Big Cottages & Group Accommodation in Dunster

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Josephine - Verified booking

  Good points - We all slept very well, the beds were very comfortable and all the rooms and bathrooms were all a very good size, it made room allocations very easy.

  All rooms clean and well presented. - Well stocked kitchen - everything was brand new and it was well equipped including kids meal things, we were impressed with the range of cups, glasses and plates. However, the plates were not great quality and we found left marks after using with cutlery. Also we tried to find out from Sykes what we could expect to find in the kitchen but they were not much help at all. Therefore, we unnecessarily packed pots, cooking utensils, even a blender as well as plastic plates, cups and cutlery because of the lack of information we did not want to risk not having what we needed for the duration of the stay. - good location to shops - very helpful that the property is well located with access to 3 major super markets, very handy and a definite plus. - The games room was a real hit. The multiple functional table provided hours of entertainment and was a great addition to the property. Also good that there was TV in there although upon arrival was not set up. - Great size and very spacious living room especially for the kids to play, we were able to set up the babies play pen and it was very thoughtful that a baby gate was provided although we didn't have need to use it. However, for the open fire I would suggest an enclosure/guard around the fire place, we had curious babies who often wondered up to it so we had to use one of the tables to separate them from it. - Very happy with the parking - we were able to get all 5 cars in - Thank you for the beautifully decorated Christmas tree - We also appreciated the very helpful and useful 2nd cooking area outside the games from, essential with a big family and lots of things to cook for Christmas. Bad points/things to improve - We appreciated the history of the house (I read in the welcome pack that it was built in 1780) and can also appreciate the cost of maintaining such a building but there are still some things that I believe can be improved. Some were quite frustrating and I would suggest they are looked into sooner rather than later. - Firstly there was no ground floor WC - I noted the cloakroom on the first floor but it was packed full of stuff and not useable, this meant that if you had go to the loo the only option was in your room, very difficult especially if you are on the upper floors. The fact that there is a cloakroom available it should be made accessible. - Upon arrival it was not obvious (at least not to me and my husband) about how to gain entry into the house. There was no clear instruction in the email which contained the code and it frustrated me that I had to call the helpline in order to get information. We travelled from East London and it was a 4.5 hour drive with a 6 month baby, the last thing I wanted to do was to spend an extra half and hour trying to figure out how to get into the house. Clearer instructions should have been provided, even as simple as, "key pad for entry is located on the right hand side of the door". As we received a code and the email made mention of keys, we assumed we were looking for a lock box that contained the front door key. I did not appreciate the extra effort after such a long journey. - Extreme problems with the internet, it was very helpful that the information was clearly provided about the Wi-Fi but it only worked well on our phones and tablets. It very much needs a boost as it was not able to carry the TV in living room and basement. although the TV was fine in room 4. I can appreciate that there were a number of devices connected at the same time which may have contributed to the problem, but this should have been expected and anticipated. The fact that the house can take up to 16 people and has three TVs, the necessary adjustments should be made to ensure better internet connection. As guests we should not need to compromise on this. - The biggest issue we had however, was with the hot water, some rooms were worse than others, for example my cousin and his wife in room 6 complained of no water and had to use the facilitates in the neighbouring room which had no problems. We should have been told about the tank and how it work, you cannot assume that we would know and again as guests this is not something we should have compromise on or worry about. - Thank you for providing the brand new travel cots as we requested, they were very easy to set up and very helpful that a protector and sheets were provided, however, mattresses were the wrong size and were too big for the actual cot. We were able to use them regardless but it meant that my child slept on a slight angel which was of course was not ideal. You'll need to change this asap for the correct size. - We loved room 1, especially the extra big bathroom, however, it had two major issues, firstly the bathroom is big but has insufficient heating for the size, so despite having a heated towel rail it was not enough to heat the room to a comfortable level. I would suggest adding an extra heater, the one I had in room 4 was very good. The second issue with this room was the heating in the bedroom. It cut off, the heater did look old so it may be it died, thankfully we used the portable heater in the living room, which was fine. However, guests should not to deal with problems with such basic needs such as heat and water. - As mentioned above the kitchen was well stocked and had a lovely new fridge, however, for a house that size with that many people 1 is simply not enough, you need additional one, even if it is not as big I would suggest an extra one. - I had to report that we had issues doors not closing properly and some jamming. In room 8 my cousin was trapped in the walk in closet for over an hour, we were all down stairs and didn't hear his cries for help and he didn't have his phone with him, so he had to break the glass to get out. The other door that jammed was the bathroom in room 3, luckily no one was in it at the time. - Initial instructions should have been provided to explain how to use the fireplace and portable heater you cannot assume everyone knows how to do this.

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• Roy - Verified booking

  We enjoyed our stay finding the cottage comfortable and well equipped with a patio, table and seating in a pleasant garden, off the main road but close to the local shop, etc.

  and of course with an excellent welcome pack; our only negative comment concerned the main table in the kitchen. I remember before we arrived thinking that the photo of the table in the in the kitchen and the one shown in the living room both looked rather narrow and both against walls. There were only three of us but for a cottage that was equipped to take 6 adults plus some additional children it appeared that everyone sitting round a single table looked impossible. Anyway when we arrived it turned out that apparently the leaves from both tables could and had been inserted in one table making it four leaves wide so definitely wide enough, however it was still against the kitchen wall and immediately behind where people would be seated was the large double cooker flanked either side by the sink with draining board and a preparation area so not ideal for cooking. Worse still was the fact that the relatively narrow gap where people would be sitting was in fact also the “corridor” for getting from the stairs up to bedrooms/bathrooms to the freezer and fridge and the access to the sitting room and hallway. We dropped one leaf down on the wall side of the table which gave us a big enough table and improved access but to get through was still more like a game of musical chairs.

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• Thomas - Verified booking

  Castle View Cottage was a lovely apartment in which to spend our family holiday; it was very homely and well appointed, and the landlord Susan could not have been more welcoming and helpful.

  Dunster is a lovely location, the castle and grounds are stunning as is the village itself. There is not a huge range of restaurants, the Luttrell Arms Hotel is lovely but quite expensive, the food at the Stags Head was hit and miss, and expensive for what it was. The big issue for us was the church bells, these seem to go on throughout the night, and being so close became a real problem, as my wife and I and our daughter were regularly woken in the middle of the night, or on some occasions kept awake for what felt like hours. The bells seem to play at 15 minute intervals, midnight seems to require a long discordant tune, then every 15 minutes is struck until at 01:00 there is another protracted chiming, on our last night we couldn’t decide if it was Oranges and Lemons, or something similar. At 05:00 every morning we were as a family woken by the bells playing out for several minutes, needless to say this wasn’t welcomed. We live in a village with a church so are used to church bells, but the church at Dunster is on another level entirely. Several shop keepers asked us how we felt about them, so they are clearly a talking point.

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• Larissa - Verified booking

  We really loved our stay at Castle View holiday cottage.

  I visited along with my partner and two young girls, the cottage was so well equipped with everything we needed for our youngest including highchair, cot and stairgate and it made our stay so easy and comfortable. Susan was also really helpful and let us know she was available anytime we needed, she even went out of her way to post two toys our girls had left at the cottage back to our home. It's a truly stunning area of England with so much in walking distance or a short drive, the castle in Dunster was such a good day out and the village itself was delightful even with its own playground, great for breaking up the day with littlies. We would 100% recommend staying here to anyone and will hopefully be back in future :) P.S a note on the bells - we personally enjoyed them, they are a very unusual and quirky part of the stay, we a game of guessing what king of song it would play on each day and enjoyed listening to the different tunes. I honestly didn't notice them whilst sleeping beyond the first night but if you are particularly sensitive or uptight just maybe bring some earplugs...

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• Penny - Verified booking

  Our stay at Westholme Lodge was enjoyable.

  The beds are extremely comfy and the duvets are lovely and thick. The kitchen is nicely decorated and a great place to socialise however please be aware the kitchen does not come with any salt & pepper, cooking oil etc so make sure you bring your own. The house has two living rooms which is great as it provides a separate space for the children to chill out whilst the adults can relax as well. The hot tub is a great addition however the water was not a high enough level so the jets were not usable as they squirted the water out of the hot tub. The location is great and a short walk to the beach and shops and a short drive to Dunster and Exmoor too. When we arrived there was only a half roll of toilet or less in each bathroom and no spares provided so we did have to go out and buy more quite swiftly as there were 14 of us staying there. The fridge is also quite small and we were not able to fit in all the food we had brought with us. Overall the lodge was a nice place to stay and there is a nice big garden and parking space enough to fit 4/5 cars on.

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