My family (husband and two of our five children-teenagers) will be on sabbatical in or near London next school year.

At Christmas this year my in-laws proposed the brilliant idea of having Christmas next year in the Cotswolds. My in-laws love that area of England and have been there many times.

They usually stay in somewhat fancy hotels but weren't sure that was a good idea with so many people.

We are three families (besides the in-laws). My family is 7, another 5, and the last is 4. All of the children are old enough to stay in each other's places if it works out better to do that.

My mother in-law likes Washbourne Court,

www.washbournecourt.co.uk, which is in Lower Slaughter.

She also gave me a brochure of Cotswolds finest hotels as well. Washbourne Court has cottages for larger groups but the prices are very high.

We were thinking that maybe the in-laws could stay at one of these nice hotels and the rest of us could find some self catering places to rent in the same village.

I have never been to the Cotswolds. I hope to remedy that soon as we go to London in late July but I thought that it might be too late to start looking for Christmas of 08 in late summer.

Does anyone have any good ideas for us? Any villages that might have more options for rentals. We would like to be fairly close to each other, meet for meals etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Brenda

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Colleen,

Hi Brenda,
I guess Washbourne Court has reopened after the floods ?

Lower Slaughter is over priced in my opinion as the locals are working so hard to keep it a "real village" they do not like tourists. True it is very pretty but that's it quite honestly.
I would point you in the direction of the Chippings, also very expensive but a larger place which I think you will appreciate in the winter.

Your folks might like
The Malt Housein Broad Campden. It is a very upmarket B and b that has transformed itself into a small country house hotel. We stayed there last Dec and it is very lovely although the heating was struggling during our visit otherwise I'd recommend it wholeheartedly. (I am assured that it has now been upgraded.)
If that's not upmarket enough then I rather like Barnsley House,and The Cotswold House Hotel, but they tend to appeal to the younger set.Both have very good restaurants however.
The Lygon Arms should be the obvious choice in beautiful Broadway but I cannot recommend it.

Russells of Broadway is a super restaurant with very good early dining deals and with excellent bedrooms above.

We have stayed in many Rural Retreats in the area but they too are very expensive especially at Christmas time.
You will find many reviews of properties in the Cotswolds on S T,including mine and Kaydee's of Michaelmas cottage in Blockley where you will find Lower Mill House, an excellent B and B with superb Sunday lunches available for everyone.

Lastly, Premier Cottages offer a portfolio of "cottage collections," perhaps on a former farm where you could all stay together in upmarket individual accommodation like that offered at Bruern Cottages. Bruern is particularly recommended. Some of the properties also offer indoor heated pools for example which would be nice during the short days of winter particularly for the children as well as prepared meals to order. You are quite right though, you would have to book early to get your first choices.
Wendy

The Plough, at Kingham, newly refurbished, is another good place to eat and when I've remembered the name of a similar establishment with a racing connection I will post that too!
The Plough is very close to Daylesford Organic farm shop which is more a way of life than a farm shop. It is beautiful to visit especially the spa(!) and the florists but mighty expensive.
Here is a link to Pauline's Cotswolds favourites places to eat.
Wendy

quote:

The Lygon Arms should be the obvious choice in beautiful Broadway but I cannot recommend it.

We stayed at the Dormy Arms Hotel just out of Broadway which was considerably cheaper than the Lygon Arms and very good - decent sized rooms and welcoming staff.

All these nice, picturesque hotels really bump the prices up over Christmas - it's a popular alternative to slaving over a hot turkey at home!

One factor to consider when planning a winter vacation in the UK is how short the days are at that time of year. On Dec. 25, the sun rises at 8 a.m. and sets before 4 p.m. Plan your daytime activities (sightseeing, etc) with this in mind.

The long winter night hours are perfect, though, if you have a cottage with a fireplace. There's something really special about snuggling up by the fire after a busy day of sightseeing. I don't know if any of the places you are considering have a fireplace or not.

THanks everyone for your help. I haven't had time to be online much these days but wanted to give everyone an update.

We have found 4 cottages through Campden Cottages and they seem really nice. We have some very favorable reviews for a cottage managed by Campden here in the review section, where I started. We are renting Dragon House, Acer Cottage, Rosary Cottage and Sansons Cottage.

We will have to do some creative children sharing to fit the right amount of people into each place but it will work out well, I'm sure.

We are all excited about this Christmas adventure. My mother-in-law has been looking into places to have Christmas eve and Christmas dinner, I know she doesn't want to cook for 18!

Oh, and Beebee, two of the cottages have coal effect gas fire (?) and two have victorian style electric fire (?).

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for all suggestions.

Brenda

They both probably look a bit like these, but differently fuelled:

http://im.edirectory.co.uk/p/3361/i/16hotboxcoalbrbldaisy.jpg

http://www.myfavoritethings.tv/gifts/graphics/furniture.../a-434-4-x-4_lrg.jpg

Just don't try putting anything on the plastic "coal" or "logs".

Brenda, I was glad to hear you've got a plan for Christmas in the Cotswolds. I really like Chipping Campden and it's a good base for exploring the Cotswolds. You won't be too far from Stratford-on-Avon either.

When are you leaving for England?

Kathy

We are all excited about exploring the Cotswolds.

We leave for England to begin our adventure on July 29th-lots to do beforehand. I am trying to clean out my house so I can get it ready to show for rental. I definitely need some skill and luck for this to come together.

Good news on the school front. The kids got accepted to both schools that we applied to and we are going over again to look at both areas and choose the best one for us. We have a short week in March coming up in London-also going to visit oldest son who is studying there.

I do have a question about staying in the Cotswolds. Do you think we all need to have cars. There will be four families. I looked at a tourism website that had some suggested public transportation day trip ideas but I was just wondering from those that have stayed in the area.

It seems like a lot of money to have so many cars but if we need them to really explore the area than that's okay.

We are all good walkers and love to do that. My mother-in law has walked here many times and is trying to organize some walks for us. They always have had a car so they don't know how things would work without one.

Patrick, thanks for the links. The fireplaces look like cheating to me but I bet they do generate some heat.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Brenda

I think you'll want cars unless you plan a very low key walk filled time. My parents live in Blockley (one valley over from CC I suppose) and we have walked between Blockley and CC many times. There are lots of great walks from CC and it's a beautiful town. But the public transport there is not really workable. Very very patchy. Plus CC has very limited grocery shopping - there is an ok supermarket (Budgens) in Moreton on Marsh, and a very good one (Tesco) in Stow, but you wouldn't want to be bringing enough stuff for four families back on the bus from either place, even if the buses ran more regularly.

If you aren't thinking of going too far for your outings, you could maybe shuttle everyone in two cars? Aren't you going to need cars to get over there in the first place?

It should be wonderful!