Duffield

We spent a week here from 19.

06.26, eleven of us inc three under 5’s, it is a really lovely house, very comfortable with a great flow and layout. Bedrooms all of a good size, and plenty of bathroom facilities. Kitchen really well equipped, but needs an air fryer, we did take our own. Lots of foodstuffs in the cupboards but we didn’t use them as you can’t tell if they are in date, as they are all out of the original packaging. Nice big patio with large table and sufficient for a big group of people, although dining room table was a squeeze. Lots of things for the beach, chairs, buckets and spades and windbreaks. Table tennis table was great for evening fun. I recommend this house for a wonderful stay, especially due to its close proximity to Bigbury Beach.

This property is fully equipped, in the kitchen you have enough stuff for 20 guests.

Nice log fire too.

We spent a lovely weekend at Duffield celebrating a Birthday with family and friends it was ideal for our needs cosy, well equipped and a perfect location.

Recommend the Sunday roast at the Pickwick Inn next door too.

Our second time staying here.

We really enjoyed ourselves and visited our favourite places which were all nearby. Again made good use of the garage with the table tennis. The dogs loved the garden space and loved their daily visit from the cows in the field next door. House is great and accommodates our family really well! Only thing we found that may need looking into is most of the dining chairs are starting to become wobbly and a couple we had to click the legs and seats back together but not sure how long they will last, so maybe worth checking over. But overall another lovely stay so a massive thank you once again!

This was our second visit to Duffield and we weren't disappointed.

It's the best equipped accommodation we have experienced and the owners are generous in allowing use of pretty much everything. I have read a negative comment about cleanliness, while it's not sterile I think those comments were rather over the top and we hope to return. It's great for family/friend gatherings...and we love our two dogs having safe spacious garden space.

Duffield is an extremely comfortable and exceptionally well equipped house and the information provided by the owner regarding local facilities, places to eat, things to do etc is excellent.

Instructions about heating I found difficult to understand and could not work out at all how to operate towel rails. Instructions about recycling are extensive but need to be made clearer, and referred to the necessary boxes for recycling which couldn't be found. Some of the crockery has seen better days and should be ditched but, all in all, a really lovely house for a family holiday.

Duffield is a large house and was big enough for our party of 10.

We had some plumbing problems with a shower pump that burnt out and the kitchen sink that would not drain and the tap was constantly leaking. The property is well equipped with plenty of everything. I don’t think that it was decorated for a year or two as the skirtings were pretty grubby and the also the walls in places. A shame really. It’s a short drive to the beach, 2 miles or so but this can take 30-40 mins when it’s busy as the lanes us very narrow. Bigbury beach is very large and great for families. We all enjoyed our holiday but we probably won’t return.

The property is very nice and spacious and in a lovely location.

However the property had not been cleaned to an acceptable standard. The property smelt of cooking oil and not fresh. The kitchen floor was very dirty and had obviously not been mopped. When we spilt some water on the floor and wiped it the cloth was black. Even though we knew the property was dog friendly, the sofas had dog hairs on them and under and between the seat cushions were dirt and many crumbs. Again obviously not cleaned. Cobwebs in the toilets and under the pan showed again cleaning not to standard. For the price we paid we would have expected a much cleaner property. This did disappoint a start to our holiday. We did complain to Sykes however the owners didn’t appear too bothered. Be aware you may have to clean upon arrival.

We had a really comfortable stay in this beautifully maintained and well equipped house.

I would like to point out if you have young children to be mindful of the drop from the lawned area onto the stone terrace & also the family room has no en-suite or stair gate.

What a lovely house to stay in, clean, well equiped and furnished.

We found it very comfortable and exactly as described. Great outside areas for us and our two dogs. The host family have been extremely generous in providing equipment for activities etc. We love the location, near to pub and well stocked village shop and fantastic beaches. We are very likely to return in near future as we have family in Kingsbridge area.

Good location, plenty of equipment for rainy days, close to eating amenities.

Plenty of car parking space, secure with electric gate

Fantastic property beautifully decorated with all amenities the only thing missing is a bathroom on the top floor.

Thank you so much, we had an amazing break to celebrate my father’s 80th Birthday.

The house is unbelievably well equipped and everything is meticulously labelled. My mother’s 80th is in two years and I can see us coming back then if not sooner! Fabulous!

This is our second family visit to celebrate an early Christmas.

Not disappointed. Very comfortable, well equipped and provides plenty of sport and games to play, which enabled us to celebrate our family Christmas Olympic Games. A very enjoyable stay.

Lovely property for our family holiday!

Well equipt kitchen which was lovely. Very spacious living room and dining area which was perfect. One thing we found was that the heating was a bit much at points especially over night. Although we did like the wood stove lit when we would get back from visiting beaches and places for a lovely relaxed evening. Perfect location as very central to lots of places that we visited. Would visit and stay again as we really enjoyed our stay!

We had a wonderful family holiday!

Duffield is such a lovely home from home. It has everything you could possibly need for a perfect holiday for a large group. Everything within the house was extremely well thought out from the well equipped kitchen, the large kitchen table, ample seating in the lounge to the beautiful bedrooms & very importantly, with a large group, plenty of parking space. It was beautifully decorated too. Within 30 minutes of lovely Salcombe & Dartmouth & only 11 minutes from Burgh Island. It was just ideal. I highly recommend this property & would definitely book again when visiting Devon with the family.

It was an amazing family holiday.

It had everything we needed. The kids loved the garden and seeing the bills/cows. Thank you for letting us stay in the beautiful family home. The only place we went that had a problem was the pub next door. They were grumpy and not very nice but that’s not your problem.

Had a brilliant week at Duffield,big house with everything we needed,probably one of the best 5 bedroom holiday cottages in the UK in my opinion,if we decide to go to Devon for a large family holiday we will book Duffield again

On arriving at Duffield we were immediately faced with overflowing drains on the driveway, which were backing up into the house.

I was unable to speak to anyone at Sykes or Helpful Holidays to raise the issue and this was the only tel no we had been given, so I resorted to your msging service - knowing that I probably wouldn't receive a reply over the 72 hr period as with all other previous messages I had sent. My husband is a builder and has had to deal with many septic tanks over the years and on taking the drive drain cover off, and also the septic tank cover, it was immediately evident that there was a serious blockage problem backing up to the house, which had clearly been happening for a considerable time. I went to the village shop to see if anyone had some drain rods and the shop owner put us in touch with a gentleman who had recently sorted out her drains. She also contacted the owner of Duffield to alert Mrs Westacott of the problem and I gave my mobile no for her to contact me directly. Mrs Westacott did not believe that there was a problem with the drains having been at the property on the Friday, which we find incredible, especially as it had been noted by previous guests that there was a drainage problem. After several v stressful hours Mrs Westacott arranged for the gentleman recommended by the shop owner to come later in the afternoon to see if he could resolve the issues. Thankfully he was able to clear the blockages - he said that had mainly been caused by wet wipes having been flushed into the system.

Omg we absolutely loved our stay.

The house was amazing, really homely and comfortable. It was very well equipped with everything you could need. The location was great. Would definitely recommend and hopefully return thank you

Duffield is an excellent base from which to explore South Hams.

The house is extraordinarily well-equipped and was spotlessly clean when we arrived. The kitchen had everything we could ever imagine needing and the bedrooms were extremely comfortable. Our two dogs loved the large garden. There are wonderful restaurants within a stone's throw, beaches and golf courses within a very few miles and a pub almost literally next door. We had a wonderful week and hope to return.

We had a lovely holiday at “Duffeld”, the house was spotless and had everything we needed.

The double garage was a great extra as we had 4 surf boards, body boards & 2 dogs so it was a great space. The “Journey’s End” pub was absolutely fantastic and so pleased we booked in advance. Would highly recommend this property & location. Great surf, great walks fantastic house

Amazing house , it was clean and comfortable and large enough to accommodate our family.

We had a great Christmas break , it was so close to the beach, shop and pub . The bedrooms are very roomy and comfortable. Bathroom is fantastic with the sunken bath . We only had a slight issue with heating, trying to override the timer and put the heating on earlier , but did manage to sort it eventually . We would love to come back again, hopefully next year . Thank you

We would have preferred earlier access because of fading light.

Needed heat on all towels rails to be on. Beautiful comfortable house enjoyed by all. Thank you.

We had a fantastic family holiday here, even had reasonable weather!

The house has everything you could possibly need and exceeded our expectations.

Really beautiful house, wonderfully equipped and very well maintained.

The garden was also lovely although the drop, from the grassed area to the patio, meant we had to be on constant alert with our two toddler grandchildren. Upstairs stair gates would have been very useful, but I understand not always easy to install. In all we had a great holiday and loved the house.

Beautiful property, absolutely everything you could wish for!

We did a lot of cooking main meals in the evening, and we weren’t lacking a single bit of equipment! So spacious for 3 couples and a toddler, we didn’t feel like we were crampt or in eachothers space at all. We would love to come back!

We were so surprised how lovely the house was.

It had everything at our disposal surrounded by beautiful countryside I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this house for a restful break for the family Fantastic very impressed

Perfect family holiday home!

We spent Christmas as a family of 12 at Duffield and it exceeded expectations. The house is beautifully presented with all rooms very comfortable and spacious. Great kitchen and living room for cooking, family meals, board games and cosy fireplace. Duffield facilities are incredibly well organised and we were fully set up for cooking numerous large Christmas meals with the ample utensils and fantastic induction range. Whilst we enjoyed a winter stay and did not use the garden space, the garage is stocked with lawn games and outdoor furniture so would be a great space to enjoy in the summer months. Great communication from the owner. I would thoroughly recommend booking Duffield!

We had a wonderful stay at Duffield.

The house was perfect for our family, clean, warm and spacious. There was everything you might need in the kitchen and plenty of games for the family indoor and out. I would highly recommend this house and would hope to be able to stay again. Thank you.

We stayed at Duffield for my husband's 60th birthday.

We found it very comfortable and relaxing. Ample room for all of us. Very well equipped. Lovely dog proof garden so the dog had a super time as well. Lovely walks and a fantastic village shop that you can get most things. I would definitely book here again. It felt like home.

The Duffield is an impressive and extremely well located large property with a great layout that feels cosy yet spacious both inside and out.

Thoughtfully decorated and amazingly well equipped it has 5 large double bedrooms each one with double aspect windows that make the rooms feel roomy and luxurious. The garden is dog proofed at the back with a beautiful view and substantial furniture. The garage has a great table tennis table and literally anything you could imagine you might need in terms of kitchen appliances/supplies are in abundance. There is also a really great little local shop stones throw away with a post office that is very reasonably priced. To make our stay even better it would have been helpful if there had been some instructions for the house eg in a central folder available on arrival listing how to use the electric gates, where the keys were located (took us 3 days to find these in a drawer) a summary of local attractions/restaurants, nearest supermarket, recommended beach, Wi-Fi password .etc etc . to save us time fumbling around trying to discover how to use things and where they were. We also didn’t clock that there wouldn’t be any towels as this is unusual for a cottage stay and the “what to expect from your stay/what to bring” email didn’t mention this even though the information was buried in small print. Additionally it was exceptionally disappointing that the listing came up as within a mile of a pub and yet the pub has been shut permanently now for over 6 months. That aspect of the listing needs updating. All things considered I would definitely recommend this property it really is lovely and would be really great for eg a large family get together. It really is a fabulous place and we had probably the best holiday we’ve ever had there. We would definitely return with probably more of our family next time. Thank you.

A lovely cottage with spacious rooms, excellent facilities and plenty of games and extras.

It was clean, tidy and well maintained. We celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary with our family during our visit and we couldn't have enjoyed it more! Thank you.

Beautiful well presented property in a quiet location.

We had a fabulous family break here, very relaxed and only a short drive to the an outstanding beach at Bigbury. One of the best holiday homes we have stayed at

What an amazing find.

This house is so well equipped, comfortable & spacious….everything you need for a relaxing stay. The whole family thoroughly enjoyed it.

Excellent clean facilities, so well equipped, welcoming property in a great location.

It’s a shame towels, bath mats & tea towels aren’t included at all. A faultless stay and great information provided by the owner beforehand, who went above and beyond.

We had the most wonderful stay in this lovely home.

We really couldn’t fault anything and would definitely return.

Duffield was everything it said and so much more.

We had a fantastic family holiday

An exceptionally comfortable well thought out home.

..if it isn't there, you don't need it! Beautifully clean and spacious, and the table tennis was an added bonus! So many wonderful beaches within a few miles, Burgh Island, Bantham, Hope Cove and Blackpool Sands being just a few. Totnes is well worth visiting too, with many interesting shops.

Family pre-Christmas event , it s just a great family house, excellent location, very well equipped and very welcoming.

All of our group enjoyed the stay and it over achieved our expectations.

The property was great.

The best kitted out rental I have ever stayed at. Very comfortable and warm. It was superb. The Garage as a games room with table tennis went down very well with our children and grandchildren. The rear garden is very safe and enclosed for dogs. Highly recommended. The village has a very good shop and pub both within a 100 yards. Some great places to visit like Burgh Island and Hope Cove.

The house was beautiful, in a lovely village location and was very comfortable with many amenities.

Very clean and welcoming. However there was one major problem, in as much as there were no towels supplied. We contacted Sykes, Ref COR 234562-CF, about this issue. Christina said that in the description of the property this was mentioned. I checked the website again to see if we had missed this information. On the details for the property in clearly stated that 'linen and towels are included in the rent'. So unfortunately I think this is an error on Sykes behalf, that landed up costing us £40. We also spoke to the owner, who was incredibly helpful, but confirmed she did not supply towels and had informed the agents, so it is a great shame that this was not reflected on your website and no information was sent to us subsequent to booking. According to the owner there should have been a welcome pack. This too was missing, and although investigated was never supplied.

We were very satisfied with the excellent accommodation, however, one of the reasons for booking this property was for its security.

We were informed it had electric gates ( and were even given a code for them) On arrival it was obvious that they have been broken for some considerable time and were completely unusable. Hence they had to stay open all the time. Our party consisted of two very young children and this was not what we were expecting. The other problem was the waste facilities. They were completely inadequate for a party of 10.

A lovely clean, spacious property with all the facilities you could need.

All I can say about Duffield is WOW!

Hands down the best holiday cottage I have ever stayed in and I rent one for my family every year. Location is amazing with Bigbury on Sea beach a short drive away and a shop & pub 30 secs walk away! The house itself was outstanding with lots of social space as well as five large double bedrooms! Kitted out with absolutely everything you could possible want including a table tennis table, garden games, two large televisions and very good wi-fi! Brilliant holiday had by all of my brood and somewhere we are definitely considering returning to! Thank you for allowing us to share your amazing home!

Duffield was a lovely holiday home , great facilities and very well equipped.

Location excellent , loads of good walking around the area , good pubs nearby (50 yards)serving decent food . Kingsbridge very useful for major provisions but local shop over the road also excellent Good fish and chips in Kingsbridge ( the codfather) Also great seafood from Catch of the Day . Superb Oysters .

We had a marvellous family holiday and could not have asked for anything more.

A special thanks to the owner who went out of her way, to help us out after my mistake, thanks again

This is the loveliest self catering accommodation we have stayed in.

It is fully kitted out with loads of little extras. Beds are super comfy, the rooms are massive and cosy. It’s actually nicer than the pictures. We had 2 screaming babies in our group but the house is so big it didn’t matter and we couldn’t hear each other! All of the sports equipment in the garage was used. The badminton was set up in the garden all week. Gorgeous garden furniture which was also super comfy. Literally could not say one bad thing about this accommodation. Will definitely return! Thank you!!

We had an amazing holiday.

The house is SO well equipped! However, the walls and floors are very thin! Also there were a couple of things that were damaged when we arrived and the curtain pole came off the wall in the master bedroom when the curtains were closed Otherwise, great, thank you