South Hams District Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Sean - Verified booking

  The house has such great potential, however we had several issues during our stay, and some positives too.

  1) The dishwasher was broken, we were told when we arrived - as 3 families (11 people) this wasn't ideal, it was a lot of extra time washing dishes on a supposed luxury break, I know these things can't be helped, but it was not replaced until literally the morning we left (the irony!) this could have been resolved much sooner. 2) The hot tub was freezing cold for the first 24 hours, we were told it was due to it being 'cleaned' yet no other lodge we have stayed at had this problem, it was also never inspected for the entire week we were there, other lodges have someone come every morning to check the ph levels etc, which may have caused our illness (see further down). 3) The house was not cleaned to a satisfactory standard, firstly, let me say the main cleaner was absolutely wonderful, a lovely lady who tried her best, but that property is too much for one cleaner, you need a couple of cleaners to really properly clean it, the wooden floor was dirty, the sofa had a musty smell (why fabric sofa's in a lodge? Surely get leather easier to clean!) Positives; 1) The tennis court is brilliant, as are the swings/play area for the kids, clean and just a really good area, fresh air, no need for video game consoles! 2) The staff on site, particularly the main cleaner, and the lady in the main office who kept informing us of the dishwasher situation, she also sent the cleaner to clean the lodge when we mentioned the issue. 3) 2 Bottles of wine on arrival, very nice touch, and very nice wine. 4) Beds were comfortable, showers were powerful, rooms were huge. Unfortunately, out of 11 of us, 9 of us were sick during and following the stay, the children from the early part of the stay, later moving on to the adults - whilst we can't exactly pinpoint what caused it, we have our suspicions it was related to the hot tub cleanliness. When all is said and done, would we go back there? Probably not.

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• Ruth - Verified booking

  Batson House is a beautifully presented holiday home, done up to a very high standard.

  We enjoyed our stay here but felt that it could have been made better by more useful information being available. In the information book with regard to heating it simply says that the house uses oil not gas and to please bear this in mind when using. This means nothing to me as I have never lived in a house that uses oil. We ran out of hot water after 3-4 showers on the first morning. There were 10 of us that would have liked to wash and the house sleeps up to 12. There was nothing to warn us about the fact that hot water was likely to run out and to use hot water sparingly. There were a few other gripes too. It didn't seem to be possible to actually turn on the lovely heated towel rails, again some information about how to do this would have helped. Also, the bottom oven didn't work. The house claims to have WiFi but when you get there it mentions in the information book that the Wifi is unreliable and intermittent. This is an understatement! I hate having to rely on such things but two members of our party needed to be able to complete some work over the weekend and were reliant on the Wifi in order to do so, some prior information about this again would have helped. Lastly, the layout of the house means that noise travels very well, so when younger (or older!) people go to bed before others in the house, it is hard to keep noise to a level that doesn't disturb those on higher levels. Having said all of that, it is a lovely house in a lovely situation and the walk in to Salcombe along the creek is beautiful.

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• John - Verified booking

  We had been somewhat forced into finding a suitable house at the eleventh hour due to our regular home in Salcombe (for 20+ years) had suddenly been sold and our holiday cancelled !

  Why did we not stay in Batson in the summer so many years ago ? Batson House was perfect for the visiting family during the first week … but maybe a bit too large when we were left as just grandma and grandpa ! The location for the little boat at the slipway and the peacefulness were ideal - and it was actually a shorter and flat walk to the pub than it had been from North Sands… so that was appreciated. The house is perfect for at least 3 couples with assorted children - maybe 4 couples at a push. The only complaint (seen before in reviews) was that the BBQ was very dirty and needed complete strip down and wash & brush…. and we had to go and buy a new gas bottle at £49 (!) as the one left was empty. If it is offered as part of the package it should be useable on arrival. Other than that it was all very good … although there were no “instructions” specific to the house which might have helped when we lost all water pressure to the house ! Eventually flicked what looked like a light switch in utility room (next to boiler pump switches) and pressure was resumed. Somebody must have turned it off thinking it was a light switch ? Oh … and it would have been handy if the lights on the steps could be made to light up at night (or have instructions to get them to come on). But it is still a 5 out of 5 from us. Thank you.

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• Martin - Verified booking

  House was very clean and well equipped.

  We went away with our children and grandchildren so there were 10 of us. The bedrooms we’re comfortable and spacious (4 with en suite). The lounge area didn’t have enough sofas for 10 people and meant some had to use the large footstool and dining chairs which weren’t ideal. The house is close to Dartmouth and has lovely views from 2 of the bedrooms. We were told the pool and children’s play area was out of use due to COVID situation but on arrival it was clear the children’s playground was out of use due to the building works being undertaken so that wasn’t so good. The hot tub had constant warm water that was cleaned daily. Tennis court was good and readily available for use. The house has a small decking area and no garden which we didn’t realise so that made it difficult for the grandchildren to run around freely. Would have been a nice touch for a small shop to get early morning milk, bread & eggs etc, but local supermarket a short drive away. House is well situated for a quiet peaceful holiday or short drive will take you to local towns, beaches and places of interest.

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• Catherine - Verified booking

  Batson House was stunning and only a 1mile walk to Salcombe.

  It was however not good value for money. On arrival the barbeque was thilthy. The clothes airer was broken. There was a washing line but no usable pegs. The double room door was v tight and someone got stuck inside and was unable to get out. There was a damp smell in the ensuite bathroom, first floor. There was also a broken door handle to bunk bedroom, leaky shower door and broken toilet brush top floor bathroom. This room also had cobwebs and dead insects.There was a lack of small things like dishwasher salt, rinse aid, salt and pepper, cleaning materials, washing up brush.The garden had 3 bins full of rubbish, one of which had been knocked over so there was rubbish all over the car park. I did speak to Coast and Country on arrival and went into the office on the Monday morning. The rubbish was cleared on day 3 but nothing else was fixed until the Thursday night just before we left. We did have an enjoyable holiday but it could have been better.

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