Large Cottages in Dorset for Group Holidays

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• David - Verified booking

  The property was lovely.

  In a central position, with pleasant views across the harbour, we would certainly consider staying there again. The property was smartly-furnished, with a better kitchen than many we have stayed in. We would have appreciated more lamps around the place, as the overhead lighting wasn't to our taste and there was also a lack of waste bins, but these are minor quibbles. However, our stay was spoiled by the horrendous building works taking place next door. On weekdays, the noise began at 08.00 and continued until around 17.00. We had constant drilling, grinding and hammering to put up with and had to keep the windows closed even on the hottest days and also kept the curtains closed due to builders on scaffolding. We are glad we decided to travel by train, as the garage was permanently blocked by builders' vans and JCBs so a car would have been no use to us. We strongly believe that this should have been made clear to us when we were booking: I accidentally found out that building was going on through viewing Streetview on Google Maps. I subsequently revisited the Dream Cottages website and saw reviews mentioning the building works. Searching the property's web page, I finally found mention of the building works at the very bottom of the page under "About the Location". As we know Weymouth well, we had no reason to view this section. I believe you deliberately chose to hide the truth about this property in order to avoid losing bookings and I found this very disappointing: our booking definitely wasn't worth paying over £1000 for the week in the circumstances, and we will have to reconsider staying with Dream Cottages in the future

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• Rebecca - Verified booking

  What a lovely well positioned property.

  The house was beautiful, lots of character and history. The neighbours were very friendly and we couldn't have asked for a more friendly village setting. Dog walking just outside the door, 3 nice pubs within walking distance and a small shop for those forgotten essentials (the local sausages they sell are to due for!). We really enjoyed our stay, kitchen was well appointed, have everything you needed (might be worth mentioning in the description that it does in fact have a small freezer, wish we had known before hand). Only issues we came across were the stairs, very windy and difficult for my ageing Mum, also the low ceiling height as you went you went up the stairs meant the first few days we all bumped our heads multiple times!. Lounge was very comfortable, need a new TV remote, the volume buttons didn't work properly even with new batteries. With regards to the bedrooms, they were a good size, only one has a wardrobe but we utilised the landing cupboard hanging space which was really useful. The beds were fine but the mattresses were a little lumpy and soft, leading a few aching backs, also the duvet in the master bedroom was lumpy and the duvet cover had a 4" rip down the seam where the duvet kept coming out. All in all, we had a fabulous holiday and will definitely be using this property again.

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• Rosemary - Verified booking

  This well appointed cottage is marred by the narrow, low ceiling semi spiral staircase.

  It would not pass any building regs today and makes this place unsuitable for people with walking disability and/or tall. It is a true safety risk. At the very least you should make this clear in your advertising. If we had known this when booking, we would not have completed the booking. As for Dream Cottages who apparently maintain this place , they are a joke.From two weeks before our stay, we tried multiple times to contact them without success. We asked Sykes to contact them, and they too were unable to contact them. The guest information book urgently needs updating. Waste collection needs to be addressed. On arrival, the bin was full. A notice attached to the fridge, told us to put rubbish out on Wednesday evening( Christmas Day!,,,) for lcollection on Thursday morning. That did not happen. Arrival arrangements need to be improved. Arriving at 4pm as instructed, light was poor and it was quite difficult to find and open the key box. Once done we went to the front door but was unable to insert the key. We discovered the key was for the kitchen door not the main front door…all in worsening light. Better instruction and some lighting would help enormously. The local village store were extremely helpful and to be recommended for orders on arrival.

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• Kenneth - Verified booking

  Impressed? Most definitely.

  Words escape me. From the moment we viewed the Donkey Shed we ( a family of six ), knew we had to book it. The property is exactly as shown in the photos and is a real credit to the owners Max and Jackie. Perfectly located for exploring the coast, tourist attractions and much more. Have never seen such a spotlessly clean and well presented property. So well equipped, seclude, quiet and very relaxing, it is out of this world. As grandparents we travelled down with our family of four and were absolutely gobsmacked with the property on arrival. Our family have never stayed in a quality holiday let like this and they loved it. Due to some medical issues my wife and I had to return home mid week but left the family behind to enjoy the sunny weather and do lots of exploring. They enjoyed every day. Sadly we did not get to meet Max and Jackie but our family did and have said what a lovely couple they are. Although we did not meet face to face, the communication with Max and Jackie was the best we have ever had. Even since we arrived home they have contacted us with concern about my wife’s health, 10 out of 10 for that and many thanks. Overall a perfect holiday accommodation and worth every penny. Thankyou Max and Jackie.

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• Kate - Verified booking

  We have had a lovely week in The Old School House!

  It's a big, quirky old property with lots of fascinating history and the 4 of us have been very comfortable there, the place would accommodate 5 easily with room to spare. The kitchen is huge and the facilities very good indeed, a huge range cooker, lots of pots and pans and a large utility room with good quality washer and dryer. Plenty of hot water to fill the lovely big bath and when it dropped chilly on an evening the central heating kicked in and warmed the house nicely. The location is great too- 30 minutes to Poole, less to Weymouth and lots of lovely eating pubs within 10 minute's drive. (The pub in the village looked shut unfortunately) Other reviews have said the house was "unclean" - we found the kitchen and bathrooms spotless. The rest of the house may have been slightly dusty, windowsills and skirting boards etc but it's an old house, in the country with beautiful leaded windows, some dust/cobwebs are inevitable. Some of the linens looked a bit tired and the decorative cushions/throws for the beds were all stowed away rather than laid out to make it look nice however all in, we would definitely stay there again, we loved it! Thanks to the owners for a lovely cottage.

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