Historic Bertrand's Cottage to open on St Helena

BERTRAND'S Cottage on St Helena’s Island will welcome guests for the first time in December 2016. The cottage used to belong to Grand Marshal Bertrand and his family – made famous for working in Napoleon’s service in 1816. The hotel features three en-suite bedrooms and the main public areas will include a lounge and restaurant surrounded by large gardens. 

www.sthelenatourism.com

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Sussex hide-away

THE HIGH WEALD Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Sussex is the location for Sheepskin's latest holiday property, which comes with a heated outdoor pool and a tennis court exclusively for guest use. 

Sempstead Cottage – a short drive from the historic town of Rye, Battle Abbey, Bodiam Castle, and Sissinghurst – is in ten acres on a small private estate, with a choice of walks from the door.

The property – which sleeps up to four people in two double bedrooms – is available for three-night weekends and four-night midweek stays for £845.

www.sheepskinlife.com 

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Hoseasons heralds 2016 as ‘year of short breaks’

HOSEASONS has described 2016 as the year of the short break after a 16% year-on-year rise in three- and four-night self-catering bookings across its UK lodge, park, and boating locations.

Short break sales through third parties, including high street travel agents, are up 10% this year.

The number of holidaymakers booking more than one short break with the domestic tour operator is also up, by 12% year-on-year.

Simon Altham, managing director, said: ‘These figures clearly show our customers’ holiday habits are changing. Many are working longer and harder, so it’s easy to see why taking several UK short breaks that allow them to relax, re-charge, and catch up with family or friends is becoming appealing.’

Short break bookings for the Whitsun half-term were up 28% compared with the same week last year, which Mr Altham attributes to families looking for safe destinations near to home.

So far this year, Newquay, Cornwall, is the most popular short break destination, while Devon, Somerset, and Dorset combined have seen the biggest regional increase, with bookings up 40% compared to last year.

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Deals on Dartmoor

WEST COUNTRY COTTAGES is offering a cash-saving deal for stays at a thatched Dartmoor cottage.

Appletree Cottage, in the hamlet of Higher Brimley, near Bovey Tracey, is available for a week from Friday, June 24 or August 19 for £528, saving £102 on the full three- or four-person price of £630.

The cottage has thick cob walls, original leaded windows, and a living room with beamed ceiling and a woodburner in the stone fireplace.

www.westcountrycottages.co.uk

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Book now … for 2017!

TO #TUSCANY is selling holidays for 2017 and is urging guests to move fast to secure the property of choice.

‘One-bedroom cottages with private pools are always the first to sell out,’ cautions the villa agency’s Sean Caulfield. ‘Big villas for large gatherings are also in high demand. As for timing, the school summer holidays are obviously high season, but the weeks around Pentecost, late May, and early June, are also a very busy period.’

To Tuscany has more than 760 #villas and apartments in the region, ranging from budget studios to an 11-bedroom, 15-bathroom villa sleeping up to 23.

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More choice with Milly & Martha

BOUTIQUE #Cornish cottage specialist Milly & Martha has expanded its portfolio of #holiday properties across the county. From a couple’s escape near the Hayle Estuary to a family-friendly townhouse in the heart of #StIves, there are new additions to suit staycationers. 

Coast House Cottage, St Ives – A three-storey townhouse sleeping up to 5 in the heart of St Ives, within walking distance of Porthminster Beach. From £650 for a week.

Station Cottage, Hayle – Sleeping two, Station Cottage has a living/dining area, compact kitchen, spacious bedroom, and a small courtyard. From £275 for a week.

Tregothal, Goldsithney (near Marazion) – In a valley close to the village of Goldsithney, Tregothal is a four-bedroomed cottage, recommended for families or group get-aways. Outside is a garden and BBQ are. From £995 for a week.

Thyme Cottage, St Ives – Thyme Cottage, a two-bedroomed hideaway for up to four guests – is a walk from Cornwall’s northern coastal path. The cottage has wood floors and whitewashed walls. From £395 for a week.

The Milly & Martha agency was formed by friends Milly Parker and Martha Burnyeat, both Cornish residents, in 2012.

www.millyandmartha.com

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Valley hide-away

SLEEPING six, Rosemary Cottage in a valley close to Kingsbridge on the South Devon coast is a converted – and listed – 19th century stone barn. 

It has three bedrooms, exposed roof beams, wood floors, sloping ceilings, and a garden.

Kingsbridge is a traditional English market town whose origins date back to the 13th century. Beaches nearby are Thurlestone, Bantham, and Slapton Sands, and local attractions include Buckland Abbey and Sharpham Vineyard. 

Price: £672 per week .

www.westcountrycottages.co.uk

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Sea views in Wales

PEMBROKESHIRE’S luxury holiday letting agency Experience Môr will be adding a new cottage to its collection this summer: a coastal stone longhouse, Penmynydd Uchaf, midway between Fishguard and Newport.

The three-bedroom house will be the company's eighth property. It has uninterrupted ocean views to Dinas Head and Fishguard, it’s set in almost five acres of land, and is 900ft above sea level.

Available from early July, the house sleeps seven, and has two bathrooms. Prices start from £780 a week, rising to £2,295 during peak season.

It’s 2.4 miles from the village of Cwm-yr-Eglwys, which has a sand-and-shingle beach, while the village of Dinas Cross and a Newport Sands are only minutes away.

www.experience-mor.org


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Online aid for active holidays

TO HELP guests get the most from their UK holiday, Holidaycottages.co.uk has launched its online ‘Active Hub’, which showcases cottages for cycling, walking, water sports, and educational activity holidays. 

Later this spring, the hub will expand to highlight the cottages across the UK where there are opportunities to learn to horse ride, have pottery lessons, ride classic motorbikes, or take photography lessons.

James Morris at Holidaycottages.co.uk said: ‘The new ‘Active Hub’ will help guide our guests when they’re looking for accommodation that suits the needs of the activity they’d like to do. 

www.holidaycottages.co.uk

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Cottage agency goes back to basics

CORNISH TRADITIONAL COTTAGES is going back to basics, opening on the High Street for the first time after 52 years trading. 

The company says it isn't enough to have an online presence anymore. Instead it has opened its doors in Wadebridge, moving from a rural office in Bodmin, #Cornwall, to increase its visibility with consumers as well as engaging in the local community.

It hopes to increase its portfolio of vacation homes and bookings as a result of meeting more local holiday homeowners and potential customers. 

George Edward-Collins, MD of Cornish Traditional Cottages, said: ‘Cornwall is a competitive marketplace and it isn't enough to have an online presence anymore. Wadebridge is a hive of activity, and as the major town for north coast holiday destinations our customers, both homeowners and guests, are passing through all year round. To have an easily accessible and open door for new and existing customers fits naturally with our friendly and helpful ethos.’


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New in Norfolk

#HOLIDAY letting agency #Norfolk Hideaways has expanded its portfolio of properties for the summer season. Additions include a converted Orangery in private grounds, what was an English Civil War ammunition store, and an 18th century mariner’s cottage with exclusive beach access. 

Here are some of what the agency thinks are among the best for 2016:

Tides Reach, Morston
Sleeps 9 in 5 bedrooms
From £719 per week 

Originally four brick and flint cottages, Tides Reach dates back to the 18th century, when it was built by a local ship owner for his best sea captains. They've been converted into a single home, complete with secluded walled garden, and a private path to the sea and marshes.

Eastwood House, Brancaster
Sleeps 8 in 4 bedrooms
From £850 per week
A large family holiday home with an outdoor swimming pool.

First Staithe Field, Brancaster Staithe
Sleeps 10 in 4 bedrooms
From £1,855 per week
New to the holiday letting market. First Staithe Field is set in five acres of grounds running down to the marshes and backs onto Brancaster Staithe Harbour with views out to The Royal West Norfolk Golf Club and Scolt Head Island. It has a galleried sitting room with views over the Roman field at Branodunum

The Magazine, Sedgeford
Sleeps 5 in 3 bedrooms
From £610 per week
Built in 1642 as an ammunition store in the time of the English Civil War, the house was built in the style of a chapel to disguise it's real use. A Roman road, now North Norfolk's most popular walking route, passes by the front door.

www.norfolkhideaways.co.uk 

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Devon get-aways

NEW from the West Country self-catering agency Helpful Holidays are 

Groom's Cottage, Gardener's Cottage, The Hayloft, and Barley House … converted barns in the grounds of former rectory, Grade II listed Talaton House in a small East Devon village five miles from Honiton and nine miles from the Jurassic Coast at Sidmouth.

The cottages have views over acres of Georgian parkland, lawns, and a woodland walk.

Helpful Holidays has rated each cottage at five star standard.

Prices range from £414 (£138 pp for an autumn week at Groom's Cottage) to £1,333 (£223 pp for a summer week at Barley House).

www.helpfulholidays.com

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They’ve inspected them, so you don’t have to

LOVE COTTAGES has what it claims is Britain’s largest collection of personally inspected holiday cottages. The site has launched with 9,500+ UK holiday homes, and a further 6,500 committed properties will be on its books by April. 

The agency says that all of the holiday homes have been personally inspected.

Love Cottages co-founders are independently the owners and directors of Cottage in the Country, The Original Cottage Company, Dorset Coastal Cottages, Wight Locations, and Classic Cottages.

‘Love Cottages provides accommodation as advertised,’ says the company’s chairman, James Ellis. ‘No more hoping and guessing what you'll get on arrival … just quality holiday cottages you can trust from search to stay. In addition to personally inspecting all of the cottages listed, the majority of properties also carry a Visit England or Visit Wales accreditation.’

In a poll of 10,000 cottage rental customers, Love Cottages found that 63 percent of holidaymakers rated property inspection as the most influential factor in the choice of company they booked with. The second most influential factor was the availability of secure payment methods.

www.lovecottages.co.uk

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Simpson Travel launches first French collection

SIMPSON TRAVEL, an independent, luxury specialist villa and boutique hotel operator, has launched its first French programme, featuring a handpicked collection of #villas. 

Regions featured include the Loire, Dordogne, Vendee, Provence, and Cote D'Azur, and the properties range from a three-bedroom house in Mediterranean style gardens in the Var to traditional farmhouses, country retreats, and chateaux sleeping up to 20 guests.

The programme will operate slightly differently to other destinations within the Simpson Travel portfolio.  Firstly, properties will be offered on an accommodation- only basis, in recognition of the fact that many clients will be choosing to take ferries, or make independent arrangements either side of their villa holiday.  Secondly, rather than a Simpson Travel representative, Simpson clients in #France will be welcomed in by the owners, housekeepers, or concierges of the property, who will also be their point of contact should they need any help or advice during their holiday.

In the Cote d'Azur, highlights include Villa d'Agay, a seven-bedroom hilltop villa in the seaside village of Agay, an hour or so west of Cannes.

There are several chateaux featured across the South-West and Dordogne regions, including the 13th century Chateau de la Garinie on the borders of Aveyron and the Lot; the 18th century Le Petit Chateau in Aquitaine; and the Renaissance-style Chateau de la Malartrie.

www.simpsontravel.com

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Hide-aways just for Valentines

FOR couples planning a West Country get-away over #Valentines, Toad Hall Cottages has properties just for two. 

New for 2016, Rose Cottage is a #luxury bolthole in Newton Ferrers on the South Devon Coast. 

The Cutch, few miles from Polperro in #Cornwall, is in a secluded spot – surrounded by pretty gardens – on a farm. Both the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan are within a 30-minute drive. 

For people who want the convenience of being in a town, Riverside Loft in Totnes could fit the bill.  Totnes has historic buildings, cobbled streets, art galleries, museums, alternative health practices, and live music venues. The house overlooks the River Dart in the heart of Totnes.

www.toadhallcottages.co.uk   

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Get Go Holiday now …

‘UNIQUE’ is a much over-used adjective these days, but it’s the right word to describe Go Holiday magazine. It’s the only travel and tourism magazine in Britain – and possibly on the planet – that’s focused on the growing self-catering sector worldwide … everything from cottages in Cumbria and Cornwall to apartments and villas in Florida to the Med.

It features travel and tourism news, and expert location reports showcasing the best of holiday regions and vacation attractions throughout Britain – where the self-catering sector is conservatively estimated to account for 7.6% of all holiday visits and 12.9% of all tourism revenue – and globally.

Readers can make holiday bookings directly with property owners or their specialist rental agents. Properties – cottages, houses, apartments and villas – are advertised in Go Holiday by owners or letting agencies. E-mailing or ’phoning the owner direct means you'll be in contact with someone who knows the property and the locality well.

The self-catering sector is expanding, and it’s not difficult to see why; the advantages of a cottage or villa break have rarely been more obvious and attractive. They are in many cases less expensive than hotel stays, so they save you money that can be spent on the treats that make a get-away even more enjoyable or, in these tougher economic times, just saved. And they offer the flexibility, freedom and privacy that many hotels can’t provide – you eat when you want to, and many villas in Florida and southern Europe offer the luxury of your own private pool.

Go Holiday is your passport to this holiday heaven, and the latest issue is out now, with location reports about …

• South Devon
• Lincolnshire 
• Shropshire 
• Guernsey 
• Yorkshire 
• Kent’s castles and beaches 
• Pembrokeshire 
• Ulster’s NW coast 
• The Canary Islands, as shot by movie makers 
• Cyprus – day-trips from Paphos 
• Benidorm 
• Best Greek beaches 
• Tobago 
• 24 Hours in Florence

Get your online copy by going to http://www.magzter.com/GB/Go-Holiday-Worldwide-Limited/Go-Holiday-Worldwide/Lifestyle/ 

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West Country choices

Helpful Holidays’ 2016 portfolio has grown to almost 650 large and small self-catering properties from West Cornwall to Dorset. 

Prices start from £268 (£90 per person) per week for an early New Year break for three in either Lopes Cottage at Belstone in Dartmoor National Park or Ginentonic Cottage on Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula. At the top price level is Great Bidlake Manor, a Grade II listed 16th century manor house near Bridestowe on Dartmoor for 13 priced at £3,621 (£279 per person) for a high season week.

Other highlights include Sandpipers, a waterside house for nine at Feock in South Cornwall. Bicycles, kayaks, and boats can be hired with river mooring nearby to explore the Carrick Roads waterways … and pets are welcome. Prices start from £1,096 (£122 per person) per week

For a copy of the agency’s latest supplement and its main brochure call Helpful Holidays on 01647 434063 or go to www.helpfulholidays.com

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Simpson Travel acquires two villa specialists

LUXURY operator Simpson Travel has bought two villa companies, French experts Dominique’s Villas and Italian operator Cottages to Castles. The move follows the acquisition of Exclusive Escapes earlier this year, which included a number of properties in Turkey. 

The Cottages to Castles programme will continue to operate as a stand-alone brand with its own website for 2016.

Simpson Travel managing director, Graham Simpson, said: ‘We are delighted to announce these two new acquisitions. Since our launch in 2003, Simpson Travel has continued to grow and we have a high volume of repeat clients who we know will welcome these new destinations.

As a company, our ethos is firmly grounded in offering quality service and a diverse choice of properties to our clients. Dominique’s Villas and Cottages to Castles have similarly high levels of product and core brand values of excellent customer service, as well as a strong sense of heritage, and as such are an ideal match.

The former Exclusive Escapes properties are featured in Simpson’s Turkey 2016 portfolio, while a new France programme will be introduced this month.

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Hoseasons expands cottage portfolio

#HOSEASONS has expanded its cottages portfolio by adding more than 9,000 properties from its sister Cottages4you brand. The domestic tour operator now has 11,313 UK cottages available under its Hoseasons brand. 

Previously the extra stock was available only via its consumer-facing website, cottages4you.co.uk.

Head of trade sales Tariq Khan said the move demonstrated the company’s commitment to giving agents and consumers the widest possible choice in the domestic breaks market. ‘Bringing everything together in one place simplifies the booking process for agents and re-inforces the strength of the Hoseasons brand.’

The operator has just recorded its fifth record summer in a row. Sales of its lodges and parks products were up 10% during the school summer holidays compared to the same period last year. The operator’s entire range, including boating, was up by 5% year-on-year.

www.hoseasons.co.uk

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Somerset get-away

A FORMER milking parlour sleeping four near the #Somerset village of Wookey –and the caves at Wookey Hole and Cheddar Gorge – is available for the autumn half-term week from Friday, October 23. 

The cathedral city of Wells, and Glastonbury with its tor, are within easy reach for days out.

Newly-converted using sympathetic local materials and preserving many original features, the property has oak beams, high vaulted ceilings and a woodburner for chillier autumn evenings.

It’s priced at £530 for the week through West Country Cottages (www.westcountrycottages.co.uk)

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