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Review 2457: Owner, Cromford

www.bookcottages.com

Recommended. Review by Joy W from MD

3bed/1bath cottage in Cromford, Heart of England

When

October 2006, 4 nights

Location

Lilac Cottage was an end-terrace house in the small village of Cromford in the Peak District, Derbyshire. The location was perfect as we were on a "Pride and Prejudice" self-planned tour. Since this was an end-terrace we had only one direct neighbor but never saw or heard them although we did smell their lovely Indian take-out one night.

Nearby Amenities

The closest big grocery store was in Matlock (about a ten-minute drive). There was a small shop for very basic provisions, butcher shop, and newsagent just a few steps down the street from the cottage. There were several pubs serving food within walking distance.

The House/Apartment

The cottage was built in the early 1800's by the Arkwright family. It was one of several in a row originally used by the textile workers as homes. There were three floors; on the ground floor you entered through a small front garden into the living room with a sofa, love seat and TV/DVD, through here to the dining room and through there into the kitchen. There was a mudroom off the kitchen where the freezer and washing machine were kept. Up one flight of stairs from the living room to a front-facing twin bedroom and off the hall was the family bathroom, up another flight of twisty stairs to another front-facing twin bedroom and a rear-facing double bedroom. The cottage was in excellent shape, and the owners provided "before" pictures in nearly every room so one could admire all their hard work.

You can view the house directly: Lilac House - Cromford.

Garden

The front garden could have been a nice area to sit, private to the cottage but facing a busy road, cool weather and lack of time prevented us from utilizing this area. The back garden was off-set from the cottage; you had to walk behind the home next door to access this area, however, after reading the guest book we discovered there was a grill in the shed which others had used. There was also a locked storage area for bicycles should you bring any along. The back garden was immediately adjacent to the neighbor - as they all were. We felt it was very dear and cozy.

Furnishings/Cleanliness/Living Areas

The furniture in all rooms looked fairly new and was well-maintained. We learned that some of it had been made by local craftsmen. The sofas were comfortable and could seat all five of us comfortably. The dining room sat six. The cottage was very tidy and quite homey. The bedrooms were carpeted and all other living areas were tiled.

Bedrooms/Bathrooms

The bedrooms were spacious and everyone stated that the mattresses were very comfortable. Each person was provided with two pillows. There were extra blankets in each room. The bathroom was also spacious with a jacuzzi tub and overhead shower. There was only one bathroom which may put off a group of six (but coming from a family of ten who shared two bathrooms - it was not bothersome). Towels were provided.

Kitchen

The U-shaped kitchen was compact, practical only for one person to cook at a time. There were plenty of pots and pans, a hot water pot, french coffee press, toaster, microwave, four-burner stove and an oven. The refrigerator was the usual under-counter variety that we expect to find in England and there was a small freezer in the mudroom. There was also a washing machine (no dryer) and we hung our clothes on the line out back (clothes pins provided).

Problems or Bonuses

There were no real surprises other than the heating was programmed to come on and go off at certain times. There was a cold snap the last morning we were there and the house was a bit chilly so it would have been nice to be able to adjust the heat but I understand the reason behind this.

Parking was on the street. We only had a problem one night when we returned very late and parked around the corner in a spot that we hoped was okay (obviously it was because the car was there the next morning).

There is no ATM in town. The nearest one we found was in Matlock.

Agency and Representatives (and price)

We handled our booking entirely over the Internet. The website and provided pictures were entirely accurate. We paid £55 for four nights in October plus a booking fee of £24. I felt that was a good bargain - it worked out to approximately £45 per night or £36 per person (based on our group of five, six would have been even cheaper). We picked the keys up at the newsagents shop and never had any direct contact with the owner. There was a book in the cottage detailing how everything worked.

Do you recommend this vacation rental to others?

We would definitely stay here again. My mother-in-law commented several times how nice it would be to actually live in the cottage.

Things to do in this area

As we were on a self-planned tour of the "Pride and Prejudice" filming locations (both the miniseries and recent film), we visited Sudbury Hall, Lyme Park, Chatsworth and Belton House. This was a new area for us to visit in England and the hills were quite different from what we were used to seeing.

The Scarthin used book store was just around the corner and I could have spent hours in there had we more time.

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

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