About Helpful Holidays

Who Are We?

An award-winning, leading holiday letting agency based in the heart of the South West with over 40 years of experience.

What We Do

Located in Chagford and surrounded by the breath-taking landscape of the Dartmoor National Park, it goes without saying that we know the West Country and holiday cottages we let very well.

Our excellent team help arrange over 16,000 holidays a year, provide a friendly, personal service where customers always come first. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing getaway with a hot tub, or a last-minute holiday, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for with our impressive portfolio of over 700 holiday homes.

More than 60% of our bookings are from previous customers, their friends, relatives and work colleagues, and 99.6% of customers who responded to our questionnaires this year said they would recommend us to friends.

Our job is simple - to do all we can to make sure you have happy holidays. We do so by being very honest and straightforward. By publishing clear photos and accurate descriptions and by having knowledgeable staff to advise you. By carefully and regularly inspecting cottages (see 'Star ratings') and upholding our industry-leading standards of quality.

By never overpromising (if anything, we understate) and absolutely delivering on the expectations we raise. This approach has earned us a faithful and growing fan club.

Our Service

When booking or holiday letting with Helpful Holidays, you’ll have the opportunity to speak to and meet our dedicated and knowledgeable team. The team are on hand 24/7 to ensure you have a truly relaxing getaway. They are passionate about both the area and our properties and are always just a phone call away. Or why not pop into the office where you will be greeted with a smile and a cup of tea?

Inspections

All the properties we let are inspected by us. Our inspections are unique, relying enormously heavily on the experience of the inspectors, members of our team who have seen hundreds of houses.

They check everything we think might be relevant to your enjoyment of your holiday, from basic cleanliness to whether the colour of the curtains goes with the duvet covers. They check the inventory, bounce on beds, take in the view and check whether the loo fill (or squeaky floorboard) will wake you at night.

They get a feel for a house and how it would be to live there. Sometimes it's about the quality or quantity of 'gadgets' and, yes, there are some tick boxes but mostly it's about ambience, tone and comfort, all looked at with a good dollop of common sense. Although they are invisible to our customers, inspections are possibly the most important thing we do.

Our Impact Mission

As part of the Sykes Holiday Cottages Family, Helpful Holidays is committed to creating lasting holiday memories with a positive social and environmental impact.

Our impact on people and the planet is as important to us as shareholder profit.

As part of our Impact mission, we aim to:

- Reduce our carbon emissions by at least 50% by 2030… and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050.

- Work with at least 20 biodiversity projects in FY23 across the regions we operate in through volunteering and sponsorship of initiatives.

- Become a single use plastic free business and achieve Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Business accreditation by the end of 2024.

- Inspire and enable 100% of our team to volunteer every year, supporting charities, community projects and social enterprises.

- Enable 100 disadvantaged families to go on holiday in FY23 and work to increase this number every year.

- Positively impact at least 10 community and charity initiatives every year, strengthening existing relationships while building new ones.

To get the latest updates on our Impact activities, head to our Impact section on the blog.