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Review 1447: Bruern Holiday Cottages, Saratoga Cottage

www.bruern-holiday-cottages.co.uk

Recommended. Review by Joy W from MD

cottages on an estate near Chipping Norton, Cotswolds, Heart of England

When

May 23 - 27, 2005, 4 nights

Location

Saratoga Cottage is part of a converted stables on the Bruern Estate near Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds. The location was approximately ten miles southeast from Stow-on-the-Wold and it is very country; not in a village or town. Our front door faced into the courtyard, however there was a rear entrance through our own private garden which we used more often, reached directly from the car park. Although there were approximately seven cottages in the converted stables it was very private. We had our own secluded garden right out the back door with table and chairs as well as two sun loungers. We enjoyed the privacy of the area.

Nearby Amenities

Upon arrival there was an extremely generous welcome pack of food which included homemade bread, cheese, free range eggs, butter, milk, crackers, jam cake along with tea, coffee, sugar and even a bottle of champagne! This was not a special order but rather the normal course of items they provide to everyone. You can order complete meals through their own chef if you don't care to cook. A list of starters, mains, vegetables and puddings is available prior to your arrival for placing an order. You can also pre-order your groceries if you don't care to grocery shop. We did our own grocery shopping at the large Tesco's in Stow-on-the-Wold. There were other smaller grocery stores in other nearby towns but we chose the one-stop shopping at Tesco's.

The House/Apartment

The building where the cottage was located was very picturesque. The pictures on the website are very accurate and in fact, don't quite portray the magic you feel upon first view. There is a very thorough history of Bruern on their website which I couldn't possibly quote here. We found Bruern a very tranquil place to stay and wished we had booked our entire week there. I believe there were a total of twelve rentals there, ranging in accommodation size from 2-10. About seven of the rentals were part of the converted stables and the remaining five were in other converted outbuildings.

Garden

Saratoga Cottage has a private garden area, surrounded by a high hedge and attractive flowerbeds within. There was a small patio with table and chairs, two sun loungers, sun umbrella and a BBQ grill with charcoal which you could roll out into the grass for cooking. They do have a pool which was not open while we were there as the weather was quite cool. We did walk to the pool and found it an enchanting place - very secluded with tall hedges and there were many tables and chairs, sun loungers and sun umbrellas on the patio. There was also a tennis court next to the pool, and in the common lawn area in front of the stables there were croquet hoops set up.

To the rear of the cottages was an open space with soccer nets and balls, and in a quiet corner a Wendy house for children along with swings and peddle cars. This area was surrounded by lovely gardens and through a brick archway at the back you could watch the sheep come in and out of the surrounding fields. They also had a games room in a separate building with ping pong and a pool table. A very nice place for children and although we were the only people there without children, it was still very quiet with enough places to go on the estate should you want to get away from any noise, although it was our experience that the children there were very well-mannered. Most of the families spent the majority of their time in their own secluded garden space.

Furnishings/Cleanliness/Living Areas

The living room furniture was very well-cared for and of high quality fabric, that said the sofa and one chair were not very comfortable for sitting. There was a table with two chairs in the kitchen. The cottage was extremely clean. This cottage is set up for only two people and there were sufficient sitting areas for us both, inside as well as outside.

Bedrooms/Bathrooms

The bedroom was on the second floor, galleried to the living room below. There was a canopied bed with firm mattress and a nice sitting chair with ottoman. As this cottage is only meant for two, it was sufficiently private. There was a nice closet with plenty of hanging space. The bathroom was upstairs, adjacent to the bedroom. The bathroom was exceptional with a velux window which you could tilt open and look through to view the fields. It was floored in marble and the tub was free-standing with not only a hand-held shower but a central shower head (of the type that looks like a sunflower) for stand-up showering.

Kitchen

I wish I could import this kitchen into my own home. It had been recently redone with all of the conventional appliances; a below-counter refrigerator next to a below-counter freezer, microwave, dishwasher and washer/dryer. The countertops were marble and everything was of very high quality. There were pots, pans and dishes for everything I could imagine cooking. We cooked breakfast and dinner every day and found nothing lacking. We also used the grill one evening although the charcoal they provided was quite unlike anything we had encountered. Suffice it to say, we did get it lit and had some fabulous sausages.

An iron and ironing board was provided in a small closet under the steps as well as a drying rack. Anyone with experience washing clothes in Europe will know what I mean when I say that their washer/dryer appliance does not really get your clothes dry. We found the heated towel rack in the bathroom to be quite useful in getting our socks and heavier items completely dry.

Problems or Bonuses

A very helpful surprise was the extremely detailed Cotswolds road map left in the "Bruern Day Out" box. We would have been lost without it.

The television came with Sky TV, which I never realized is about 500 channels. Not that we spent much of our time in front of the telly, but we did enjoy British TV on occasion!

There were so many small surprises that to reveal them would spoil it for anyone actually travelling there.

Agency and Representatives (and price)

We dealt with Frances, the manageress, strictly via the internet. She was very helpful and efficient. The information on the website was totally accurate. We paid 476 pounds for 4 nights (Monday-Thursday) in May. Although that is higher than what we normally like to pay, it was a splurge for our anniversary. I would imagine the per night cost may be cheaper if you stay for an entire week.

Do you recommend this vacation rental to others?

I would whole-heartedly stay here again and normally I don't care to return to places I've already been. If I could persuade any of our extended family to get on an airplane and stay somewhere as a group, this is the place I would choose. This was our fourth trip to England and the best self-catering place we have stayed thus far.

Things to do in this area

We tend towards the stately house and garden path. Chedworth Roman Villa was a special find, so much history. Blenheim Palace, Hidcote Garden, Batsford Arboretum and the public footpaths around Bruern were much enjoyed. My personal favorite was Snowshill Manor. We came across some real finds at the Stow flea market, were disappointed with Bourton-on-the-Water (way too many people-busloads!) and thoroughly enjoyed some shopping at the Worcester Porcelain Factory.

And driving on single lane roads is especially not for the faint of heart!

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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