Dartmoor Valley Lodge

3.4★

8 Guests
4 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms
Pets Yes
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Features

Hot tub
Swimming pool
Off road parking
Ground floor accommodation
Ground floor bedroom
Garden / Patio
Cot available
Highchair available
Pub/shop < 1 mile
Washing machine
Dishwasher
Games Room
Broadband / WiFi

Reviews & Ratings

Accuracy of the listing

Cleanliness

Comfort

Facilities and Maintenance

* Based on a combined average customer score

20 Customer Review(s)

S
July 2024

“We stayed at the property 3 years ago and it does need a little TLC since then.”

The chairs on the decking are broken and the hot tub cover is not the correct fit and therefore requires 2 people to lift it. The oven has lost its markings and so we had to keep referring to the instructions. The tap in the kitchen is still loose and there were no oven gloves. The pillows in the upstairs double bedroom are flat. The lodge was very clean and we had a lovely stay and with a little TLC I would definitely recommend it.

The chairs on the decking are broken and the hot tub cover is not the correct fit and therefore requires 2 people to lift it. The oven has lost its markings and so we had to keep referring to the instructions. The tap in the kitchen is still loose and there were no oven gloves. The pillows in the upstairs double bedroom are flat. The lodge was very clean and we had a lovely stay and with a little TLC I would definitely recommend it.

- S, July 2024
Karin June 2024

“We were really disappointed on arrival there were weeds on steps to entrance of cottage which didn’t make for a good 1st impression.”

Then shoe rack was snapped in 2 which didn’t need to be there. Decking plank was sticking up which just needed a nail to secure. Hot tub cover was all ripped and steps leading to hot tub was rusty on top and underneath. Mat outside was full of holes. Tiny pillows in oversized pillow cases. Quilts with stains on them. Leak from upstairs sink and major leak from bath which came into hallway downstairs. We were moved to a property next door on 2nd day which was much more cared for but spent half a day moving from one accommodation to another which took up half of day.not a call from owner to ask if we were ok or apologises. We had booked Saturday to Saturday but were asked to moved on Friday as people had booked for the property but we refused to pack up again for 1 more night. We should’ve been offered compensation for the initial move but were only offered compensation to move the 2nd time. We feel this listing shouldn’t be on Sykes Cottages as we have booked numerous holidays with Sykes and never had an issue, and it gives Sykes a bad name

- Karin, June 2024
Helen April 2022

“The lodge was lovely, clean and comfortable.”

The hot tub however was not pleasant, not sure when it had last been cleaned, there was a green film to the bubbles when the jets were on & the filter was revolting. Whole thing needs emptying, cleaning, filter replaced & refilled.

- Helen, April 2022

Dear Guest, I very happy that by and large you found the lodge to your liking. As regards the hot tub, they are drained and cleaned weekly I assure you. The water for hot tubs on the site comes from a borehole and that can be quite high in iron, which on occasion reacts with the chemicals to turn the water slightly green. It can be fixed in moments with the addition of a further chemical and our cleaner does look for this. I am very sorry though that on this occasion he seems to have missed it and that has affected your enjoyment. David Property Owner
Kiran April 2022

“Bed was very uncomfortable”

- Kiran, April 2022

Dear Guest, I am sorry you found the bed uncomfortable and hope it didn't spoil your holiday too much. I did check the beds just two weeks before your visit, so it would be useful to know which bed you referred to though, so we could replace the mattress. Property Owner
Jayne September 2021

“Place and venue lovely but, No recycling that we could find.”

Outside where we stayed had 6-8 normal Biffa waste bins, surely recycling could be made available. BBQ was dirty couldn’t use it and some of the jets in the hot tub wasn’t working.

- Jayne, September 2021

Dear Guest, Thank you for your feedback. There is recycling on site, but it is not adjacent to the lodge, where there are only general waste bins. The recycling bins are in a dedicated area on the right hand side of the road leading to the Manor House. We are though trying to get more recycling. I did also check the hot tub a couple of months ago and found that most of the jets had been turned off. You rotate the fixing around the jet and it opens and closes them. Once I had opened the jets, they all seemed to work. We replace the barbecue each year and request that guests leave it as they find it, but I'm afraid few do. I'm sorry for that and will pass on a message to my cleaner to check each time. David Property Owner
Lisa July 2021

“The toilet seat was broken, the plates & bowls were all wet, cutlery dirty, drawers were filthy had to be hoovered, hot tub lid didn’t fit at all for a different model as different colour & size only 4 jets worked out of 20 so zero bubbles, curtains so thin sunlight wakes you up by 4.”

30am which is not great when trying to relax, 1 hand towel per bathroom rather than per person!

- Lisa, July 2021
Kelly May 2021

“We loved the site - it was small (which is what we wanted), with tennis court and park right outside, pool and pub around the corner.”

Games room was shut due to Covid. Our house was perfect for 2 families, everyone had their own space. Hot tub on the deck got well used! Although WiFi was included, the router was located in the house next door so was very slow for us. Don’t expect decent download speed! The Tamar Valley was stunning, some amazing views nearby. We would go back!

- Kelly, May 2021

Dear Guest, I'm delighted you found our property and the site to you liking. I just wanted to say that the wifi is no longer next door, and the lodge has its own dedicated receiver and router. The connection has also been upgraded to download speeds are considerably faster. David Property Owner
Marlene May 2021

“We will be e.”

Mailing everybody when we have listed all the faults. but we had no holiday at all .we just felt we where getting the property for your next guests who will still have no tv and a part working hot tub ,a window that leaks a bedroom smelling fausty and afrying pan i would be ashames to put in my dustbin incase some one seen it

- Marlene, May 2021

Dear Guest, This was obviously a very bad response to receive and I am deeply sorry that this was your experience. You should not have had the problems that you did and were unlucky that a number of things coincided at once. We had just started with a new property manager, the television broke and had to be replaced, but we then struggled to make it work. The pan should not have been in the lodge and I had requested it be replaced prior to your stay, but it hadn't happened. We also take cleaning very seriously, so I am at a loss to explain why the lodge was dirty or fusty. I have overhauled the procedures since though. The pans are all new and I personally bought them, cleaning has been improved and I have had no complaints since. I spent a week in the lodge earlier this year, mending, fixing, replacing and doing anything necessary to make the lace exactly what I would expect. I am again sorry that you had a bad experience. David Property Owner
Neil May 2021

“The lodge was spotless and super clean.”

The rooms where of good size and the living area big enough. There is room for 2 cars outside you lodge but will get crowded when other lodges full. The pans in the kitchen aren’t the best as scratched to bits to food sticks. The kitchen knives are poor and don’t cut very well. The hot tub is just that, a tub that is hot as 70% of jets do work but there are very few bubbles and no force from the jets that work we reported it several times just to be told that we needed to turn the jets on. They where all on as water was coming out of them but with no power. We had no WiFi for 5 days and we reported this on day one just took 5 days to fix. They did eventually get it fixed but the strength was 3mbps not enough for our daughter to watch YouTube kids. I understand it may be week in rural areas but not powering one device is shocking. The lodge squeaks and when I say squeaks you can’t move upstairs without waking everyone up you can’t roll over in bed as floor squeaks you can’t walk to bathroom or on stairs as it’s so loads everyone wakes up. The upstairs double bed rolls you into the middle and the bed squeaks as well The lodge is warm and cosy water is hot once warmed up. Caretaker was polite and did try to fix everything for us but in this day and age you would expect WiFi and a hot tub that worked fully.

- Neil, May 2021
Catherine October 2020

“Shower needs updating, pipes are noisy at night.”

Some jets don’t work in hot tub. Bathrooms are very small,struggled to put toiletries in there. It was clean and fairly spacious. We were also inconvenienced as we didn’t have a dining table due to previous holiday people breaking it. WiFi isn’t very strong upstairs.

- Catherine, October 2020

Thanks for your feedback and we are pleased you found it clean and spacious. We are always happy to receive comments where we can improve something but we were not aware of any issue regarding the shower, hot tub jet or pipes at the time- we have not received any comments via feedback re the issues you mentioned since this, but we will of course investigate and do all we can to remedy where necessary. We do have a hot tub maintenance resource and we would have been more than happy to have this looked at during your stay. Sykes has a dedicated helpline for guests at the property and we also give out our contact details pre arrival and in the welcome folder at the property - we're sorry we weren't given the opportunity to help you at the time. Apologies regarding the dining table due to some recent damage, we ordered another table immediately but due to the current covid situation the delivery was longer than we hoped for – I can confirm that the new dining table is now in place. Wifi can be occasionally intermittent due to atmospheric pressure as the site is in the countryside, however we hope that the rural surroundings, tranquility and location make up for that. Property Owner
Celeste September 2020

“There were a number of things we felt did not meet our expectation of the lodge, although the lodge had been cleaned before our arrival it seemed like it was rushed, there was a very strong smell of curry presumably from the previous guests, an over powering smell of dog/ dog hair from the vacuum cleaner, dishwasher had not been emptied.”

The cooker hood filters were filthy, the bin lid was broken and wouldn't stay closed. The microwave was rusted, the Bbq was so rusted that there was a whole in the bottom which meant you couldn't put coal in it. There was debris in the hot tub. Cupboards had loads of random stuff in it but very little in the way that was actually useful. No laundry bag or basket to put washing in, no area for drying clothes. Doors difficult to open and shut. Dishwasher salt and rinse aid not provided. The pub and food on the park itself was good and service was generally very good. The kids enjoyed the swimming pool and park.

- Celeste, September 2020

We are glad you enjoyed the food and service at the Manor House which is locally run and they are passionate about their products and service. The dishwasher was left after a completed cycle but not emptied, so that you could be reassured on your arrival that all crockery had been cleaned thoroughly before your arrival. We do provide dishwasher tablets for using in the dishwasher and this means rinseaid/salt are not required, as for most modern dishwashers. The microwave may have recently rusted due to extra cleaning during the covid situation and will of course be replaced as necessary. We’re so sorry that the property had any odour from previous guests cooking or pets and we will certainly be asking our housekeeper to ensure that the property windows/doors are left open through the changeover cleaning process so that any cooking residue dissipates as much as possible. The carpets will also of course be checked. The BBq has also been replaced. The hot tubs are checked pre arrival and unfortunately occasionally when the hot tub is being used and the lid off, the occasional stray leaf may enter. We do also have a dedicated hot tub maintenance person who would have attended if we or Sykes had been made aware. There should be a clothes drying rack in the understairs cupboard, this will be checked as soon as possible and replaced if it is no longer there. Bin bags are provided for laundry at the property at the end of the stay for bedding and there is a chargeable laundry facility on site for guest use during their stay if needed. We do give our housekeeper contact number on pre arrival info and also both owner contact numbers are included in the welcome pack at the property so that any issues can be resolved for a customer as soon as possible. Sykes also had a dedicated helpline for customers at properties, during your stay. If we or they had been aware of any concerns, we would of course have helped straightaway and we’re sorry that we weren’t given the chance to do so. We’re pleased that the kids enjoyed the leisure facilities and that they had a great time. Property Owner
Nikita September 2020

“All was clean and good,everything was in working order like a hot tube,ketal and the rest.”

Generally we enjoyed everything apart of that games area was closed by some reason. 9nly that disappointed us.

- Nikita, September 2020

We're so glad you enoyed your time and that you found everything clean and comfortable. We're sorry that the games weren't available at the time which may have been due to the covid situation. We're glad it didn't spoil your stay and we have contact numbers pre arrival and at the property if guests need information on any facilities. Sykes can also be contacted with any queries via a dedicated guest helpline and are always happy to help. Property Owner
Beth August 2020

“We had a great time here, the lodge was big enough for 6 adults, 1 child and 2 infants and was clean and well stocked.”

The owners are accommodating and very helpful, the only issue for us was the lodge seemed to have a problem with damp. We stayed on a particularly wet week in August, but even our clothes that were hanging in the downstairs bedroom wardrobe were too damp to wear. We made the most of our time and had a brilliant family holiday exploring Devon and Cornwall.

- Beth, August 2020

We're glad you found it clean, spacious and welll stocked and we're thrilled tht you had a great time. Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry if you had an issue while there, we do give out our housekeeper contact details pre arrival and leave our phone number at the property if guests have any concerns. Sykes also have a helpline to assist guests staying at the property. We were not aware of any issue with damp during August and as you say was possibly due to the particularly wet weather, as we have not had any feedback about this from subsequent guests – we will certainly monitor it though! Property Owner
Dean December 2018

“The accommodation was good but does need a little work.”

My wife didn't get much sleep due to a noisy boiler which seemed to run every 5 minutes constantly. The hot tub requires service/ maintenance as several of the jets were not working. The accommodation had one shower for the eight of us which we found difficult at times. The site itself was good, the swimming pool was clean and well maintained, the on-site restaurant/ bar was very nice and friendly and the food was exceptional. However, the bar was not open all day every day which would have been preferred.

- Dean, December 2018
Michael November 2018

“Clean, warm and comfortable.”

It was the middle of November so only a few souls about, therefore pleasantly quiet. We were advised prior to arrival that the swimming pool was out of action for maintenance but we had use of a private jacquizi.

- Michael, November 2018
Alexis August 2018

“Just a few minor problems; some lights with missing light bulbs, no storage for food in kitchen, hot tub with some jets not working, could do with an outside light, but otherwise lovely holiday.”

- Alexis, August 2018
Kim August 2018

“I have just returned from a 2 weeks stay at Honicombe manor .”

The property and park is very tired and unfortunately was very disappointing . After a long journey I had to hoover thought , grubby bathrooms , holes in towels , bulbs missing in bedrooms and brown hot tub water.! I have always booked with your company , numerous properties, with no problems . This property was definatly not acceptable for the £2600 we paid for the stay. As a company I feel this property does nothing for your reputation and has put me off booking further holiday breaks with yourselves .

- Kim, August 2018
Suzanne August 2018

“Accommodation smelled of damp.”

Had to rearrange cupboards as no storage for food other than fridge. Freezer broke and had iceberg stuck to its interior back wall. Lots of light bulbs missing or not working. Dirty pots and cutlery put away in cupboards, on arrival, had to wash everything prior to use. Comfy beds. Jacuzzi a nice touch but not all jets worked. Looking at visitors book, these were historical issued which have clearly been ignored. In need of a refurb. Stayed at Sykes accommodation before and never been disappointed previously. Not a moaner, nor have unrealistic expectations. Cornwall fortunately is amazing!

- Suzanne, August 2018
Anthony July 2018

“The location was very good and we were able to visit many places in the area which were not to far away.”

The help we received from the maintenance staff was excellent they were very friendly and helpful.

- Anthony, July 2018
Dave July 2017

“The hot tub !”

some of the jets were blocked or not working . A outside light would not go a miss when in the hot tub area !

- Dave, July 2017

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Summary

Four bedrooms: 1 x double, 1 x ground-floor double, 1 x twin, 1 x ground-floor twin
Bathroom with corner bath, basin and WC
Ground-floor shower room with shower, basin and WC
Open-plan living area with kitchen, dining area and sitting area
Electric central heating
Electric oven and hob, microwave, fridge/freezer, washing machine, dishwasher, TV with Freeview, WiFi, DVD, Wii, selection of books, games and DVDs
Fuel and power inc. in rent
Bed linen and towels inc. in rent
High chair and cot included
Off road parking for 2 cars
Patio with hot tub, furniture and BBQ
Shared use of on-site leisure club at Honicombe Park (closed 25th December and 1st January only), including indoor heated pool, outdoor heated pool (May - Sep inclusive), sauna, mini gym, children's play area and outdoor chess
Dartmoor Valley Lodge 2 is within 30 minutes drive of 6 Golf Courses
Two well-behaved dogs welcome, owner may take a third on prior arrangement
Sorry, no smoking
Shop and pub 1 mile
Note: Pool opening hours are 9am - 8pm Monday - Saturday and 9am - 5pm on Sundays
Winter pool opening hours are Tuesday - Saturday 9am - 8pm and 9am - 5pm on Sunday and Mondays
Note: Dogs to be kept on a lead outdoors
Note This property has a £200 Good Housekeeping Bond
Note: Check-in from 5pm, check-out by 10am

The property

Note: This property has a Good Housekeeping bond of £200.

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About the location

GUNNISLAKE

Tavistock 5 miles; Plymouth 18 miles.

The small rural village of Gunnislake lies on the steeply wooded banks of the River Tamar. It has village pubs and a small selection of shops. Notably, the village sits at one end of the scenic Tamar Valley Railway - with regular services along the river bank to Plymouth. The area is perfect for exploring Dartmoor, the south and north coast beaches and the attractions of Cornwall’s far west. Close to hand, the Dartmoor town of Tavistock with its pannier market, pubs and restaurants is a must, as well as the popular fishing village of Calstock, renowned for its crafts and festivals, while the Donkey Sanctuary and Cotehele House and Gardens (NT) are just 10 minutes away. Enjoy a round of golf at St Mellion (8 miles), explore the restored Victorian mining village at Morwellham Quay (4 miles), search for otters and deer along the Tamar Valley footpath, visit the National Trust owned Lydford Gorge, or take a trip to the beach and picturesque harbour at Looe (25 miles) - there’s something for everyone. For something really different, why not ride the scenic Tamar Valley Railway into Plymouth and spend the day in the fabulous Marine Aquarium or strolling the historic Plymouth Hoe?

Please note: Leisure facilities are closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day & New Year's Day. Reception & shop will be closed for the same.
The bar will be open for Christmas Day lunch at 12pm - 3pm (only if pre-booked) - closed from 3pm until 27th and closed New Year's Day.

Note This property has a £200 Good Housekeeping Bond

As with some properties located in a rural setting the internet signal and wifi in the lodge is weak and can only manage a limited number of devices at any one time.

This property offers the following short breaks:

Winter
Off-season
Last minute
Christmas

Dartmoor Valley Lodge

Honicombe Manor near Gunnislake, Cornwall (Ref. 933451)

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Features

Reviews & Ratings

“We stayed at the property 3 years ago and it does need a little TLC since then.”

“We were really disappointed on arrival there were weeds on steps to entrance of cottage which didn’t make for a good 1st impression.”

“The lodge was lovely, clean and comfortable.”

“Bed was very uncomfortable”

“Place and venue lovely but, No recycling that we could find.”

“The toilet seat was broken, the plates & bowls were all wet, cutlery dirty, drawers were filthy had to be hoovered, hot tub lid didn’t fit at all for a different model as different colour & size only 4 jets worked out of 20 so zero bubbles, curtains so thin sunlight wakes you up by 4.”

“We loved the site - it was small (which is what we wanted), with tennis court and park right outside, pool and pub around the corner.”

“We will be e.”

“The lodge was spotless and super clean.”

“Shower needs updating, pipes are noisy at night.”

“All was clean and good,everything was in working order like a hot tube,ketal and the rest.”

“We had a great time here, the lodge was big enough for 6 adults, 1 child and 2 infants and was clean and well stocked.”

“The accommodation was good but does need a little work.”

“Clean, warm and comfortable.”

“Just a few minor problems; some lights with missing light bulbs, no storage for food in kitchen, hot tub with some jets not working, could do with an outside light, but otherwise lovely holiday.”

“I have just returned from a 2 weeks stay at Honicombe manor .”

“Accommodation smelled of damp.”

“The location was very good and we were able to visit many places in the area which were not to far away.”

“The hot tub !”

Summary

The property

View on map

About the location

GUNNISLAKE