Is this the most helpful holiday company in the U.K? It has my vote. (Helpful Holidays)

Member Name: brandygirl

Product:	Helpful Holidays
Date:	22/03/03 (420 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Informative and helpful., Brilliant brochures, worth a read even if you don't go on holiday!, You know exactly what you're getting. They're great.

Disadvantages: None, except I'd love someone to take up the way they do things for other areas of the UK.

Imagine for one moment the following scenario:-

You have been asked to organise the annual family holiday.
It must be in the U.k because Granny doesn't feel well enough to travel abroad.
Grandad's pension has gone down in value, so you need to be cost conscious.
Auntie Ethel can't walk up many steps.
Uncle Jim likes nothing more than a pint down the local.
Mum likes to go swimming.
Dad likes to be able to read his newspaper in peace and quiet.
Your teenager hogs the bathroom for an hour every morning and
the two younger children will find something to fight about if they get bored.
The dog would like to get his teeth on a freshly caught duck for dinner.

As the holiday organiser for my family, friends and dogs for the last 15 years, I've had my work cut out, done a lot of research, read lots of brochures and probably wasted more hours than I dare to admit on the internet trying to find the best holiday I can for my fellow companions. However, there has been one holiday brochure that has excelled above all others in helpfulness; the aptly named Helpful Holidays.

WHO ARE HELPFUL HOLIDAYS?
They are a small holiday company based in Chagford in Devon who specialise in self-catering holidays in the West Country, but primarily in Devon and Cornwall.
tel: 01647 433593
fax:01647 433694
e-mail: help@helpfulholidays.com

WHY ARE THEY HELPFUL?
They recognise how important holidays are to their customers. A bad holiday is staying in an area that's not suitable, in a property that doesn't live up to your expectations, spending money that was intended to help you relax but that you then feel has been wasted. Helpful Holidays tries to provide you with as much information as it can so that you may be able to select the right area, at the right property at a price you can afford.

THE AREAS
The brochure first breaks down the Counties into sub-areas, each area

being described by its distinctive terrain and particular sites of interest.
For example:
The Newquay coast is described as a big seaside resort, with surfing, sand,cliffs and amusements.
Cornwalls 'Med' has wood, creeks, rivers, gardens and a mild climate.
Torbay is touristy with yachts, water-skiers and promenade and
Dartmoor is famous for its tors and is a favourite place for walkers and riders.

Once you have found an area/s that interest you, then turn to peruse the properties.

THE PROPERTIES
Once in the property section you will find further write ups of the location and properties which are highly informative and charming to read. The overall feeling that you get from Helpful Holidays is that they love the area, have personally visited these properties and take a delight and pride in sharing that with you. The descriptions are excellent, just as if they are walking you through the properties and pointing out all the useful and interesting features they can, inviting you to look through the window into the garden and giving you the low down on things the owner might arrange. Sometimes they will tell you some of the interesting history about the property or warn you about hazards for the children, how many steps up or down there are to negotiate or that duck pond that might be too tempting for that dog of mine!!!

SYMBOLS indicate
The type of heating in the property and whether or not there is a charge for it.
Whether some owners may organise a small provision of groceries for you.
If linen is provided and if there is a charge.
If pets are accepted. (Sometimes there may be charge.)
Car Parking.
TV and Video.
Cots and high chairs.

STAR RATINGS
Each property is given a personal assessment by Helpful Holidays based on the ambience and internal decor of the place, but not based on the facilities. We've often had cheap properties with four star ratings that h
ave been fantastic inside.
What I really like about
the star ratings is that Helpful Holidays do try to give an honest assessment of the properties. It's up to you to then select if you want a very basic, no frills or fuss accommodation to a splendid five star property at the top of the price range. There is something here for all tastes and pockets.

BEDROOMS/SLEEPS
The brochure also tells you how many bedroom the property has and how many it sleeps.

DISABILITIES
Some of the properties are suitable for the partially disabled.
There are a few with wheelchair facilities.

NEED MORE HELP?
If you need to refine your search further, there is also a very helpful list supplied to help you if you need to find properties with certain features or near certain locations or interest:-
Properties with four+ bedrooms or that sleep 10+ people. (One sleeps up to 70!)
Completely detached.
On farms where you can help or with big gardens where you can wander.
Near a railway station. (Useful if you can't come by car.)
With outstanding sea or countryside views.
Where you can sail, take part in watersports, go fishing, shooting or golfing in the vicinity.
With pools- indoor, outdoor or solar heated.
The top-starred properties or ones that are especially good for honeymooners
With use of tennis courts or games rooms or full size snooker tables.
Not forgetting the very important..within 1 mile of a pub!

PRICES
Low season: c£100 -£700
Mid season: c£200 -£1200
High season: c£300 -£1800

There are also exclusive individually priced properties where you will have to pay well in excess of the mainstream properties.

Don't forget to include any extras you may incur such as heating, insurance, pet or linen charges. There is also a one percent surcharge if you pay by credit card.
There is a £40 cautionary deposit charge. The owner can take any money ou
t of this for any breakages or damages incurred during your
stay. We have always had ours promptly refunded.

SHORT BREAKS
These are available, but a four night break would be charged at a six night rate, so you wouldn't save much money doing this especially in high season.

STILL NEED MORE HELP?
There is also a website at www.helpfulholidays.com with all the afore-mentioned information (although I really do love the printed brochure.)
In addition there are more photographs of the interior and exterior of the properties and an availability check. The latter is especially useful as these holidays book up fast and I've often had to have a shortlist of ten to make sure of a booking when I've booked over the telephone in my pre-internet days.

TALK TO A HUMAN
I've always found a friendly and helpful person at the end of the telephone. They would be glad to help and advise you if you still have any queries.

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF HELPFUL HOLIDAY PROPERTIES
One property we stayed in had three floors,was beautifully decorated with a lot of hand-made touches. The owners were Chelsea Flower show winners and had planted up a small garden with unusual plants. The property was in Buckfastleigh which has an otter sanctuary and butterly farm, a steam train and a working benedictine monastery and is near so many attractions.
Another property featured in one of those Ideal Home type magazines. It was near Dartmoor and was known locally as the 'tin hut.' It was a converted Baptist chapel with the old chapel tables and cupboards and the old piano, but had been transformed with
tapestries and screens.
Both properties have been sold by the owners and are no longer available.

WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO HOLIDAY IN THE WEST COUNTRY?
Space does not permit a full answer to that, there is so much here.
Dartmoor ponies, Eden Project, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Totnes, Polperro, Cl
ovelly, The Shire Horse Centre, Mevagissey, Mousehole, Kynance Co
ve, Goonhilly Downs, Truro Cathedral, Dartmouth, the open-air theatre at Minack, cream teas. T
he British weather may be unpredictable, but there is such a variety and wealth of things to do here that I would imagine that most people would be happy here even if there was a modicum of sunshine.

The main problems are road congestion in the high season. If you don't want to drive far to attractions, do make sure you find a property near the 'A' roads as there are a lot of remote villages reached by narrow winding roads that can make touring very tiring.

PROBLEM SOLVED?
I think that with the help of Helpful Holidays, I could find a property with no more than a few steps for Auntie, near a pub for Uncle, near a beach or with a pool for Mum and the youngsters, with two bathrooms to stop the teenager and Gran coming to blows and if I'm lucky it will have an extra reception room or conservatory for Dad to get away from us all. If we share the costs then Grandad can save a few pennies.

I have to confess that this family scenario was entirely fictional, discretion prevents me from revealing the eccentricities and complexities of my own!

I love organising holidays, but my task would be an awful lot easier if there were helpful branches all over the country.

Would I recommend this holiday company to you? You bet I would.

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