Holiday cottages

Essential information

Please take the time to read this information so that you can prepare for your holiday with us. It contains details of the facilities available and possible restrictions you may encounter at your cottage. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our booking office.

Arrivals

  • You must arrive at your holiday cottage between 3.30pm and 7pm
  • Full instructions about getting to your cottage will be sent to you on confirmation of your holiday

Departures

  • You must vacate the cottage by 10am to enable caretakers sufficient time to prepare it for the next guests
  • Please do not move furniture as this can cause damage both to the furniture and to the property
  • Please leave the property as you found it

Families and children

  • Most of our holiday cottages and apartments are suitable for children under normal supervision
  • Our holiday cottages and apartments that are not suitable for children are marked as such in their descriptions on this website and in our brochure
  • Those cottages that are indicated will have a travel cot and high chair provided free of charge
  • You are required to provide your own cot bedding as well as rubber under-sheets for young children using the beds
  • Linen is not available for cots
  • A cot can only be occupied by a child 2 years or younger

Visitors with disabilities

  • We are aiming to improve the accessibility of our cottages and the information available about facilities for disabled visitors. We have begun to develop detailed Access Statements for each cottage. If an Access Statements is already available for a cottage it will be highlighted in the cottage details page of this website and you can contact the call centre to request a copy of the document.
  • A programme of assessing our cottages for accessibility is underway. We are keen to implement improvements identified in these assessments as quickly as possible. Once assessed a cottage may be allocated one of the three accessibility categories and this will be displayed on the cottage details page. The three accessibility categories include:
    • Accessible for wheelchair users – These cottages provide a flexible wheelchair friendly space with level access to accessible bedroom and bath/shower room and all key communal spaces. Wherever feasible, the design and layout of the facilities (such as the kitchen and bathroom) should meet current standards for people either sitting or standing. This would suit people who can transfer independently from the seated position. Some of the cottages are suitable for people who use a portable hoist but this should be checked with the booking team on an individual basis.
    • Accessible for occasional wheelchair users – These cottages have some facilities for accompanied wheelchair users who can stand to transfer independently or may not require their wheelchair all of the time. There is level access to all key areas on the ground floor including bedroom, bath/shower room, kitchen and communal rooms.
    • Accessible for ambulant disabled people – These cottages are suitable for people who would prefer to have a bedroom and bathroom or shower room on the ground floor, but are not designed for wheelchair users. There may be one or two steps on the ground floor.
  • Deaf or hard of hearing visitors can have a fire alarm provided which triggers a vibration on capturing the sound of the main house alarm. Please let us know at the time of your booking or for short-term holidays contact us at least 3 working days in advance of your intended holiday.
  • Please tell us at the time of booking if any member(s) of your party is disabled.

Pets

  • A maximum of two dogs are permitted at our dog friendly cottages. The cottage details will highlight if dogs are permitted, and if yes how many.
  • No other pets are allowed – see clause 10 of our Terms and Conditions
  • Assistance dogs are accepted in the accommodation. Please advise the Contact Centre when making your reservation

Heating and lighting

  • Electricity and heating (where provided, see the information on each cottage) is included in our prices
  • As a conservation organisation and with rising costs in fuel prices, your thoughtful use of energy will be appreciated
  • Not all cottages have electricity and heating!

Linen

  • The cost of linen provision is included in the rental price of most of our cottages
  • This will include pillowcases, bottom sheet and duvet cover, one bath and one hand towel per person, a bathmat, an oven cloth, two tea towels in cottages for up to four people and up to four tea towels in cottages for five people and over
  • We do not provide tea cosies, aprons and oven gloves
  • A hand towel will be provided in the kitchen
  • Towels will not be provided for swimming or beach use
  • Linen is not available for cots
  • We regret that in a very few cottages, for operational reasons, it is not possible to provide linen at all and you will be asked to bring your own. The visitor notes shown for the cottage indicates where linen cannot be provided.

Basic supplies

  • Apart from finding a well-equipped and comfortable cottage ready and waiting for your arrival, you will also find some basic starter supplies
  • These will include a single roll of lavatory paper, some washing-up liquid, two dishwasher tablets (where the cottage has a dishwasher) and a cleaning agent for the bathroom and kitchen
  • In line with National Trust policy, the cleaning products used are, as far as possible, environmentally friendly and we would appreciate that you observe this practise
  • In most cottages there will also be milk in the fridge
  • You are required to bring all other supplies for your stay

Fuel for fires

  • In all cottages with open fires or multi-fuel/wood burning stoves, the fire will be laid for your arrival
  • We try wherever possible to provide enough fuel to get you started
  • Please note, there are a number of cottages where transport, storage or other operational difficulties preclude us from offering this facility
  • Please check at the time of booking or refer to the booking notes for more information on the facilities at the cottage you have chosen as well as the type of fuel permitted

Digital television

  • With the roll-out of digital television, it may not be possible to provide a digital solution due to planning restrictions for satellite dishes

No smoking

Old cottages

  • Most of our cottages are well over 100 years old, have been renovated and refurbished to a high standard and are full of charm and character. However, they were built long before the days of damp proof courses and cavity walls so some may show signs of damp, particularly in long spells of wet weather
  • We do our best to ensure that the background heating is kept on sufficiently to compensate, even when the cottage is empty. Condensation can be alleviated by opening windows and allowing the air to circulate. If you have any concerns please talk to the Contact Centre staff at the time of making your reservation
  • Due to the age of the buildings, size of some of the rooms and difficulty in getting furniture through small doors, windows and up stairs, not all bedrooms have wardrobes and therefore hanging space for clothes can be limited

Access

  • Most of our cottages have car parking space/s close-by
  • At some cottages you may need to carry your luggage a short distance
  • Some cottages also have steep or irregular steps or footpaths to the front door which have been retained as an essential part of the character of the property
  • Other cottages are in secluded situations and can only be reached by driving down an unmade track
  • If you are concerned about access, please check with the Contact Centre

Messages

  • Please do not ask local contacts or the Contact Centre to deliver messages to cottage visitors unless they are urgent

Bicycles

  • If you take bicycles on holiday, please do not take them into the cottage
  • Bicycles are not permitted on the South West Coast Path

Christmas

  • Due to environmental and health and safety regulations we no longer provide trees and lights in our cottages at Christmas time
  • Please do not ask for a tree to be sourced for you as this will not be possible
  • If you do decide to take your own tree and decorations, please ensure that you take them home or dispose of them in the appropriate manner

Gardens

  • The gardens at holiday cottages are not kept to the same standard as National Trust gardens open to the public and many have an area that has been left to nature
  • Where garden furniture is supplied, it will be of a more conventional type, not sun loungers or recliners

Rural surroundings and wildlife

  • Most of our cottages are located in very rural surroundings, often within or close to designated areas of preservation and conservation. This may mean that some of them have protected species living in the vicinity, for example, bats in the roof spaces. Bats are very unlikely to cause any noise or disturbance to you, and equally should not be disturbed. We have conservation teams looking after all protected species at our properties, and if during your stay you had any concerns, you should let us know.

Country living

  • In the countryside, farming and other local ways of life may begin early in the morning and continue late into the evening. It is part of the rural economy and our countryside, so please be understanding.

Smoke alarms

  • For those visitors that require it, a vibrating fire/smoke detector can be made available provided you advise us at the time of booking or for short term bookings, 3 working days in advance of your intended holiday date

Barbecues

  • We are working toward providing barbecues at our cottages and a few of them may now have them available for your use
  • Due to the age and location of our cottages and the fact that we do not yet have specially designed locations or structures for them, barbecues, whether portable or otherwise are prohibited due to the significant fire risk

Breakages

  • Accidents do happen to the most careful guests – from chipping a plate to dropping a glass of red wine over a new cream carpet! The cost of replacing or repairing damaged items is considerable, but it is just not practical for us to follow up all minor incidents. For that reason, we ask you to pay a damage deposit waiver fee of £10 with each booking, in lieu of of having to lodge a damage deposit with us. This charge of £10 prevents you from having to worry about payments for any items accidentally broken or damaged during your stay up to the value of £500. Further details can be found in our Terms and Conditions clause 13.

Photographs

  • A large number of our cottages have recently had sofas and armchairs replaced, and we may not have been able to update the equivalent photograph as yet. It may be, therefore, that some cottages have slightly different looking interiors.

Booking restrictions

  • Restrictions apply to the following holidays:
    • Short breaks: Holidays shorter than 7 days.
    • Non standard long breaks: Holidays longer then 1 week which are not for 7, 10, 14, 21 or 28 nights.

Mobile phone coverage

  • Due to the often rural and isolated nature of our cottages, there is often limited or no mobile phone signal available
  • If you have a concern regarding being contactable at your cottage (for health reasons, for example) then please make the Contact Centre aware when booking, so that they can discuss options and identify a suitable cottage location for mobile phone coverage
  • Some but not all cottages have a pay phone available

Problems

  • Inevitably, problems can sometimes occur at a holiday cottage. We do ask that you always call us immediately to advise us of a problem. You will be provided with a help desk number to call which operates during reasonable hours, 7 days a week
  • We know that sometimes you don't want to be disturbed when on holiday, but if we know of any problems we can often resolve them quickly, or provide solutions which mean that your holiday can continue without concern
  • If you don't contact us about a problem you may have with your holiday cottage, it can jeopardise your rights to make a claim (please see Terms and Conditions clause 17 ).

Brochure accuracy

  • The information and prices shown in our brochure and on our website may have changed by the time you come to book your holiday
  • Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the brochure, website and prices at the time of publication, regrettably errors do occasionally occur