Last Minute Cottages in Blandford Forum

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Stacy - Verified booking

  At the end of February we had a wonderful week long family getaway to the gorgeous Under Acre Cottage.

  Brimming with period features, this 16th century cottage has bags of character and charm. We loved the exposed beams and the huge inglenook fireplaces! Staying in winter and during the tail end of storm Eunice, we spent many a cosy evening curled up in the living room with a roaring fire going in the wood burner, playing Jenga and other games provided by the owners. When we weren't playing games we would pop on a movie on one of the two tv's in each of the living rooms. There are three bedrooms set in the main historic body of the cottage, one large master bedroom and two smaller, cosy double rooms which you would expect with a property of this period. Downstairs in the extension there is a huge kitchen, ideal for a large family getaway or a weekend away with friends and this is fully kitted out with all the cooking materials you could possibly need. The large kitchen opens up onto a wonderful conservatory which has views out to the garden and much to our delight, under floor heating - perfect for our winter getaway. I absolutely loved the huge garden that was set out over different tiers, the top terrace providing a fantastic entertaining space with a wood burning pizza oven, outdoor dining area and brilliant views out over the surrounding countryside. Despite staying in February we managed to enjoy a fantastic evening up there making pizza's together. The cottage itself is set right back from the road by a long driveway so it's incredibly peaceful and quiet. The only other neighbours are a smaller rental property located next door, however we never heard a peep out of the guests there. I loved the feeling of being slightly off grid with the complete lack of phone reception at the cottage, a pleasure to get to enjoy these days! Saying that, there was wifi for internet and phone calls if required. The pub at the end of the road had recently closed, but that wasn't a problem for us as there are plenty of other fantastic pubs close by such as The Thimble Inn in Piddlehinton (15 mins drive west) or the Anchor Inn in Shapwick (15 mins drive east), both of which did a brilliant meal! On the nights we wanted to eat in, there is a large Tesco supermarket just 10 mins away so we would get ingredients there to enjoy cooking dinner at the cottage. Set in the heart of the Dorset countryside, the cottage is ideally located with some fantastic places to visit just a short drive away like Thomas Hardy's Cottage, Athelhampton House and the unique village of Milton Abbas. All in all a wonderful property and we would happily book a return visit. We thought the gardens would be incredible to enjoy during the summer months! I shared about my stay at Under Acre Cottage on my Instagram account which you can view here if you'd like to see images of the cottage - https://www.instagram.com/p/CarVaiGrYOK/ www.whatstacydid.com

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• David - Verified booking

  Overall, we enjoyed our time at handsome Under Acre Cottage.

  We especially appreciated and shall long remember the really spacious interior, many interestingly quirky and ;characterful' features and contents - and above all, the delightfully peaceful grounds, both around the cottage itself and the unique 'secret garden' above the surrounding trees. One slight negative was a concern over 'housekeeping' (both fridge and freezer were showing signs of wear and tear and in need of a little TLC). We also felt that the comfort of the main living room would benefit from one or two rugs on the cold quarry tile floor - and perhaps at least a few cushions on the sofas. There was also one important consideration we felt ws not made clear on the website. Prior to booking we were given reassurances over our concern as to how close the adjoining 'Mouse House' rental cottage was to Under Acre. In fact, this is a matter of only yards at one point and Mouse House is clearly visible from a couple of rear windows. Thankfully on this occasion our new 'neighbours' were charming and shared out wish for peace and privacy . . . Otherwise - a very pleasant stay. Thank you!

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• Jonathan - Verified booking

  We had a wonderful stay at Under Acre Cottage.

  If anything the pictures do not do justice to how pleasant the place is. The cottage is a good size with plenty of living space downstairs. Cottage is well provided with most things that you would need, providing a box of OS maps of the local area was a really nice touch. The upstairs bedrooms are good quality decent sized, although the smallest room is a little lacking in storage space. The garden is incredible - it wasn't clear before arrival but the garden is split into two - the part by the house and then a separate part up a pathway which has a summer house, pizza oven and gets the last of the evening sun. Minor point of note is that the village pub has closed so there is no longer a pub within walking distance. The cottage is also very well located for travel South into the Purbecks as well as being reasonably convenient for getting onto the major roads East and West.

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• David - Verified booking

  Accurate description.

  Well furnished and equipped. Two negative aspects which affected our stay, 1. We needed considerably more heating than provided for by the preprogrammed settings on the Hive central heating control thermostat situated upstairs. Though manual override /interventions were possible, these were only temporary and so frequent frequent trips upstairs were needed to sufficiently keep the downstairs warm.This was proved to be a real irritation and inconvenience. Having log burners is not a suitable alternative to adequate background heating. I guess that I could have tried to contact the owner about this but, frankly, with this should not be necessary. 2. Parking our not-so-large car in the entrance to the house proved very tricky as the hedge is overgrown on one side needs to be cut back.

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• Hayley - Verified booking

  Beautiful cottage with exceptional surroundings - the gardens were just wonderful with great seating, barbecue & garden room in the top garden.

  Great location with huge variety of places to visit within easy reach. Very roomy downstairs accommodation with high quality furnishings & equipment. The helpful owner maintained good contact throughout. Apart from the large master bedroom, the other two are quite cramped & one has no wardrobe at all, which is fine for children, but not ideal for adults, as our party was, so this is worth bearing in mind. The nearby pub closed recently, so this needs to be corrected in the listing. The WiFi is fairly reliable in the main lounge and master bedroom, but did not reach other areas of the house, and there is no mobile reception at all. These were minor things, however and we had a lovely holiday, thank you!

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