“Firstly the pros; This property is in an idylic position on the headland overlooking the beach at North Hallsands, waking up to that view every morning really set us up for our daily adventures.”
There are some nice walks from here, or for the less energetic a short drive will bring you to Start Point, East Prawle or Slapton Ley. Even just spending the day lazing about at The Reach or dog walking on the beach is very enjoyable. The coastal footpath runs directly past the gate where there's a bench that most walkers stop to take in the view so we got chatting to several very nice folk who stopped there.
We took our Spaniel dog with us to The Reach and found it really good for him, we could leave the door open so he could come and go as he pleased without being able to get out of the enclosed front area and he loved it out there, saying hello to most passers by. Being a stonechipped / flagged area made it easier to keep him clean and wipe him down as there's nowhere out there for a pooch to get muddy and any sand he'd picked up on the beach could be easily dealt with out there too. It was a very enjoyable week spent in a lovely area.
The cons: The property is starting to show some slight signs of a lack of TLC and attention to detail, the photos on the website must have been taken a while back when it was "fresher" so they make it appear a bit nicer than it actually is. The stonechiped area at the front of the house needs a good weeding for instance as it's starting to get quite overgrown in places. The were also a couple of items such as glasses / spoons etc in the cupboards that weren't very clean.
The towels are starting to look a bit worn & shabby and could probably do with replacing soon, there are also a few minor signs of black mold appearing in the shower cublicle which whilst not too bad yet will need seeing to before it gets much worse. The shower though is very good. A shaving mirror in the bathroom would be nice as it's a bit of a lean into the big mirror and the light isn't very good in there either really, not helped by the lack of a window to cast any natural light.
I would suggest that anybody booking here take along some Tupperware type containers to put any opened food items in, as we experienced a bit of an ant problem in the food cupboard during our stay, on our second day we returned after a walk to find ants crawling all over the inside of the cupboard. Once we'd wiped it all out and put any open items into containers, which we'd thankfully brought with us, it was fine apart from the odd ant or two we saw during the rest of the week. There didn't appear to be any cleaning cloths in the property, there were cleaning materials but no dishcloths or dusters etc that we could find. The WiFi here was also a bit hit and miss.
Finally, whilst the bedding was perfectly clean and fresh on our arrival, there are blue pillows under the top white ones which personally I didn't feel happy about as these didn't appear to have removable pillow cases, they're more of a cushion, which raised the question of when they would have last been washed. I much prefer both pillows to have fresh white covers, but that's just a personal thing.
Despite these negative comments, on the whole we spent a very enjoyable week at The Reach, the position of it is what makes it special but with a bit more thought and attention to detail it could be the perfect holiday location.
Thank you for your positive feedback, we are pleased you spent a very enjoyable week at The Reach. We are delighted that our property is so popular that it is booked back to back therefore we have planned maintenance in November when we will redecorate so that it is 'fresh' for the following season. I have passed your other comments on to our housekeeper who I am sure will act accordingly. On arrival there should have been a basket with cleaning cloths, washing capsules etc. The blue pillow covers are removable and are cleaned for guests. We do try to use as little plastic in the property as possible we have glass containers with wood lids for food storage. Thank you for your comments, which are always welcome so that we can provide our guests with the best stay possible.
Property Owner