The Old Stable, Sidbury

An excellent and well presented modern holiday stable, which includes a fully fitted kitchen, central and under floor heating, as well as one of the best internet connections I’ve found in the middle of the countryside. This stable is in a group of other buildings, some of which also look to be rented as holiday locations, these buildings are located off a private road which leads off a single track country lane. Having said all of that my wife’s heart sank when she realised the size of the location (on first sight), although nothing has been done to hide the fact that this is in my view an extremely compact location, its only when you see the place you realise how compact it is. Some examples are, closing the doors in the bedroom is hard as if the bed is moved or even if the duvet is hanging of the end of the bed. In both bathrooms the sink is so small and there is an awkwardly placed shelf above the sink making it extremely hard to brush your teeth. One item which was not on the pictures is the bin in the kitchen, which as all the upstairs rooms are merged it’s like having a kitchen bin in your kitchen, dining room and sitting room. I think this is due to the very compact nature of the stable. Personally, we found it hard for 3 people, and in my view if the upstairs and downstairs were swapped (like a traditional location) and there was only one bedroom for two, this would be a much better offering. Also, with the bedroom upstairs you would not get up and the first thing you see in the morning is another building (which I think was also rented). The natural views from this location are stunning and it’s a shame they can’t be fully appreciated. This would also reduce the chance of waking people up if someone is walking around upstairs. We knew there was no fan, so we bought our own, however we had difficulty finding somewhere to put it, again due to space issues. There are a few minor maintenance issues which I’m sure the owners will fix, for example if you flush the toilet sometimes it makes a strange noise which you can hear everywhere until its flushed again, and the only way to turn the tv on and off is via the main switch as the button on the remote does not appear to work. It’s a relatively short trip to the coast road where you can quickly get to all the local amenities. My personal view, I always headed for the main road first and tried not to cut through Sidbury, as this minimises the risk of having to reverse up single country lanes. Lastly the family who own the locations seem very friendly and helpful.

We both had a most enjoyable and relaxing time at this peaceful cottage surrounded by the beautiful Devon countryside. Our dog enjoyed the local walks through the woodland and Bridle ways. The cottage had everything you could need and the beds were so comfortable. The Wifi was good. A vase of flowers to welcome us along with milk, tea, coffee and biscuits! Sitting outside at night we heard owls calling to each other which was lovely. This cottage is an ideal base to go to Sidmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Beer, Lyme Regis, Honiton and the nearest village Sidbury where the local pub was very friendly and served good food. Further on the Hare and Hounds did the best carvery, we ate their twice! We hope to return soon.

We really enjoyed our stay at the old stable. It has everything you need for a great relaxing holiday.

The location of the old stable was exactly what we were looking for to visit my mum in a care home in Seaton 2-3 times a year. The rental was well equipped,very comfortable especially the beds and had everything we were looking for in a rental.However what let it down for us was cleaning and maintenance issues which I bought to the attention of the letting agency, Helpful Holidays,along with a picture to verify this .We stayed there once before and highlighted some of these issues on our previous visit, Helpful Holidays assured us they would be rectified for our next visit, unfortunately this didn't happen and we had further issues on our second visit.It seemed the most important concern was that we had offended the owner.In our opinion the property could do with a deeper clean on a regular basis We paid money to stay at this property and would have expected a higher standard.We didn't ask for anything back but would at least have expected a customer focused response. We wouldn't rent here again and have asked to be removed from Helpful Holidays mailing list due to their disappointing response to our complaint.

Leaving the little village of Sidbury on our way to this cottage was an experience in itself. Coming from Ontario, Canada, the tight narrow windy one-track roads were exciting not knowing hat you might meet round the next bend. The cottage was easy to find however using the directions provided. Entering the cottage, a converted barn. we were impressed with the quality of the bedrooms each with its ensuite bathroom. We loved the king-sized bed! Going upstairs, the kitchen / dining room was excellent with everything we would ever need for our stay.The furniture was particularly comfortable. The cottage was also well stocked with games, books and dvd's as well as literature/brochures etc about things to do in the surrounding area. There are footpaths and bridlepaths all around. But be warned if you go down you have to come back up (hills). Good base for visiting the wonderful little towns and fishing villages. If you are from Canada or the States, driving will be a challenge with very narrow single track roads being the norm and very high hedge rows. Once you get over the fright, you will be fine. Rent a small car it will be easier to drive and to park!! Book very early this property gets booked up quickly