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8 Guests
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4 Bedrooms
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3 Bathrooms
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Pets Yes
Features
- Off road parking
- Ground floor accommodation
- Ground floor bedroom
- Open fire
- Garden / Patio
- Highchair available
- Washing machine
- Dishwasher
- Broadband / WiFi
Reviews & Ratings
25 Customer Reviews
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"The cottage was lovely, homely and comfortable."
The only gripe was the showers. The downstairs shower was far too hot or anyone to use and no way of altering the temperature. The upstairs shower was marginally better but again minimal temperature control and too hot for most of us. it resulted in us sitting in the bath and showering ourselves with the hand held shower which sometimes soaked the bathroom carpet - not a good idea! We realise that this is an ongoing problem so can probably only be rectified by a new tap in the bathrooms. Other than this we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and felt very at home in a lovely house.
I'm so so sorry about the showers, that's terrible. Thank you for letting us know, so wecan fix it. I am getting new thermostats fitted on the showers this week - too late for you but hopefully better for future guests. I'm so glad you enjoyed the house otherwise! Property Owner
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"Beautiful location and a lovely house."
We had a family reunion with 8 adults and there was ample room for all. The bedrooms are spacious and the views are picture-postcode. The kitchen is well equiped for self catering, with a lovely dining area.
Thanks v much, so glad you enjoyed it and found everything you needed. Very best wishes. Property Owner
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"Superb, comfortable cottage in a beautiful village."
Thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed the place. I think you got some lovely late summer sun, albeit with a bit of rain!! Property Owner
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"Lovely house in a beautiful location… very peaceful."
A few maintenance issues need to be addressed. 1. Downstairs shower temperature uncontrollable (too hot)! 2. Downstairs toilet seat needs attention. 3. Water temperature very hot. Lots of feather bedding and soft furnishings… feathers are coming out! Not good if you have allergies! Overall cleanliness is not good in some areas. (Basins & toilets, etc.) Need a mirror and waste bin in downstairs bedroom. However we enjoyed our stay very much, Henrietta was very kind and considerate. We would certainly consider staying again.
Hi Alan, thanks very much for the feedback, and for the helpful suggestions. I'm sorry about the maintenance issues, I will make sure they get sorted out. I'm glad you liked the place and would come again despite it all! Thanks for your kind words. Best wishes. Property Owner
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"Home from home, a comfortable cottage for a family gathering in a beautiful location."
Thank you for your feedback! I'm so glad you enjoyed the place and you felt at home. Property Owner
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"Lovely stay."
Spacious home with lovely views. Everything you need for a great stay
That's great to hear, so glad you enjoyed your stay and the place. It can be so beautiful in Spring! Property Owner
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"Very comfortable and spacious house in a lovely location, ideal for walking and cycling in the area - could only be improved by enclosing the garden."
Hi Simon, thank you for the feedback, I'm so glad you enjoyed the house and area. Yes, I'm sorry about the garden, it is difficult to shut it off entirely from the road but perhaps something we should look into further. I hope your dog was ok and didn't stray too far! Property Owner
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"It is a beautiful home in a great location."
For Christmas it was so well equipped-lunch for 12 people! Thank you for the decorations and panettone:) Elaine xx
Thanks so much Elaine, lovely to hear that the house was able to give you all a Happy Christmas. And glad the panettone hit the spot! All the very best for the new year. Property Owner
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"We had a fantastic stay at Samstone."
The property exceeded our expectations in terms of the space on offer and the location which was just lovely. We hope to stay again sometime.
Thank you so much, that's lovely to hear! I'm so pleased you had a good time and enjoyed the place. Very best wishes and do come again! Property Owner
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"We had a lovely holiday, it had everything we needed."
Lots to see in the local area, some short walks from the house. Two family's came together and had a wonderful werk.
So glad you enjoyed it, and that there was space for you all! Thank you for the feedback. All the best for the rest of the 'summer'! Property Owner
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"This cottage is in a lovely location and with great access to some lovely walks and pubs."
It’s really well equipped and had a lovely clean but cozy feel about it, felt more like a family home than a holiday rental which was lovely. The views were great and the rooms large. A cake and cider on arrival which went down nicely! We enjoyed the Forester as a local supper but wider a field we found the Beckford Arms which was lovely. Had everything we wanted and great and pleasant communications with the owners. Instructions to find it were really good and despite icey conditions it was an easy journey from both directions to the cottage (some of us came from the Bath direction and some from the London and Winchester direction). We really enjoyed our stay here.
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"Lovely location near the top of the hill with far-reaching views to the rear of the property."
All the rooms were generously sized with a practical layout and more than enough room for a party of 6 people to spread out and be comfortable. Property gave off the vibe of a family home rather than a holiday let, the advantage of this being it was welcoming and homely. A couple of the older seats in the living room will need replacing soon, and we used the cushions from there to bolster the height of the dining chairs as they seemed a little low. Well equipped kitchen, with 2 fridges which we found useful to store drinks in the heatwave. Personally we would have found pasta bowls useful, but that is a preference for our family for some meals. Parking for 2 cars easily, 3 at a pinch, to the side of the building. We'd recommend visiting Compton Airfield (Runway Cafe) to watch the small planes come and go (as seen from the patio at the house) - yummy traybakes and hot chocolate! Plenty of walks from the front door - eg. to Donhead St Andrew, or through the fields at the back of the house. Good selection of maps - in particular the waterproof local area ones in the kitchen (yellow in colour). Thoroughly enjoyed our time there and would happily return.
Thank you for that lovely feedback. I am so glad you enjoyed the house and area. As you noticed, it has been a family home so it is wonderful that others enjoy it as such too! Glad you discovered Compton Airfield, I haven't been there for ages so good to hear it is going strong. All the best for what's left of the summer. Property Owner
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"Samstone is a lovely, spacious and very clean property."
It was also very well placed during the heatwave as its location meant we had a perfect cooling through draught with windows open front and back. The garden was a lovely bonus as it was the perfect place to sit and read and enjoy the compete peace and quiet broken only by the occasional squabbling crow! I would highly recommend this property.
Thank you so much for writing, that is great to hear. I'm glad you enjoyed the place, and well done on managing the heat - what times we live in! Property Owner
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"The property is absolutely beautiful we all loved it."
The downside for me was that the house was very dusty and had loads of cobwebs everywhere, I know with an older house you expect this but clearly the carpets etc had not been cleaned properly, we tried to Hoover but the vacuum wasn’t working very well. The furniture is old but was comfortable, I didn’t like all the feather stuffed furniture and bedding. The garden is beautiful! But be aware that the garden lawn is not really toddler friendly as it has a large slope so had to walk around constantly watching the little one and made garden toys hard to use. But on the whole I would recommend this property highly. The area is beautiful and so peaceful, close to a lot of amenities and places to visit, Longleat safari is a must.
Dear Karon thank you for your feedback. I'm so glad you liked the house and area, it is lovely at this time of year. So sorry about the cobwebs, that shouldn't have happened, we'll make sure it doesn't happen again! Enjoy the rest of the summer. Property Owner
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"A wonderful cottage set in peaceful and beautiful surroundings."
Plenty of space and well kept garden. Very helpful owners giving us useful upfront information. A great area with plenty of walks which our little dog enjoyed. It felt like a very comfortable home.
Thank you Frances, that's great to hear! I'm so glad the dog enjoyed it too ;-) All the best for the new year. Property Owner
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"This was a perfect home for 6 friends to share and explore the walking in a beautiful part of the country."
The house was warm and welcoming and had all the facilities we needed. Local information was a great help. Thank you.
Thank you so much Sue, I am so glad you enjoyed it. It's lovely when people enjoy something one loves oneself. I'm glad you found your way around ok and I hope the weather allowed you to get some views! Property Owner
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"It was a very smart and comfortable accommodation ."
Each room had a beautiful view. The kitchen was a good size and the living room was very spacious. We spent some time out in the garden. We visited a lot of interesting places in the vicinity like Stourhead at Mere, gold hill,shaftesbury cathedral, Kingston lacey, durdle dor, lulwoth cove, sandbanks etc
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"We highly recommend this beautiful, peaceful cottage."
It was very clean with lovely large rooms, a well equipped kitchen and a beautiful garden with amazing views, where we had lovely evenings playing Badminton. We visited NT Stourhead, Kingston Lacy and Stonehenge and even had a race up the famous Gold Hill in Shaftesbury. There are loads of lovely countryside walks to go on nearby. We had a marvellous week enjoyed by six adults and one dog! Thank You!
We are delighted that you had a good time and enjoyed exploring the area - and are particularly impressed by the race up Gold Hill! Thank you very much for your feedback. Property Owner
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"The house was as big as we expected and set in a on beautiful location with views to the hills of Cranbourne Chase."
We enjoyed a glass of wine sat on the terrace looking at the view and deer spoting ! We played golf and can recommend the nearby Rushmore Park course which is a great course in a wonderful country setting. The house and location exceeded our expectations . we had a wonderful week.
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"Cottage was great, only downfall was little things like ironing board, very old."
But other than that place was fantastic, would stay there again, thinking of booking again soon
We are glad you enjoyed your stay and will be delighted for you to come back to Samstone. We take the comments onboard regarding the ironing board. Property Owner
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"Positives: - Large rooms - Nice towels - Good bedding (although summer duvets (not 10."
5 tog) would have been preferable) - Great views - Ample parking for 3 4x4 cars Negatives: - Lack of cleanliness - kitchen and upstairs carpets were dirty (as property accepts dogs this was understandable for downstairs but we did not expect the upstairs bedrooms to be quite so grubby/stained) - Upstairs bathrooms were carpeted which we did not feel was ideal - The under oven drawer was dirty as was some of the kitchen equipment (the small roasting tray in the property was dirty, and the garlic press in the drawer still had old garlic in it had not been washed up properly) - No handle on fridge door, just a grubby, tatty bit of plated fabric - Large dust balls in the downstairs bedroom - The games that were provided were very dusty - The ironing board was poor (useless!) - During Covid we felt that the property should be spotless - Lack of equipment in the kitchen i.e. a tiny old microwave, No baking sheets, only two large saucepans bearing in mind the property was for eight people, no large serving dishes, only two sharp knives (one small one large plus breadknife) - Only one small fridge despite plenty of room in the utility for a second fridge (one fridge is not enough for eight people for a week) - Property sleeps eight but there was only soft seating in the lounge for six which was fairly old and uncomfortable - Only one TV for eight people (Could easily provide additional soft seating and a TV on the extra large landing) - Far too much ‘personal’ items about the house (old bedding in cupboards and drawers, a real stuffed owl in the bedroom!, old gloves and gators in the drawers) - Cleaning products, including bleach, in an unsecured low cupboard (despite high cupboards in the utility room which could of housed these) - Although we were warned in advance, the hot water was dangerously hot - Cup full of cigarette butts outside the French doors - Property says it accepts dogs however the garden was not at all secure, and would not have been secure for children either. The end of the garden had an 8 foot drop that was not secure. We feel gates are required to stop children/dogs running straight out to the road As this space does not seem to allow photos to be uploaded, I have also sent an identical email with photos attached.
We are very sorry that the house didn’t meet your expectations, and hope you were able to enjoy your holiday despite this. Thank you very much for the detailed feedback, it is really helpful to know where we can improve things and we will certainly take your suggestions into account where we can. I am sorry you didn’t find the cleaning up to scratch – that is a first for us, clearly unfortunate and not something that will happen again. Property Owner
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"Comfortable and well equipped house in beautiful, peaceful surroundings."
Perfect for a family get-together.
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"This was an absolute winner!"
We've stayed in lots of rentals, but the combination of the amount of space in the house and the view from the windows and terrace out onto the pretty garden, across the meadows and over to the hills beyond made it a perfect place to stay. It was so quiet and peaceful, you could hear and watch the birds soaring overhead, & lay on the lawn and watch the clouds go by. We walked locally, visited NT Stourhead & Montacute, Abbotsbury Subtropical gardens (fabulous), and art galleries and shops in Salisbury, Shaftesbury & Dorchester. A lovely meal eaten at The Forester in Donhead St Andrew, the staff were very friendly and covid-safe. A great place to celebrate a special birthday. Many thanks!
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"The house was very comfortable with amazing views."
The kitchen was equipped with everything we needed. We enjoyed walking across to the Foresters Arms in Donhead St Andrews & The Benett Arms in Semley.
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"Beautiful house with the most stunning of views."
Really well equipped and furnished. We would have no hesitation in booking this property again and recommend Sykes, faultless service all the way through. Thank you
Summary
- Four bedrooms: 1 x ground-floor super-king-size (zip/link, can be twin on request), 1 x king-size with en-suite shower, basin, heated towel rail and WC, 1 x king-size, 1 x twin
- Bathroom with bath, hand held shower, basin and WC
- Ground-floor shower room with walk-in shower, basin, heated towel rail and WC
- Kitchen/diner
- Utility
- Dining room
- Sitting room with open fire
- Oil central heating, underfloor heating and open fire
- One double and one single electric oven and electric hob, microwave, washing machine, dishwasher
- TV and DVD player, WiFi
- Fuel and power inc. in rent
- Bed linen and towels inc. in rent
- Highchair available on request
- Off-road parking for two cars
- Garden with lawned area, patio, dining seating and a pond
- Two well-behaved dogs welcome, please be advised the garden is not fully enclosed
- Sorry, no smoking
- Shop 1.4 miles, pub 1.3 miles
- Note: Dogs are not allowed upstairs or on furniture
- Note: There is pond at this property but this is always covered
The property
Shaftesbury 3.5 miles.
Placed in the quiet surroundings of a picturesque village, this charming cottage offers a delightful resting spot for a group of up to eight looking to find an idyllic retreat.
Samstone is a beautiful detached property, with outstanding views across the Dorset/Wiltshire countryside, located in a conservation area.
The house is in traditional style but with all the benefits of modern insulation, solar energy, and underfloor heating.
Park up and make your way into the impressive property via a handy utility room - perfect for kicking off muddy boots and benefiting from a convenient washing machine and drying area.
Throw together your best home-cooking in the lovely kitchen/diner, allowing for plenty of food prep space alongside fantastic amenities including two ovens, a dishwasher, hob, fridge, freezer, and microwave, with a casual dining table taking centre stage.
Formal meals can be enjoyed in the dining room next door, a classy space, fitted with intimate seating placed in front of large French doors where you can look out to the garden and panoramic countryside views as you tuck into your meal. Snuggle up in the lounge for a restful evening, with an open fire and even more stunning views; A place to settle in to board games or to get cosy and enjoy a family film night.
Guests with limited mobility can utilise the ground-floor super-king-size bedroom and shower room, both situated next to each other, with the beds offering zip/link features if needed.
The rest of the bedrooms can be found on the first floor, comprising a king-size with an en-suite shower room, another king-size and a twin room, all tastefully decorated and with ample storage.
On this floor, you will also find the family bathroom, perfect for a long soak to unwind after a day of adventure.
Make use of the garden area on a sunny day, dining alfresco on the patio and enjoying views of the lawn, lush fields and the hills beyond.
The tranquil village of Donhead offers the perfect setting for an idle stroll around the Wiltshire countryside, stopping off at one of the many local pubs for a refreshing pint of ale and some pub grub.
Or for something special, try the Pythouse Kitchen Garden, an enchanting 18th Century walled garden, restaurant and bar.
In the nearby village of Ludwell you can stock up on supplies from the award winning Ludwell Stores with its tasty and fresh local produce, and meat from the family butchers next door.
The stores include a Post Office and there is a pub and restaurant nearby.
There are other local amenities in the neighbouring village of Semley, including a delightful community shop and a farm selling fresh milk direct from the herd.
Enjoy a day of exploration within the encompassing Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB, taking in scenic walks around Win Green and Fontmell Down Nature Reserve.
With superb landscapes, rolling green hills and breath-taking views you can embrace outdoor adventure along challenging cycle routes and long walking trails.
Spend a day out at the hill top town of Shaftesbury, with historical connections back to Saxon times.
The town is in the centre of countryside made famous by the author Thomas Hardy and local scenes, including Shaftesbury’s Gold Hill, have featured in film and television productions.
The cottage is perfectly situated for a trip to the iconic world heritage site of Stonehenge or on to Salisbury Cathedral whose majestic spire can be seen from miles around.
Closer by is the ruin of Old Wardour Castle, an English Heritage site, perfect for picnics or hide and seek, and Stourhead, a 17th century mansion with beautiful landscaped gardens and lakes, is a short drive away.
And last but by no means least there is the varied coastline, with beaches near Poole and Bournemouth, dramatic scenery at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove, and fossil hunting along the Jurassic Coast near Lyme Regis.
Make memories that will last a lifetime with your family and friends at Samstone.
Note: This property has a Good Housekeeping bond of £250.
About the location
LUDWELL
Shaftesbury 3.5 miles, Sailsbury 20 miles
The charming village of Ludwell, located in the beautiful countryside of South Wiltshire is only 3.5 miles from the historic town of Shaftesbury, Dorset. Nestled within Cranborne Chase and the West Wiltshire Downs area, there are an abundance of scenic walks to be enjoyed including Win Green, Fontmell Down Nature Reserve and Gold Hill, which is said to have the most romantic sights in England. Historic sites such as Old Wardour Castle, St Mary's Church, and the 12th century Benedictine nunnery, Shaftesbury Abbey, are just a short drive away. For adventure-filled days, why not head down to Cotswold Water Park where you can enjoy a number of activities and watersports. This is the perfect countryside location for taking in the views and learning more about the local history.
Please Note: This properties owner requires bookings to be made more than 2 days prior to the start of the stay.
This property offers the following short breaks:
- Winter