Luxury Cornish cottages - a great holiday (The Valley (Carnon Downs, Cornwall))

Member Name: azana

Product:	The Valley (Carnon Downs, Cornwall)
Date:	21/01/09 (419 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Better than home

Disadvantages: quite expensive

It was September 2006 - it had been a hot and long Summer, Autumn was coming and I was in dire need of a holiday; I had a 12 week old and a toddler and hadn't had a holiday in a while. A friend suggested this place - and what fantastic memories I have of my week's stay!

The valley has an excellent website www.the-valley.co.uk which actually pictorially represents truthfully what is there. The valley is a gated holiday centre which used to be a caravan site apparently - now it has all been rebuilt and there are detached cottages, flats, and terraced accomodation, 46 cottages in all. It is situated in Carnon Downs which is near to Truro.

The houses are set in 13 acres of grounds, there is a cafe/restaurant and also an indoor and outdoor pool and gym as well as a an outside play area. You can park your car in the complex but not right next to the cottage, there is very much a feel of being away from it all.

We stayed in a detached cottage. The cottage was fairly new at the time so I am not sure how everything has worn but it was really a home from home - actually it was nicer than home. It was blissfully quiet with the most comfortable beds ever and nice touches like shutters so that you could get your room really dark. The mattresses were uber-comfy and the bedding was lovely - think Egyptian high cotton count. Everything had been well though through - my husband found the toilet seats endlessly fascinating for some reason; self lowering, now there's a great idea!

The cottages are contemporary in design - there was everything we could have possibly needed there. From a hand blender to a recipe book via every cooking implement possible they had thought of everything. There was a dryer, dishwasher, microwave, dvd player, stereo and satellite tv. There was an outdoor patio and the furniture and the welcome pack included a bottle of wine which was very er welcome!

The place doesn't particularly market itself as child friendly but it was ideal for children. There were books and dvd's to borrow, toys to play with in the restaurant and of course the play area and pools. The restaurant was child friendly and the food good if a little pricey - apparently they will deliver the food if required. They also supplied cots and high chairs free of charge.

I would say for the child free it would be a great destination too.

I found the staff to be friendly and helpful, the place was immaculate and the feel was one of staying in a very nice hotel only without having to worry about other guests disturbing you or being disturbed.

There is of course plenty to do in the area, we particulary enjoyed the Eden project, but Newquay was easily reachable and we also tried out Jamie Oliver's restaurant and wished we had opted for the burgers downstairs and not the posh stuff upstairs!

Overall I have fond memories of my week stay at this gated holiday centre - it was excellent. The overall luxury is reflected in the tariff for the Valley which can be seen on their website - off season it was actually fairly reasonable for a familly of four, I think we paid £500 at the time which was great considering we had a detached house with two bedrooms.

I would love to go back one day though it is a little out of my reach at the moment as I am restricted to school holidays. If you are thinking of Cornwall in these times of weak stirling I would thoroughly recommend this place - oh and be extremely jealous if you went!

Considering that I had a toddler and a twelve week old with me I had the most relaxing time ever - they both slept miraculously well and it was just lovely. Happy Days.....

Summary: a great place for a luxury cornish holiday