Hello all - My wife and I plan to spend a week in in the south of England in the Fall. Any advice on a nice rental in a quintessential English hamlet?

Hello Doug,
Welcome to ST.
The first 2 agencies that come to mind to start your search with are the National Trust, link on Slow Travellers information page and
The Landmark Trust. Both have some good historical properties in Kent and Sussex.
It is a lovely area but make sure your accommodation has good heating for that time of year.

When you say East Sussex do you mean places like Winchelsea, a gorgeous little town, not to be confused with Winchelsea Beach, Rye,an ancient Cinque Port and Lewes another gorgeous little town ?
If not then I recommend all 3 if yes then I'll provide you with links to where we stayed just outside Lewes. We have also stayed in Winchelsea but that property is no longer available, but Trojans Platcomes well recommended. It is owned by the people who run the tea shop in Winchelsea which I can definitely recommend !
Hope that gets you started.

Wendy

Hello Doug

The Visit Britainsite (official British Tourism site) has this on the South East. There are also links to other sites which may be of use.
The National & Landmark Trusts do tend to have rentals in quaint areas but you will also "pay for the name".

Ann,

I disagree with your view of the NT and Landmark Trust properties.

Yes they are expensive but you are paying for something quite unique,a rental in an historic building. It has a high price because it commands a higher budget to maintain than a small modern terraced house would for example.

Our experiences have always been good value for money with both these companies but our favourite company of this kind is The Vivat Trust where we were truly spoilt here is a link to my review.

The company is tiny so unfortunately it doesn't have a property in SE England in it's portfolio.

Wendy

Sorry Wendy, without wishing to get into an argument (I really don`t), I can only go from my own experience in this area.
I live next door (literally) to a large National Trust estate where there are holiday cottages, within a few hundred yards of each other, owned both by the NT & privately. Often the private ones are better maintained (they have mainly resident owners) & are often actually more "historic".
I know absolutely nothing about any equivalent US organisation so, working on the principle that most of the Slowtalkers (being from the US) may think the NT was "something special" just from its` name, I thought I should point out that that`s not always the case.
The Landmark Trust, however, does tend to go for the unusual which is, indeed, a reason for upping the price somewhat.

Hello Ann,

No we don't argue on the board and you are entitled to make your point as much as evryone else is. I am speaking of my experiences and
I agree that the N T is expensive but is listed on S T as a favourite agency.

I am delighted to say the water tower we stayed in was truly unique here it is
and therefore good value for money.

What have the properties you've rented been like?

Lucky you to be so close to a Natinoal Trust protected site. Which one is it?

Wendy

I agree with Wendy we love the uniqueness of the properties that the Landmark Trust and Vivat have to offer. If they charge a premium then we are happy to pay it for the chance to experience something extra special.

Hello Poet 123!

I am glad we are like minded. I am not saying that they are the best accommodations in the world but you have it in a nutshell somewhere truly unique.

We have stayed in some beautiful privately owned accommodations too and I am a great fan of agencies like Helpful Holidays for west country holidays for example.


English Heritage are currently turning some of their properties into holiday accommodation. I am particularly keen on trying out the cottage on the Isle of Wight at Osborne House but really I'd like to try them all.
St Mawes castle is also very tempting with rental prices that seem fair I think.

Whatever happened to Doug? Have you found somewhere to stay ?!
Wendy