Hope Cross Stables at Vicarage Farm Holiday Cottages

This was our second break in this amazing property. The accommodation works well. Not many places that are wheelchair friendly are suitable for powerchairs, however, this is, everything from being level to an outside tap to hose off muddy wheels to good height charging sockets for both chair and mobile phone made the stay enjoyable. Flooring is laminate flooring throughout, except in the spacious bathroom which is special waterproof, non-slip flooring. All internal doors had no thresholds. The toilet requires a transfer to the right. External doors have low-level thresholds. The owners live on the opposite side of the road. Upon arrival you meet them, Andrew & Samantha are so friendly & approachable. I've got nothing to say that could've been better, it was PERFECT!!!

The cottage is beautiful and a real pleasure for both disabled and able members of our family. My children loved seeing the cows in the garden and playing in the park area. I loved being able to shower my children and put them to bed, despite having a ‘bad day’ (which normally sees me confined to the sofa, but here I could still use my chair). The freedom was amazing. My sensory-seeking son adored the space to move around (he spent ages on the smooth floor!) and the ‘rain’ from the lovely shower in the wet room. The cottage owners were really lovely and so happy to help in any way they could. They are very proud of their property and genuinely want to make it as accessible as possible. There are limitations (especially if the disabled person wants to use the double room) but overall this cottage is amazing. My constructive criticism would be that it’s not easy for a disabled parent to help children use the play area. As it is, mine are used to playing at a distance from me and there was nobody else around so it wasn’t so bad. Just a shame I can’t be near them and part of their play. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and would happily return.

We visited on the weekend when the area had some terrible flooding, but it didn’t spoil our break away...... The accommodation is superb with everything we needed for someone who is blind and has dementia. There wasn’t a single thing that I thought “ I wished I had bought that from home” as it was all here. The recliner chair especially made it home from home for us. The washroom is so spacious and the commode shower chair was excellent for helping us shower each day. Even the kitchen had been equipped with some plastic plates which we usually use at home to avoid accidental breakages. A lot of places advertise that they are “ disabled friendly” but what Ann and Gordon have done with Hope Cross gets 10 out of 10 from us and a guarantee that we will be back in the new year.