Deer Leap Cottage

Such a wonderful location and lovely cottage.

the wifi didn't work while we were there (but to me that was a bonus, which is why I didn't inform the owner while we were there) and the gentlemen who were doing a great job re-lining the pool did park in the spaces allocated to our part of the house, luckily we only had two cars so that wasn't a real problem. The hot water took a long time to get through to us which was only a small inconvenience. the kitchen was very well equipped, The sofa, Kitchen stools, double beds and outdoor seating was very comfortable and the grounds and their facilities were excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed the Table tennis, basket ball hoop, tennis court, fire pit and gardens, including the pond with its fish and the woods with the deer coming into the grounds, both in the morning and sometimes the evening. There are many attractions within a short drive including The Bovington Tank Museum, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door and Mill House Cider Museum. Dorchester is well worth a visit too with some excellent restaurants, bars and pubs along side historic sites and a good shopping centre. I would highly recommend Deer leap cottage or house for a relaxing or family getaway.

We had a great time at deer leap cottage I managed to get a swim in the pool even though the weather was not warm but the pool was and also use the tennis court.

The grounds were perfect for the dogs with a wood on the outskirts to explore. Deer were seen every day and all days out were no further than 30 minutes drive away. We defo recommend the Frampton Arms for Sunday dinner which was delicious and is in walking distance. The cottage is attached to a bigger house and you can hear each other through the adjoining door. I would definitely come back and maybe when the weather is warmer to enjoy the pool everyday this was a big plus for me. My only gripe would be that it needs a dishwasher no one wants to wash up on holiday

The cottage was lovely and very well equipped, very clean and set in stunning grounds.

Hannah was on hand and responded to all messages, however there are some points I believe should be addressed as it did ruin our week. Deer Leap Cottage seems to come secondary to Deer Leap House (both properties attached) due to the size difference. Deer Leap House has seven bedrooms and as such there is space for 3 families or 14 sharing adults….. Deer Leap Cottage has 3 bedrooms so 1 family or 6 sharing adults. Therefore those staying in Deer Leap House monopolise the pool (as in our case) and tennis courts etc. This was not clear when we booked. We paid for the use of the pool and other facilities but barely got to use them due to the other family. They did nothing wrong as they were using the facilities they paid for, which is what we SHOULD have been able to do! We got in the pool for about 1 hour in the evenings when the other families and children were out and 1 day when the other family left early. NOT what we paid for, I believe there should be a week-on / week-off rota for fairness. Had I been told I would be sharing a pool that’s barely big enough for 5 adults with 15 strangers I would not have booked it. The pool is just is not big enough to accommodate that many people from 2 separate properties. Also anyone staying in Deer Leap House have to walk right passed the front of Deer Leap cottage to get to the pool. The other family kept apologising as we were trying to relax in the cottages garden. This is the only garden area for the cottage, Therefore you have absolutely no privacy, whereas the house does! Those walking passed also can see right into the lounge of the cottage as there are no net curtains so again no privacy. Perhaps a hedge or fence to protect privacy of those staying in the cottage would be an idea, or at the very least some net curtains. There was no parasol over the seating area of the cottage yet the house had parasols, garden swing seats etc. I did ask but did not get one so during the heatwave we had no parasol and no pool (as it was over run with the guests from the house). Therefore we sat indoors, not what we paid for! The joining doors in the cottage to the house are thin and you can hear everything. Sadly we had a family that was very loud at night, lots of screaming arguments and swearing, not the owners fault but quite frustrating. Although the listing does say the pool is shared its not explained very well. We feel quite let down, the property is not the cheapest due to the wonderful faculties on offer, sadly we just didn’t get to use any as we would have liked due to the sheer numbers of the occupants in the house

Lovely cottage in a beautiful area.

Swimming pool a big plus, and the surrounding woodland and wildlife very interesting. Cottage was spacious and well-equipped. Only slight inconvenience was that for a 3-bedroom and up to six people, a second toilet would make things more comfortable, especially as toilet is in shower room.

We enjoyed the holiday and found Deer Leap to be ideal especially as we had a dog with us for the first time.

Hannah was very helpful.The children enjoyed the pool.We would highly recommend it and would love to go again

A warm welcome and a super, well-equipped cottage with excellent facilities.

The house itself is just lovely, the grounds and shady woods beyond and the herd of deer that regularly frequent them are a real treat and are great for walking dogs, especially in the warmer weather. Loads of comfortable outdoor furniture, toys and inflatables for the very welcome pool. The cottage is in a great location: 5 minutes one way to a nice pub and Moreton station where you can get a train to Dorchester (10 mins) or Weymouth (20 mins) and 5 mins the other way.to a well-stocked Co-op We had one of our best UK holidays here. I heartily recommend.

A beautiful cottage with excellent facilities in a stunning part of the country, seeing the dear in the mornings and utilising the heated pool was the kids favourite, very good amenities near by, this is located in perfect position in that your far enough out that you feel secluded but Dorchester is 10 minutes drive, 20 mins from Weymouth and a local Co-op is 5 minutes walk, the owner was very kind in the very breif time we saw her, we truly felt at ease as we were a bit apprehensive on going at first but within a couple of hours felt we had made a great find, we will definitely be going back.

We had a very happy family get-together at Deer-Leap cottage.

We especially enjoyed the extensive grounds with woodlands, a lake and a swimming pool, and plenty of deer sightings! Would happily return.

Great stay, we really enjoyed our time at Deer Leap.

The grounds are beautiful and the wildlife amazing. We made good use of the tennis court and the pool. We will book this property again.

Cottage in wonderful surroundings.

Loved having the sinks in the bedrooms. The owner kindly opened the swimming pool for us three days early which we really appreciated. Having only one toilet for six people is hard!! Especially with three boys. The owner was very helpful. It would have been good to have a visitor's book for local recommendations. We found some lovely local gems which people new to the area would appreciate.

We enjoyed our week at Deer Leap Cottage.

The grounds are lovely and ideal for walking our dog. We made full use of the table tennis and heated pool. Geoff was friendly and happy to assist if needed. The cottage was clean, comfortable and well located for access to Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Bovington Tank Museum and Dorchester, among others.

The plus side is the location, beautiful setting, close to a wonderful pub and near to towns and beach.

The cottage has a lot of potential and the owner is very pleasant. But...the kitchen is very poorly equipped, 3 saucepans and two small baking trays, no frying pan, no grill rack, lots of empty cupboards. There is a decent sized fridge and a freezer (but no ice tray) no dishwasher which is desirable in this sized cottage. There is simply not enough catering equipment for 6 adults (potentially what the cottage can sleep). Being a self catering cottage you would expect to be able to adequately cater for the whole family, not in this case. I tried to speak to the owner but mobile signals are non-existent and when I tried to find the owners I was told they were at work, the children handed me a small frying pan. The single beds are extremely uncomfortable and creak every time you move, the pillows provided were very thin. Only one room had spare pillows for those of us who like two pillows each (a must if the pillows are this thin). We were provided with one small bath towel each, no hand towels in any of the rooms or the bathroom. Fortunately there were only 5 of us so we hand one extra towel and three of us had bought pool towels with us just in case we had a swim in the pool. The heating is controlled in the main house (where the owners live), there is no option in the cottage to switch it on or off. If the owners switch it on then you can turn it down at the thermostat or radiators. But if it off in the main house there is no heating in your cottage. Two of the bedrooms did not have any heating as the radiators did not work. A light in the kitchen kept flashing and we had to turn it off. This is a dog friendly cottage but understandably dogs are not allowed upstairs, with this in mind to keep the dogs downstairs there should be a stair gate or something to block the stairs. There is not enough seating in the lounge for 6 people unless you all sit upright and right next to one another on the sofa. The dining table in the lounge is not needed as there is sufficient dining area in the kitchen, the dining table could be replaced by two easy chairs. The weirdest thing were the connecting doors to the main house, downstairs is a door in the hallway which links to the kitchen of the owners house, it is an internal door and we could plainly hear them talking and moving around on the other side of the door, at one point I was aware of someone stood the other side listening to our conversation. Upstairs on the landing there is a similar internal door linking the cottage to the main house. Both doors had bolts on which prevented them from being opened from the main house but it was a really strange set up and made us feel uncomfortable.

Fantastic.

Gorgeous cottage set in stunning grounds. Swimming pool was an unexpected bonus. Hosts where excellent, friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend this cottage, beautiful location. We will be booking again for a different time of year, can’t wait.

We loved our week at Deer Leap Cottage.

Great location for exploring Dorset and we enjoyed days out in Weymouth, Swanage and Lulworth cove. Cottage was very comfortable and our children enjoyed the (heated) outdoor pool (even in the rain!) the games room, toasting marshmallows on the fire pit and we had a couple of games of tennis too. We also enjoyed our glimpses of the roaming deer around the cottage.

Fabulous week at Deerleap cottage.

The pool is fantastic & used daily by the kids. Tennis court and table tennis also fabulous. The grounds around the cottage are full of adventures to be had with deer coming up to the house on a daily basis. The cottage is lovely with everything we needed. The owners are on hand if you require anything & were super helpful & the kids loved helping the owner feed the fish in the lake. We can’t wait to return.

Deer Leap Cottage exceeded our expectations on so many levels From the warm family welcome on arrival ,to the well appointed facilities in cottage, the vast grounds, lake , fish, forests walks swimming pool , tennis court, games room, fire pit and lots more not to mention the sight of herds of quaint deer roaming freely.

This venue would suit all levels of holidaymakers and retreaters and offers extremely good value for money, we would highly recommend to all. We will definitely revisit to relive the fantastic experience.

We absolutely loved our stay at deer leap cottage.

Plenty of room for our family of 5 plus big dog. Tennis court and swimming pool are perfect and location is spot on. Lots of cupboard space and full length mirrors and large kitchen and living room and bedrooms also very spacious. Geoff & Hannah are super friendly and greeted us and showed us around the cottage and the grounds of the house are gorgeous. Geoff helped our boys feed the fish in the lake which they loved. There’s deer every day in the grounds just outside the house. Just keep your dog in a lead! Ours would be after the deer ha. Pub just short walk down the road with great food, play area and friendly people. Loads of attractions just easy short drive away. Weymouth beach is brilliant, steam train, monkey world etc all near by. We will be back!!!

The house was a super place for us!

It felt so quiet and secluded. It has lovely grounds all around it with tennis court, a lovely outdoor pool, a summer house containing toys and a table tennis table. The lake was very pretty and our granddaughter enjoyed feeding the fish. There was lots of wildlife in the grounds and we saw deer many times - even in the middle of the day. The rooms were all a good size and had everything we needed and more!

We had a wonderful week at Deer Leap Cottage, saw actual deer everyday.

The pool, tennis court and table tennis kept us all entertained! Sky, Netflix and working WiFi is amazing for the teenager with us! A huge plus! Location is brilliant 20 mins to Wareham, Lulworth Cove, Studland Beach is around 30 mins away, the Frampton Arms in the village is great for food and within a short work, would suggest you book, difficult currently to just turn up. So lovely to find a cottage that accepts a dog but does not smell as though dogs have been there. Geoff & Hannah are lovely, on hand if you need them and so helpful.