Forest of Dean Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Sarah - Verified booking

  Three stars for the location and garden, two for the cottage.

  Lovely area - we were very spoilt by the fabulous weather, sun all week. The garden is great, could do with a bench at the top of the garden. Also the BBQ and area is nothing like the photograph. A scruffy pub bench and basic, non gas bbq is what you’ll find, The cottage itself is average. I’ve stayed in much better properties for a third of the price. When we arrived there were cobwebs and spiders in almost every corner. We spend just under an hour vacuuming them away. My son has a terrible fear of spiders - unfortunately, even after cleaning up, the damage was done, my son and his fiancée left after one night as he couldn’t sleep. Yes, we did expect spiders in a cottage, but they were literally everywhere. They obviously hadn’t been cleaned away recently. The windows haven’t been cleaned for a good while, people have drawn pictures on them!! The settee under the window has no padding, it’s like you’re sitting on the floor. The leather settees need cleaning, they are shiny and slippery. Not comfortable at all. The cottage needs a lot of TLC and a deep clean. My view is, as people leave the cottage, they clean up and as requested, leave it as they find it. The cleaner arrives, a quick look around, change the bedding and that’s it, On the plus side, the games room was great, the beds comfortable enough, everything you could need in the kitchen (except sharp scissors). Disappointed as this holiday was rearranged from 2020, it was our 30th wedding anniversary get together that ended up just being three of us instead of five. Can’t fault the location though, extremely peaceful with plenty of walks and an abundance of wildlife, we spotted boar, deer (even one in the garden), plenty of squirrels, an owl, buzzard with a squirrel, a slow worm and even a frog. We will definitely return to the Forest of Dean, just not this cottage.

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• Sally - Verified booking

  We absolutely loved our stay in The Annexe.

  Came for 4 nights with just me, 2 teenagers and the dog in a fairly rainy week, so was slightly nervous about keeping them all entertained and happy - but needn't have worried! The house was immaculately clean (and I mean, totally, utterly, spotless clean) and we couldn't have asked for better, more modern and comfortable facilities (my first time cooking on an induction hob - worked a treat!!). The lovely owners even provided us with a home-baked cake and cookies - they didn't last long with the teenagers in the house! Wi-Fi had a super strong signal, so we were able to stream movies, play games on our devices etc with no problems (essential with 2 teenagers in tow!). Plenty of piping hot water for showers or a bath, too. The beautiful but also wildlife-friendly garden and views from The Annexe were magnificent - I had a real stinker of a cold on our holiday, so spent a lot of time happily sat in the reclining lounge chairs reading and watching the birds coming to the feeders out the window. The location was perfect for a big range of activities too - we went to Go Ape, Goodrich Castle, Symonds Yat and the Taurus Crafts shops & cafe, but saw many other places we would've loved to explore if we'd had a longer stay. All were dog-friendly and lovely places to go (essential as my dog has separation anxiety so has to come everywhere with me). We loved our break in The Annexe and couldn't recommend it more highly as a place to stay.

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• Karen - Verified booking

  This property has some nice authentic features like the log burners and beamed ceiling in a really nice location.

  It is well equipped with comfortable beds and hot water always available. However there were maintenance issues that we were not happy about. The fact there are no photos of the kitchen is a red flag and this is probably due to the sink issue. The wooden worktop which surrounds the inside of the butler style sink was black and really looked quite disgusting. The owner provided a lengthy account of how difficult it is to keep it treated with special products as it’s too expensive to replace, clearly this is a big problem. I will add photos on Tripadvisor. There is a cracked window in the largest bedroom, again the owner is aware but has no plans to replace or fix it. Smaller issues could easily have been resolved if the property was checked properly before changeover - a new lightbulb needed in the bathroom and as we paid a large premium to stay at Christmas, which I checked would be decorated in advance I did expect the tree lights to work. Some small changes would make a big difference, like investing in new towels as we were provided with very worn, small bath towels.

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• Sarah Ann - Verified booking

  Had a really lovely stay.

  Cottage very comfortable, cosy, spacious, with a beautiful garden. Just a few of observations. Garden gate leading up to the top of the garden has to be lifted up to be able to open/close it. Some people may find this awkward. Also, the bench up there is broken - lovely spot to sit so could do with repair/replacing. I did have to clear up other people's dog mess on the bottom patio area near the kitchen window as didn't want anyone thinking that was mine - it had clearly been used as a toilet area for one particular dog - the odd poo is acceptable to miss but there were at least 6 very large clearly visible poops which gives the rest of us dog owners a bad name and risks properties not allowing dogs. Presume cleaners understandably wont clear up for next guest as it's not pleasant. Anyway, totally recommend the cottage - the cider and dog treats were a nice touch thank you and would stay again if in the area :)

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• Ruth - Verified booking

  This was the best cottage we have ever stayed in .

  The location was a idyllic in The Forest of Dean with a secure garden to keep dogs and children in and wild boar out . The cottage is very thoughtfully equipped with everything you could possibly need although don’t think there was a grill in the oven . I actually took my air fryer as we needed to rustle up meals quickly for hungry toddlers . There are plenty of saucepans and crockery to cook for large numbers and also last between dishwasher cycles . There are far more toys than suggested in the description of the games room and enough to keep all ages busy even 1 and 2 year olds. Only one television but that didn’t matter to us as there are videos for children to watch . If they were happy we were too ! We all enjoyed the surrounding area and cottage and would certainly book again .

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