The Bike Shed

A lovely little place, perfect for a long weekend.

The Bike Shed is a quirky holiday home and utterly charming.

It sleeps two in a king sized bed. There is a full sized wet room. The living area is well planned and, although small, is far from cramped. The kitchen has a full sized cooker, fridge/freezer together with a dishwasher and washing machine. It is truly cozy and makes use of reclaimed timber making it feel warm and comfortable. There is a good sized garden with garden furtniture as well as a patio set. Carol & Richard are charming hosts and close by if needed. Would certainly recomment the Bike Shed to others.

The Bike Shed is a lovely, small accommodation, just perfect for two people.

Hostess Carol is very helpful, friendly, unassuming, and hospitable. We appreciated her presence to welcome us (and wave us goodbye). It's wonderful to see how the bedroom, bathroom, and living/dining area fit together so seamlessly in such a small space. It's tastfully furnished, seemingly newly decorated, and equipped with all the necessary comforts. The kitchen is well-equipped, although it can sometimes be a bit tricky to find a place to put your own things (groceries and perhaps some of your own inventory). The furnishings are clearly thoughtful - we always appreciate the effort the owner makes to create a unique atmosphere with a touch of humor and quirk (if you're looking for something impersonal and boring, you should stay in a hotel!). The obligatory styling with cushions on the bed in the bedroom leads to the recurring question of where to put them all when it's bedtime. In a way it's always nice that your hostess wants you to present you with that luxurious feeling, but the sofa is immediately completely full, so it's a bit a bit comical and impractical that you're ritually lugging cushions around if you want to sit there. The bathroom has mechanical ventilation that only works when the light is on. Because the bathroom doesn't have its own window, and you really need the floor squeegee after a nice shower, ventilation is a priority. We simply left the bathroom door open day and night (in the summer, we're out and about all day anyway) so the bathroom could dry properly. Therefore an opening (upper) window would have made sense. The photos show a large lawn — and this is indeed Bike Shed's own (front) garden. With a hedge around it, there's plenty of privacy, peace and quiet (the train is audible, but not disturbing to us), and shade (when needed). We enjoyed sitting there occasionally (when not out and about). The gated driveway, as shown in the photos, belongs more to the adjacent, larger Horseshoe Cottage, which Carol also rents out. You can park your car in Carol's private driveway, on the other side of the Bike Shed. Lockerley is quiet and offers few amenities. The simple village shop is a 5-minute walk away and offers a modest selection, so for more extensive shopping you go to Romsey for example. Mottisfont (National Trust) is nearby, and Lockerley is ideally situated midway between Winchester, Salisbury, and Southampton. We spent a lovely week there in June. It's a small house (in case you hadn't noticed), which makes it wonderfully cozy. A little tidying up every day (you don't carry that much in the back of your car on vacation, after all) keeps things nice and organised. We really enjoyed our little home away from home with large garden (a luxury for us city dwellers) and can highly recommend it!

We had mixed feelings with our stay in the Bike Shed in that the owners have spent a lot of time and effort in making the Bike Shed authentically pleasing but not on practicality for such a small space.

For example: 9 cushion but no where to store them when not in use; very limited storage for clothes; wet room very small so entire floor was always wet after showers so had to wear shoes, had to ask for a mop. We went with family who stayed in Horseshoe Cottage next door so we spent a lot of time with them and only used the Bike Shed for sleeping. We felt that if we only had the facilities of the Bike Shed it would have been really restricted. If the owners were to remove things like the cushions that are not needed and concentration on the practical needs the Bike Shed would be more attractive. The owners were absolutely brilliant and we could tell that they spend a lot of time trying to make both the Bike Shed and Horseshoe Cottage as comfortable as possible.