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Review 718: The Moretons Vacation Houses, Courtyard Cottage

www.moretons-soutar.co.uk

Recommended. Review by AimeeN from Switzerland

3 bed/2 bath cottage in Bredon, Tewksbury, Gloucestershire, Heart of England

When

April, 2003, 1 week

Location

Located in tiny village of Bredon, down a long drive, surrounded by fields, private location, no noise or obstructed view. Very quiet with beautiful grounds including orchard and gardens.

Nearby Amenities

You can walk into Bredon to a tiny village store less than a mile away, or drive into Tewksbury for a couple of larger grocery stores, perhaps 3 miles away.

And Indian place delivered food to Moretons, otherwise, one would drive into Bredon or Tewksbury or surrounding areas for restaurants.

The House/Apartment

The Moretons is a former estate from 1821, consisting of the old original Farmhouse that sleeps 10, and in the renovated stables and dairy, there are 8 other cottages. All in Cotswold stone with English country gardens, perfectly shaped and trimmed hedges (the full-time gardener is very friendly and born in the area, so full of tips and ideas and directions).

Garden

There are beautiful, tranquil sitting areas all over the grounds. Each cottage also has its own patio with seating and can share the larger grounds where there is a swing set and heated playhouse. The Farmhouse has its own large private garden/lawn.

Furnishings/Cleanliness/Living Areas

The furnishings in Courtyard Cottage itself were a bit dated, but clean and comfortable. In the main sitting room there were 3 stuffed chairs and a small sofa (matching), and the dining table sat 4, and the kitchen table sat 4. The other cottages had been updated with newer furnishings.

Bedrooms/Bathrooms

We slept comfortably every night. The main bedroom has a good double bed with plenty of bedding and good pillows. The en suite bathroom is up for remodeling and may have already been done. The 2 upstairs bedrooms consist of one with 2 twin beds, and one with just one twin in it. There is also a good wood baby crib available if needed. All the beds were clean and in good shape with plenty of bedding and good pillows. The main bathroom had just been remodeled with brand new everything, floor, tile, shower, bathtub, sink, toilet. It was all perfect and in good working order. We had hot water any and all the time and no troubles with any toilets or plumbing, etc...

Kitchen

The kitchen is bigger than ours here at home. Big, clean, light, fully equipped "right down to a needle and thread" as the owners are fond of advertising. Plenty of dinnerware, cookware, utensils, towels, even dishwasher tablets, dish soap, scrub pads, tea service, everything.

In usual English style, the clothes washing machine and dryer are both right in the kitchen built-in under the counter. In Courtyard Cottage where we stayed, they were newer models and ran very well and came in handy for us with 3 children.

Problems or Bonuses

If anything, the place ended up being nicer than we expected because the grounds are really gorgeous and the Soutars are very attentive to your needs. They have run this place for 30 years (as of 2004), and are in their 7th decade of life, I believe. They have a full staff running and cleaning the place, and a REALLY nice indoor heated swimming pool that is pristine, complete with changing rooms and showers and a sitting/viewing room with coffee and tea. Mr. Soutar is a bit of a nut for trains, so in summer, if you sit on the patio outside of the pool, a little train will bring your drinks out to you. He also has a little table train in one of the cottages that rides around your table carrying pepper and salt. Those quirky English. Nah, aren't we all?

We did find it a bit tedious to have to reserve a time to use the swimming pool. AND you have to pay 2£ per person per hour for it. I mean, it is pristine and very warm and exceptionally maintained, but I did want to mention that pool time has to be reserved and paid for at the Moretons.

Agency and Representatives (and price)

I booked directly through the Soutars but found their property through Premier Cottages Direct www.premiercottages.co.uk). Premier provides the properties but the individual must make the booking privately.

Do you recommend this vacation rental to others?

Yes, I would stay at Moretons again if we wanted to go back to the Cotswolds. I would ask the Soutars if they have remodeled the en suite bathroom or the carpet in the sitting room in Courtyard Cottage first. If not (which I doubt), then I would request Corner House or Mary's Cottage to sleep 4 instead. Because we peeked in those and they are all updated.

But one must remember that the English are quite fond of draperies, lamp shades, patterned carpets and upholstery and such. It's not just at the Moretons that we saw this type of decor, but in restaurants and peoples homes, too.

Things to do in this area

Aimee included a wonderful list of links for this area. I put them on our UK & Ireland: Trip Planning - Resources page.

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

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