Smith seeks stylish self-catering cottages
Posted by Juliet on October 9th, 2008Stayed somewhere amazing? Tell us about it!
When it comes to researching hip holiday homes, you realise just what a valuable service Smith provides with Smith & Friends (our cherry-picked collection of luxury self-catering properties and vacation rentals), when you have to scour the internet for private properties with that boutique-hotel wow factor.
It’s tremendously hard seeking out really special self-catering stays for Smith & Friends, as places that are genuinely stylish or chic in every way are few and far between.
In order to find one diamond you have to wade through hundreds and hundreds of hive-inducing bedspreads, dodgy sofas, hideous headboards, and terrible 80s wooden kitchens (I won’t even mention the decades-old B&Q bathrooms) to find the occasional Starck-fitted, Designers Guild-furnished cool cottage. And then there’s the actual in-person visit to check towels are properly plumped, glasses aren’t chipped and there’s no cigarette burn on the bedsheets. Gosh our members have it lucky being able to refer to our hand-picked selection of chic retreats.
We’ve been exhaustively scouring Britain’s favourite holidayspots to unearth a few more 2/3-bedroom cottages, two hours from London, but we’d love to find new properties in the Cotswolds, Dorset, Sussex and Kent, or on the coast (especially in Devon, Cornwall).
SO if any of you have stayed somewhere truly special, answers on a postcard please. Or better still, share your recommendations with us.
We’d love to add a few smaller luxe-for-less lodgings to our collection, with a super-high level of attention-to-detail, and sophisticated taste in design and decor.
So what would be my fantasy Smith & Friends escape?
Decor-wise, you’d be hard pushed to beat a bedroom at Berkeley House for utter glamour (pictured right).
I’d love to flop into a colourful Naughtone sofa or pull up a Lou Rota chair at one of Staying Cool’s hip hangouts in Birmingham or Manchester.
The home cooking at Trevenna is one of the hotel-style service offerings. Resident mum, Karen Rowe makes a mean Cornish pie, up there with the best this Smith has every eaten. (For special occasions and weddings, Trevenna can also arrange Cornish hog roasts, barbecue and even an ice-cream van serving delicious locally made delights.)
The Michelin-starred chef at Villa Roca is about as dream-come-true as private villa dining gets. Ask and she will rustle up what your heart desires. Pick from menus, or ask to be surprised; it’s totally up to you. There are three dining zones to choose from: inside, on the roof deck and down by the pool.
And if you stay at super-stylish Pencalenick House all your food and drink is included as is the sailing.
For a memorable birthday celebration, I’d plunder the dressing-up box at Cliff Barns.
It would have the TV Room at Gossel Ridding a 50-inch television begging for guests to take advantage of the enormous DVD library and Sky+. Pitch-black walls and light-excluding black-out blinds ensure it’s as dark as a coal mine even in full daylight, betraying that this is a house happy hosting film-industry professionals – if the framed movie posters weren’t enough of a give away. A vast room-wide charcoal-grey window seat is loaded with cushions in every size and shade of almost-black, complemented by a stack of cable-knit blankets for maximum cosying up. As for all the bathrooms at this amazing Arts & Crafts property – each one is fitted with its own highest-possible-spec fittings (pictured above).
One the subject of bathrooms, the freestanding tubs at Skippers or Old Stores make ablutions as alluring as they can be.
When it comes to a dream view – imagine this constantly changing – like when you sail the Barracuda Charter Yacht: ridiculously azure seas are fringed with a striking coastline of igneous rock; while cormorants drift lazily past overhanging precipices and cunningly-hidden bays (pictured right).
You’ll find more self-catering properties that make the cut on the Smith & Friends homepage.
Hello. My interior designer friends have told me that I must stop by your site and say hi. We’re pretty new so I wanted to introduce Ava Living: world’s first stop for interior design.
I am the founder, David Bassett-Parkins, and I would be delighted if you might visit us. I think your readers might find us interesting also.
My best wishes to you Mr/Mrs Smith.
By David Bassett-Parkins
On November 27th, 2008
Thanks, David. We’ll be sure to check it out – we’re always hungry for design tip-offs here at Smith, so expect a cybervisit from us soon enough.
By Anthony
On November 27th, 2008