“An ideal location to explore Dartmoor National Park”
For the 2 of us and our 2 dogs, this was an ideal location to explore Dartmoor National Park walks as the moor was just up the road and nearby B roads [one outside the lodge] and minor roads led us quickly further afield. None of the roads are busy and the nearest village of Moretonhampstead was a mere 5 minutes’ drive away, where plenty of provisions are available [good size Co-op, and tearooms etc]. Exeter is about 30 mins away.
The Gatehouse Lodge [Rose Cottage] has a striking interior décor but is nicely furnished for a holiday let, with everything you need for self-catering. The kitchen is very small but quite manageable but all the other rooms are a good spacious size, they have a nice feel about them. It’s not a luxury standard but is at the higher end of the spectrum. It is fairly pricy accommodation [but have a good location and facilities] and if you have 2 dogs, it’s even more pricy, we paid £170 for 2 dogs for 2 weeks. You can park your car immediately outside, which is always useful. Very comfortable beds and great power shower; worth staying just for those.
My only couple of gripes is that it would have been useful if the garden was secured all around by the existing partial low level iron railing fence, as having dogs they could easily wander off onto the pro-am golf course which is in the back garden [dogs not allowed on the golf course], Rose Cottage is almost part of the golf course. The other is that it’s always helpful to have some basic cleaning products available [toilet bleach, washing up liquid, surface and floor cleaner], although kitchen roll, dishwasher tablets, tissues, soap were provided.
Having said that, as it is managed by the hotel, which is about 10 minutes’ walk along the drive [or 2 mins by cycle if you ask to borrow one from the hotel], they do have a professional housekeeping and maintenance facility but sometimes it good to clean up after yourselves. We stayed for 2 weeks and during the middle weekend, housekeeping came in and did a fabulous job-well done and thank you.
There is a newly installed Cattle Grid immediately outside the gatehouse; didn’t worry us but if you are a light sleeper, the noise may become irritating as there are a surprising number of vehicles that use the hotel drive [not busy though]. The great benefit is the hotel on the doorstep, I used the pool and sauna every day [no charge and towels provided], and we used the Spa and newly refurbished restaurants several times. It is a 5 star hotel, so it comes with 5 star prices but you do feel part of the hotel and are made to feel part of the hotel; you get what you pay for. The staff were great and welcoming, you get preferential dining availability as residents of the cottage, so when booking Afternoon tea, etc, it’s a must as they get booked up well in advance otherwise.
All in all, it was a great 2 week holiday, in a great location and great accommodation. We’ll return if they’ll have us!
- DonianGuru, June 2015
