kitchen such as foil for the oven, washing liquid/scourer etc, although I know many properties don't provide either so not specific to this experience at all! Wish we had booked a longer stay as 4 nights just wasn't enough. One of the nicest hosts I've come across. Thank you for an amazing experience. Would love to come back again!

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• Margaret - Verified booking

  Beacon Cottage was very cosy.

  The kitchen had everything including plenty of dishes.The cottage was very clean. The bedrooms were small but adequate. Just beware of the low ceilings as mentioned previously by others. Netflix was a bonus on TV. We really liked the cottage overall. Barnard's Green is a lovely place. Lovely walk to Great Malvern and the Railway Station. We got the train from there to Worcester which took ten minutes. The only downside is fridge-freezer is really a must rather than a small icebox. There is plenty of room for one. As we had been in another cottage the previous week we did not want to eat out all the time. There was also the issue of a neighbours dog barking sometimes at night and everyday at 6.00am onwards. As I am a very light sleeper I had to sleep in the small single bed at the back apart from my husband. It is also on a busy road and there is traffic noise. One day it was quite nice so we sat in the lovely garden only to be disturbed by this dog barking all afternoon. Obviously this is not the owner's fault but for someone who is a light sleeper it is an issue when one is on holiday!

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