Big Cottages & Group Accommodation in Portland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Jade - Verified booking

  We loved our week at The View, thank you.

  Everything was straight forward. A confirmed booking from the start. Automatic deposit and final payment system. Communication excellent. The house was exactly as expected. Two roomy twins downstairs for all the teenagers, with their own bathroom. A cute courtyard garden out back for scooters/sailing gear etc. A very handy utility room. Could maybe do with an inside rail for hanging things indoors such as wetsuits, lifejackets etc that need to be on hangers not a clothes horse. Love the no shoes policy. Found the freezer hidden in the cupboard, which was handy. Lounge and view as beautiful as the photos. Didnt watch TV much as we all just sat staring out of the window whenever inside. Binoculars a nice touch. Whilst the kitchen was really well equipped, I found the saucepans just one size too small for 6.There was only a sieve, not a strainer. And only 5 chairs. But that was the only thing I felt could be improved on for us personally as we were at full capacity for a week long sailing event. The View garden was really lovely. Wish we'd had more time to sit an watch the sunsets.Location is excellent for WPNSA. One thing worth mentioning, is the access to the house. We knew it would be narrow. We were in 3 cars through the week (2 family tag team supporting the kids sailing), a discovery, which barely fit in the circle to park, same with the Tiguan. There was no way you could park a second car across the front. Infact, as we pulled out of the lane, our Tiguan was at such an angle, it would slam the automatic parking brakes on every time we left the lane. The third car was an Audi S5 with a low front bumper, which would in no way cope with the angle where the lane meets the main road going in or out, so we we had to leave it parked elsewhere all week. So this wasnt a huge issue for us , just a niggle we got used to as we had other vehicles we could ferry all the kit up with. But worth mentioning I thought. We would definatly stay again and have recommended the house and Sykes many times already as we know people who had cancelled accomodation bookings booked through other internet rental companies, that had been booked months in advance.

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• David - Verified booking

  Tastefully furnished and almost everything you'd need for a home away from home.

  Location was amazing being so close to the beach and loved the sea view from our bedroom. Great to have reserved, secure parking too. Was clean and different floors and the outside patio gave us space from each other which we needed for a longer stay! There was a nice welcome basket which included Dorset apple cake which was delicious! We holidayed for 2 weeks and things that you don't think of too much for a week started to niggle on our 2nd week. Beds were comfy but the duvets were 10 tog which were far too hot for summer and just using the cover was sometimes too cold, so summer duvets needed. The lounge TV was painful to use as as the remote slow and unresponsive, and it had limited functionality. When you've got younger kids, you will spend a fair amount of time in your holiday home and not having a decent TV with the ability to download streaming apps that we use like Disney was a faff. The upstairs Fire TV could do that but only if you have a prime account, which we do but it often just wouldn't work properly as Fire devices are prone to do. Also whilst we brought our own consumables like dishwasher tabs etc we hadn't expected to need bin liners for week 2. If you're staying for a week then none of this should bother much! A couple of extra notes to include that aren't written but good to know: The pebble beach has a steep bank to the shore line and a very short promenade so if you want to take a long walk, would advise wearing hiking boots. Nice cafe on the beach which sometimes hosts lovely evening pop up evening restaurants - check their Facebook page for more details.

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• Rob - Verified booking

  We stayed at Kimberlin for a week over the Easter period, as a base for attending an event at the nearby Sailing Academy.

  The location is perfect for that purpose - walking in about 20 minutes or a very quick drive. It's proximity to Chesil Beach is a great feature, and there are direct sea views from the top front bedroom. The house was spotlessly clean on arrival, and is well furnished with comfortable beds and sofas etc. We really enjoyed our stay, but there are a couple of points worth noting - these are factual rather than critical - there's nothing that the owners could do to address them! The development is a couple of years at most (probably less) and, as is the way the developers, they have crammed as many properties in a small space as they possibly could, so despite being a three bedroom property, the living areas (kitchen/living room) feel very cramped. We were two adults plus two late teenage children - and moving around the kitchen/dining table is "cosy" to say the least. There is only room for four chairs around the dining table (not sure what happens if 6 people book?), and you can't open the fridge/freezer doors fully without first closing the kitchen door. Over a week this did start to irritate. Likewise the on-site parking. The spaces are very tight for larger cars, and despite being clearly marked, guests/owners of other properties seemed to regard them as a free for all. We had to leave a note on a car to ask them to move so that we could use the allocated space for Kimberlin. There is parking right opposite development and at quiet times there are spaces - but in busy season that's not the case and we had to park some distance away.

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• Robert - Verified booking

  The cottage delights and the photos are representative on first arrival.

  Lovely beamed living room with woodburner, well equipped kitchen etc. Stairs to top room are steep. (Very common in Portland cottages) We were a little disappointed in the cleanliness when we arrived. We could see that the cleaner had vacuumed and cleaned surfaces, made bed all fine, however it was obvious that a spring clean is well overdue. Lots of cobwebs, furniture had not been moved to clean so very dusty in these places. (eg behind TV), cobwebs on books on bookshelf, and a Christmas Tree left under the bed covered in dust. We had to clean the windows ourselves in order to be able to see out! On the plus side the cottage is warm (it was quite cold outside for the time of year) , beds are comfortable, TV good. There is no oven glove which is tricky using the oven. There is no mobile signal and no wifi available. (sometimes sporadic at front of house eg BT Broadband). The location is excellent for the Chesil Beach, Quiddles Cafe which is lovely , and the unique Cove House Inn. Both of these a short walk and Dog friendly. There is no sea view from the cottage, only the back of the sea defence wall. Parking can be a nightmare. Our group had two cars. We found that parking in the afternoon was usually OK, but come back in the evening and often very difficult to find any space near the cottage. Cottage well served by public transport, bus stop, regular services just metres away.

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• Ian - Verified booking

  This is a very nice cottage with an amazing view.

  The pebble beach at Chesil below is wonderful, and the sea clean. We enjoyed our walks in the area, and further afield Largely as described , but the parking is an issue. Cove Cottages is very narrow, and partly blocked by cars, it is very difficult to park anything other than a small vehicle, and low clearance vehicles are likely to be damaged by the pavements. Not having a dishwasher is a negative, We enjoyed using the binoculars. An nice touch. Whilst the cottage was generally clean the kitchen draws had food residue in them, as did one of the pans, and some of the pans and trays need to be replaced. Some of the shelves were also not clean. This is an issue in these current times, and we spent the first couple of hours following arrival cleaning. Some of the neighbours on the street made us very welcome which was lovely. Be aware, construction is happening immediately in front of the cottage, and the machines started at about 7.30, continuing intermittently all day. The bedrooms leak light, so eye masks advised for people who need dark to sleep In summary, lovely cottage, and we had a nice stay, and would b happy to return

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