Reviewed and Recommended ~ Coastal Retreats & Country Retreats, Luxury Self Catering Cottages + Discounts For Readers…

Coastal Retreats & Country Retreats are offering all Love My Dress readers a 10% discount off any booking made in any high or peak period and a 5% discount on any booking made in any mid or low period.  Full prices are here and here.  Just mention ‘Love My Dress’ on booking. What a perfect start to your first ‘stay-cation‘!

Afternoon all 😉  With the arrival of my lovely Intern Franky, I’ve been given a bit of breathing space to consider the content I’m delivering to my readers and how I can improve and expand the appeal of Love My Dress beyond beautiful weddings.  To this end, Franky and have been cooking up some ideas and projects to bring you a new style of feature on Love My Dress, in addition to all the regular features that including real weddings, inspiration boards, DIY, discussion posts, video features, themed/topical weeks, bridal wear, inspirational interviews, beautiful photoshoots and more.

One thing I’ve been keen to introduce for a while now, is a ‘Reviewed and Recommended’ section, with a particular focus on hotels and accommodation, or products relevant to my readership that either I, or Franky have direct experience of. I’m not talking about products or services we have been paid to review, I’m talking a review from first hand experience, simply because we want to share something fabulous with you.  I’m really excited about this and particularly looking forwarding to launching a new Beauty series over the next couple of months, packed full of useful DIY tutorials and featuring Franky herself and with contributions from an expert Makeup Artist – more on that soon.

Now, whilst I do a lot of travelling in my job and am always on the hunt for a good hotel recommendation {lots of hotel recommendations coming up soon}, I also love to explore the beautiful landscape that I am lucky enough to live nearby and so today, I’d like to launch my Reviewed and Recommended series by paying homage to the area I now call home and introducing you to Coastal Retreats and their sister company Country Retreats. Located in the North East, Coastal Retreats and Country Retreats specialise in offering beautiful, individually styled self-catering accommodation in some of the most stunning coastal and countryside areas of the North East UK.

Featuring 5 star graded, some ‘Gold’ awarded, (VisitBritain/English Tourism Council 2012) luxury self catering cottages, the Coastal Retreats coastal holiday collection has everything a discerning holidaymaker could actually want in a luxury getaway; professionally designed contemporary interiors, luxury soft furnishings, spacious properties that are fully equipped for self catering purposes,  leisure club membership and nearby breathtaking scenery….

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Coastal Retreats

 

“Coastal Retreats is aimed at the style conscious and discerning holiday maker, from period properties to contemporary design-led boltholes, the collection offers a refreshingly different approach to a self catering holiday”

 

I first discovered Coastal Retreats when I was planning my hen-celebrations ahead of my March 2009 wedding. I didn’t want to do your typical pub-crawl and end up queuing for yonks just to get in a bar, or a taxi. I wanted to do something more exclusive, that would give me special time with the opportunity to relax, have some amazing fun and create some brilliant life-long memories along the way. So I set out to find some self-catering accommodation for a group of ten of us. I figured that if I asked all my friends if they’d be willing/could afford to contribute £100 for three nights away then we might just be able to afford it.

I really wanted the weekend to be spent close to home. I’m from the Midlands originally {Stafford, kind of slap in the middle of the M6 between Birmingham and Manchester, in case you’re wondering} and knew that whilst it would be a trek for them, I’d love my friends to come and experience the North East.  It didn’t take long after googling for me to find Coastal Retreats and I was immediately smitten with what I saw.

“I don’t think I have come across another website that has made me hyperventilate with excitement as much as Coastal Retreats has
Why is a site such as this still the exception, not the rule?”

 The Guardian Travel

 

Whilst their websites could probably do with a refresh and slightly more user-friendly design, all the information you might need in advance of making a booking and to reassure you you’re in safe hands is available on the Coastal Retreats website and Coastal Retreats websites.  From directions and maps, to a list of facilities available, floor plans, details of location and locality and local amenities, video footage and details of whether the property includes a sea-view. The company’s have also gone as far as including a ‘candid comments’ section for each property, which lists any potential down sides they can think of before you book, like, for example, if a main bedroom might be a little on the small side for a travel cot.

My hen weekend took place in February 2009 at one of Coastal Retreat’s top properties, ‘Moo House‘.  I know, cute right? I was completely in love with Moo House from the moment I discovered it during my Christmas 2008 break, and a few weeks later, my Mum, Sister and a small group of my best friends found ourselves drinking vintage champagne in the most beautiful renovated stone barn conversation in a tiny hamlet called Tughall Steads, situated on an organic coastal farm, and just five minutes away from the sea.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Coastal Retreats

Our arrival at Moo House was made extra lovely by the fact that  Coastal Retreats had gone out of their way to turn the lights on {it was 4pm by the time we all arrived, it was beginning to get dark} and had put the heating on, and left us with not only some basic groceries which consisted of locally produced organic produce {milk, bread, eggs, butter etc}, but a huge plate of freshly baked double chocolate chip muffins and a couple of bottles of champagne.  As soon as we stepped in, we knew we’d found our little heaven on earth for the next 3 nights…

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Film Production Copyright (c) 2012, Coastal Retreats

Photos of my hen weekend album {taken by me} – a gift from my sister on my hen weekend…

Check me out in my hot red tutu and my fine feather boah from The Pound Shop. No expense spared 😉

By the way, turning on the lights and heating and providing basic organic groceries is something that Coastal Retreats and Country Retreats do for all their customers…

It was the BEST hen celebration ever; Moo House offered everything I could have hoped for for a really fun, supremely comfortable weekend away with my girls; relaxation, space, warmth, home comforts, a huge kitchen with a large table we could all sit around, and beautiful scenery, not least an outhouse with pool table {affectionately known as ‘The Cow Shed’ – it also had a tonne of games, TV, DVD etc}.  And because, well, none of us really felt like cooking, we hired a catering company to come and cook for us on the Saturday night based on a local firm that was recommended by Coastal Retreats.  I felt exceptionally well looked after from the moment I made the booking to even after we left, when Coastal Retreats made a point of personally getting in touch to see if we had enjoyed our stay.

More photos from my wedding photographer Karen McGowran, who I invited along to take some piccies of me and my girls. Rocking my best posh red chicken look below, obvs…

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Karen McGowran

But Moo House is just one property owned by Coastal Retreats and it’s sister company Country Retreats.  I’ve been lucky enough to stay over in a couple of these properties, more recently, ‘The Fold’, located in a tiny village called Rock, where my husband, children two of our best friends stayed for 3 nights to see in the new year…

View from the back of The Fold which boats a huge garden and brilliant little play house for children.  This property is marked as being on of the most child-friendly in Coastal Retreats‘ portfolio of properties…

More photos taken by me…

A high chair was provided, as were lots of of other goodies to pre-occupy my children Leanora {left) and Eska {feeding her}. They had their own play room downstairs infact, which included a stereo and TV, comfy sofas, bean bags, books, comics, magazines and a huge chest full of toys…

The play house was a big hit with Eska, as were the swings…

The fold is part of a complex of around ten or so houses that have been given special permission to be built on protected land.  I wasn’t sure about being located so close to another property on booking this one but it wasn’t any issue at all, and the tiny hamlet we were staying in was so quiet.  The seaside villages such as Craster {famous for it’s kippers} were located less than ten minutes away in the car, as was the old market town of Alnwick.

By the way, most of the properties managed by Coastal Retreats and Country Retreats are  child-friendly {thus, a high chair, changing facilities and a good selection of toys are available} and a small number of properties are also pet friendly.

That’s my eldest, Eska below, contemplating what to write in the guest-book…

Look who found Henry…

Our garden view, surrounded by fields and with the  sea just in the distance there…

Each bedroom is very beautifully appointed with an English country cottage vibe…

Huge big kitchen to spread out in {Leanora with one of my best friends Amanda below}…

Comfy sofas galore…

Oops, maybe not so comfy when you’re being given a love squeeze!

Sleepy head….

Loads of floor space to run around on…

The Fold made for a perfect venue for an end of Christmas/new years break getaway and we literally had to tear ourselves away. I am totally in love with the place and hope to return for another end-of-year break – something special to look forward to! 🙂

There are many, many more properties available via Coastal Retreats and Country Retreats, the latter of which covers a much larger region, stretching in to North Yorkshire. The property below, which showcases a good example of the contemporary style and quality of a Coastal Retreats/Country Retreats interior is Spring Cottage located in North Yorkshire…

And  here are some more videos of other gorgeous properties available via Coastal Retreats and Country Retreats.  I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment in recommending them for a romantic getaway, an alternative hen weekend, a mini-moon in the UK or simply a break just to get away from it all…

Spring Cottage, available via Country Retreats…

The Old Papermill, available via Country Retreats…

Coastguards Cottage, available via Coastal Retreats…

The aptly named ‘Seascape’, available via Coastal Retreats…

There are many more videos to browse through available here, and you can find the corresponding properties either on this page or this one.

All in all, I cannot fault Coastal Retreats or Country Retreats in any way, and here’s why:-

♥  their customer service is excellent, booking was straight forward etc…

♥  each property has WIFI – essential for a blogger on her travels!

♥  I love how they go out of their way to make your arrival a comfortable one with the heating/lights on and basic groceries supplied…

♥  their properties are beautifully appointed with all the luxury you could imagine, beautiful comfortable spaces, comfortable furniture, every mod-con, Sky TV, wifi, stereos, huge kitchen, plenty of toys for children {if you’re looking for a child-friendly property that is – plenty of properties are available for those seeking a more ‘grown-up’ style getaway}…

♥  each property is located near to stunning Northumberland Coast line or set amidst beautiful, natural countryside, providing relaxed and peaceful surroundings…

If you’d like to explore more, visit the Coastal Retreats or Country Retreats websites.  The parent company, Coastal Retreats, can also be round on Facebook and Twitter.

Prices are available here and here.

For those of you interested in venturing up North {or South, if the case may be}, you can learn more about Northumberland via the Visit Northumberland Tourist information site. An exceptionally beautiful part of the world that you really should have on your ‘must visit’ list.

I hope you’ve found my first review interesting and are looking forward to reading Reviewed and Recommended features.  Next week, I’m reviewing the unapologetically glamorous, beautiful bohemian bolt-hole that is Blakes Hotel in London.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear back from you – are you planning a getaway somewhere new this year, perhaps as a weekend break, or are you looking to plan an alternative style hen party like I did?

Have a lovely Saturday lovey peeps 🙂

Much love all,

Annabel

♥

 

* This is not a sponsored post and I have not been paid or ‘gifted’ to share these comments.