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Set in acres of beautiful gardens and nestling on a South-facing hillside with stunning views across the soft rolling hills of this rural, unspoilt area of South Devon, the 28 luxury apartments and individually designed cottages at Hillfield Cottages & Country House provide the perfect destination for a relaxing family holiday in Devon, throughout the year.

Exclusively available to book through South Devon based Coast & Country Cottages, each property at Hillfield is different but furnished to the highest standards. Families can enjoy the facilities including outdoor pool, all-weather tennis court and children’s play area, with several properties also boasting private outdoor hot tubs – perfect for grown up ‘me-time’! Cots and highchairs are available, plus specially created kids bedrooms in some properties, ideal for older children, with bunks, games and their own TV, DVD and CD!

Situated just 3 miles from historic Dartmouth with it’s castle, waterfront, restaurants and art galleries, the properties are only 10 minutes drive from stunning Blackpool Sands, recently named ‘Best Beach for Family Fun’ in Conde Nast Traveller Magazine. The team at Coast & Country Cottages Dartmouth office know the properties and area well and would be delighted to help you choose the property that best suits your holiday requirements and the needs of your family.

Call now for a free brochure on 01803 839600 or visit www.coastandcountry.co.uk.

Source: Coast and Country

South Hams based ‘Coast & Country Cottages’, has offices in the picturesque towns of Dartmouth, Salcombe and Kingsbridge, over 350 properties, exclusively in the South Hams, and a team of 17 locally based staff, providing the high standard of friendly service for which the company is known and truly local knowledge of their regularly visited properties. In the past 5 years, the business has more than doubled in size, with more people now choosing to let their properties through the agency and a continued increase in the number of holidaymakers attracted to the area. An extensive marketing campaign, including a highly regarded website, plus a high percentage of repeat bookings and recommendations has ensured an even greater number of bookings than ever before for 2007.

The family owned and managed agency not only provide advice and help to potential new owners thinking of letting their Devon holiday homes or those planning to renovate a property in readiness for holiday letting, but also ongoing support and practical assistance, particularly vital to the many owners who do not live locally.

When inspecting properties offered for holiday letting, a number of factors are evaluated - views, parking, sleeping capacity and number of bathrooms are all important but assessing the correct price to be charged per week, the location and the standard of the accommodation are the key considerations.

If you are considering using an agency Coast & Country Cottages suggest seeking the opinion of several different letting companies and choosing the one with which you feel most comfortable – a good relationship between owner and agent really contributes to success, so it is important that a rapport is established. Be wary, though, of unrealistically high promises – a higher rental might sound attractive to you but may well deter visitors or impact on potential repeat business, whilst promising a very high number of weeks in the first year of letting may not be truly realistic and can lead to disappointment all round.

For a free Brochure or Owners Guide call 0870 4050530 or visit www.coastandcountry.co.uk. For helpful advice about buying a home for holiday letting or to arrange a free property visit, without obligation , call Andrew Jones via the local offices: Salcombe (01548 ) 843773, Kingsbridge (01548) 852572 or Dartmouth (01803) 839499.

Source: Coast and Country

With traditional ‘peak seasons’ extending well into September and October, and the Autumn months becoming increasingly busy months for holiday letting in Devon, visitors choose to visit the South Hams out of season for many reasons. Some hope for an ‘Indian Summer’, often the case ironically as soon as the children return to school, (and particularly hoped for this year after the rain), others wish to avoid the crowds and to come when it’s cheaper too! For those looking to move to the area, of course, the Autumn is a great time to search for that ideal property and to maybe combine house-hunting with a short break exploring the area.

Out of season, late Summer and Autumn breaks attract families with pre-school children, not restricted by the need to take their holiday whilst the schools are off. Tourist attractions including farm parks, the zoo, model village and aquarium are less busy, beaches not so crowded and car-parking easier – factors that appeal when travelling with one or more toddlers in tow.

Those without children also avoid the busier school holidays and take their breaks later, enjoying the lower rates, the couples discounts and short break availability as well as the quieter towns and the more relaxed pace that is the South Hams during most of the year. Dog owners and keen walkers enjoy exploring the miles of coastal paths and unspoilt beaches, often choosing properties with these right on their doorstep for their away-from-it-all break.

With a varied and productive local food economy, including many award-winning products and premises, the South Hams boasts fantastic, locally produced and sourced food all year round, with something for all tastes and budgets, whether self-catering or eating out is the preference. For such a rural, unspoilt area the South Hams offers locals and visitors alike, more than its fair share of great places to dine, from pubs offering freshly caught fish & chips to fine Michelin starred and AA Rosette acclaimed restaurants.

‘Foodie breaks’ are becoming more popular, with visitors booking specific Devon cottages to be close to their favourite restaurant, whilst others are pre-ordering organic vegetable boxes and local food hampers to be delivered to their property to start off their self-catering in style. Food related days out include visits to Sharpham Vineyard (a tour around the beautiful grounds followed by a spot of wine tasting) and a tractor tour of Riverford Organic Farm followed by a delicious lunch in their ‘field kitchen’ with views of the farm. Dartmouth’s Food Festival, taking place from 11^th-13^th October 2007, looks set to be a real celebration of the diversity, success and pleasure that is South Hams food and drink, with cookery demonstrations, workshops, tasting sessions and more attracting visitors to the town and area for this out of season weekend.

October Half Term is a great time to bring the family away to South Devon, to ‘recharge their batteries’ and fill their lungs with fresh sea air after the tiring start to the new school year. With rock-pools to explore, beautiful beaches for kite-flying and plenty of all-weather suggestions for rainy days, including award-winning farms, one of the largest indoor play areas, and places to create and paint pottery, a half term break provides plenty of fresh air fun for all the family.

Looking further ahead, November may not seem like the ideal month for choosing a holiday or short break, but a surprising number of people enjoy escaping the more commercial run up to Christmas in other parts of the country with a South Hams short break. With individual shops rather than commercial chains, the area is ideal for seeking out unusual present ideas and all in much more pleasant surroundings! Why fight for a parking space in a city shopping centre car park when you can park easily and conveniently at this time of year in picturesque shopping towns or visit Dartington Cider Press Centre with its beautiful Christmas Shop - the place to go for decorations, cards and much more including award-winning glass and a fantastic ‘traditional’ style toyshop.

November is also Extravaganza time in Kingsbridge with the illumination of the simple Christmas lights, a carnival parade and fair, mulled wine and roasted chestnuts really starting off the festivities in traditional fashion. With the lead up to Christmas seeming to start in many commercial centres even before the end of the summer holidays, the appeal of individual shops, local delicacies and a cosy spot in front of a log fire in a picturesque pub is the choice for more and more visitors every year!

With the arrival of Autumn often comes the decision of where to spend the Christmas and New Year festivities. For those who are fed up with arguing over which set of relatives they need to invite or who simply cannot face the thought of the same old routine, a Christmas escape to South Devon may be the answer! Avoiding the commercialism and the post-Christmas Sales, you can put colour in your cheeks and work off any over-indulgence with walks on empty beaches or along miles of coastal paths and then reward yourself with a cream tea in front of a cosy log fire – the best Christmas present you will ever receive.

Or if you cannot avoid the relatives at Christmas, enjoy the festivities with the thought of a New Year break waiting at the end of it. Nothing beats a New Year’s Day stroll on a nearby beach – the best hangover cure ever! New Year’s resolutions can also be kick started with local organic food and juices and the promise that you will treat yourself to more breaks in South Devon in the coming year……■

Coast & Country Cottages – Over 350 holiday properties throughout the beautiful South Hams coast and countryside. For details of Autumn and Winter Special Offers, a free brochure or Owners Guide call our Salcombe office on 01548 843773 or our Dartmouth office on 01803 839499 or visit www.coastandcountry.co.uk. To arrange a free property visit with no obligation or ‘hard sell’ or for helpful advice before purchasing or redesigning a home for holiday rental, contact Andrew Jones via the above local offices.

Source: Coast and Country

If you are thinking about booking an Spring or Summer break and are passionate about what you eat, a visit to the southernmost tip of Devon, the South Hams, during 2007 is sure to get your taste buds going.

With a varied and productive local food economy, including many award-winning products and premises, South Devon boasts fantastic, locally produced and sourced food all year round, with something for all tastes and budgets, whether self-catering or eating out is your preference.

For such a rural, unspoilt area the South Hams boasts more than its fair share of great places to dine, including pubs offering great, freshly caught fish & chips (try the Start Bay Inn right on the beach at Torcross, recommended by Rick Stein in his TV show) or the superbly named ‘The Oyster Shack’ at Bigbury and their new restaurant at Hannaford’s Landing, Salcombe, for special fish and seafood eaten al fresco, weather permitting. The fabulous Dartmoor Union Inn, in the pretty village of Holbeton, was last year named the UK’s ‘Dining Pub of the Year’ by Les Routiers – we are delighted to market a property just a few paces away ,West St. Marys, ideal for a long weekend or short break for food fans. The pub’s sister restaurants, The Rose & Crown (AA Rosette for excellence) and The Seafood Restaurant in Yealmpton (AA two rosettes), opened at the end of 2005 to great acclaim – the Rose & Crown has now just been awarded the Devon Pub of the Year Award in the Good Pub Guide. As they say on their company website ‘not what you quite expect from a sleepy village.’

Dartmouth is increasingly becoming a place to chose for a break all year round, with many good pubs, hotels and restaurants to choose from. The New Angel, run by TV chef John Burton Race, gained a Michelin star within 7 months of its opening in May 2004. Visitors have specifically booked to stay at our properties in Dartmouth in order to visit the restaurant made famous by the Channel 4 series ‘Return of the Chef. Our personal favourite, Anzac Street Bistro, is booked up weeks in advance during busy periods such is its popularity – excellent local food, often from the family farm and a great atmosphere.

Talking of farms, one of the most enjoyable and unusual dining experiences is to be found at Riverford Organic Farm’s new Field Kitchen. Take a tour by tractor around the fields and poly tunnels that make up this successful organic farm and box delivery company and then eat on communal long tables in the purpose built restaurant with views of the farm. The freshly grown and picked food is delicious – if not already a convert to organic food or box schemes, you will be!

If you like to seeing food and drink production in progress and even if you have not tried English wine before you will be bowled over by the whole experience of a visit to Sharpham, near Totnes. Not only do they produce delicious award-winning wine and cheeses, but the setting on the River Dart, with walks and tours part of the tasting package, is magical. With many other producers opening their ‘doors’ to visitors during the year, including Chilli Growers, South Devon Chilli Farm, you could happily fill your days seeing the produce being grown and then dine out on it at night! Take a walk along the beach at Beesands on the Start Bay coast and see the fishermen bringing in their catch, try your hand at fishing or simply buy from Britannia Shellfish close to where the boats land. Local Coast & Countryside food related events promoted by the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Organisation throughout the year include Easter Egg Extravaganzas at Sharpham, ‘From grass to cream’ at Burton Farm, including a cream tea (!) ‘Hope Cove’s edible coast’ and ‘wild food gathering’ at Coombe Royal in Kingsbridge.

Most Saturdays see a local Farmers market somewhere in the area, highly popular and well supported by locals and visitors from far and wide. These are great opportunities to sample new foods, talk directly to the producers and purchase a whole array of wonderful products from vegetables to venison, fudge to fish, sausage to soup and much more.

For complete foodies, why not time a visit to this beautiful area to coincide with Dartmouth’s Food Festival, taking place over October 11th,12th and 13th 2007. With last year’s event including cookery demonstrations, ‘tackling a lobster’, advice on choosing a local cheeseboard, workshops, tasting sessions, children’s activities and more, the event in 2007 looks set to be a real celebration of the diversity, success and pleasures that is South Hams food and drink.

Coast & Country Cottages – Over 300 properties in and around Dartmouth, Salcombe and throughout the South Hams, ideal for a holiday or break all year round. Short Breaks. Special Offers. Couples Discounts. Dog-friendly Properties. For details of availability during Dartmouth Food Festival call our Dartmouth team on (01803) 839499 or visit www.coastandcountry.co.uk

Source: Coast and Country

With miles of stunning coastline, beautiful award-winning beaches, unspoilt towns and villages and fabulous pubs and restaurants, not to mention the delicious ice-cream, it is easy to understand why so many choose the southernmost tip of Devon as the destination for their summer holiday or short break. Every year thousands of visitors flock to this special corner of Devon, the South Hams, which includes the picturesque sailing resort of Salcombe, the historic naval port of Dartmouth and the quaint town of Totnes, with pretty rivers, narrow green lanes, estuary and countryside between.

With a high percentage of visitors choosing to return to the area every year, a large number of properties are booked up months in advance. Such is the appeal of the area, that many of those who first stayed here as children, are now visiting with their own families - crabbing, rock-pooling and surfing proving as popular as ever with children and parents alike. Indeed, originally from Kent, I spent many happy childhood holidays staying in Devon hotels, before my parents purchased a holiday home on the River Dart. Several years ago, married and with a family of my own, I realised that we simply could not return to the daily commute plus the pressures of juggling corporate life with raising a family. We were then lucky enough to have the opportunity of moving permanently to the area with our children and we know of many others who initially came here as holidaymakers, then purchased a property for holiday use before deciding to settle here.

Indeed, throughout the course of our holiday letting year we find we regularly speak to holidaymakers staying in our properties who are seriously considering purchasing a property in the South Hams as a holiday home or an investment, often with the thought of moving permanently to the area at some time in the future, perhaps when they retire. Many will have considered this possibility prior to their holiday, booking estate agent visits in advance, having identified potential suitable properties themselves. For others, seduced by the beauty of the area and the market for holiday cottages, the process may be more impulsive, but a good number do go on to purchase a property at some time. All are looking for our advice regarding letting history, if applicable, number of letting weeks anticipated and the likely weekly rental. Others discuss the suitability of one property for letting versus another. Whilst we can advise that location, position, standard and certain key requirements such as parking are important, it is vital that the property suits the purchaser and their plans – is it a holiday home they will use themselves, can they envisage permanently moving there or is the purchase purely an investment?

We regularly find that, once on the South Hams property ladder, many owners will look to buy additional properties, maybe larger or in a more sought after location or with better views or indeed, adding to their portfolio of properties by purchasing additional property in the area. Often their original property is sold onto owners who, in turn, wish to let their property through us. If you are thinking of letting a property or considering purchasing one to let, beware of financial planning based on unrealistically high expectations of the number of letting weeks you will achieve in your property, particularly for the first year. A successful letting programme often does happen in the first year but building up repeat visits takes time to establish. Seek the opinions of several different holiday letting companies, look at their local profile, their marketing and the services they offer and, above all, go with the one you feel most comfortable with. A good relationship between owner and agent really contributes to success.

An area of outstanding natural beauty and with the mildest climate in mainland Britain, it’s easy to understand why the South Hams attracts visitors all year round, whether for a holiday, short break or to buy a property. Walkers and birdwatchers, sailors, couples looking for a romantic rural retreat, friends booking properties together for a break, surfers and water sports enthusiasts, families seeking fresh air and fun for their children during school holidays - there is something for everyone in the area and a different holiday experience on offer each season.

During the summer weeks the area comes alive with the colours and sounds of yacht regattas, country fayres and theatrical presentations, including performances of Shakespeare on the beach! Local attractions such as award-winning farms and National Trust gardens abound whilst the local Coast & Countryside Events sponsored by the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Unit include Family Bushcraft Days, Canoe Adventures and Whale and Dolphin Watching. Plus with over 25 different, unspoilt beaches and sandy coves to choose from, plenty of fresh air fun and exercise, there are lots of opportunities to burn off all the clotted cream, fudge and ice cream! For those who enjoy a spot of retail therapy, interesting individual shops line the narrow streets, a refreshing change from shopping centres and chainstores. Art galleries, surf clothing and antiques mingle with delicatessens, tearooms and bookshops, whilst the regular Farmers Markets are a good opportunity to try out some of the fabulous award-winning local produce for which the area is becoming well known.

Luckily for those looking to discover this beautiful area for themselves, it is not too late to snap up a perfect property for the peak weeks….. yet! Whilst bookings to date have come in faster and in larger number than in any previous year, and although many properties and particular weeks have been booked up for some time in advance , we are constantly taking on new properties and can often offer the later enquirer the ideal holiday solution even at the last minute. These past few weeks have seen the addition of some superb new apartments in Salcombe and Dartmouth, with more in the pipeline, together with some delightful cottages in the coastal villages that are sure to attract bookings throughout the year. Our New Property Supplement features properties taken on since the publication of our latest brochure and our website www.coastandcountry.co.uk provides the very latest information regarding all new properties and their availability –ideal for those who may have left it a little later!

So if you have not yet booked a summer break or are thinking of combining a holiday with a spot of property viewing and like the thought of an area boasting stunning scenery, beautiful unspoilt beaches and fabulous food, leave your passport at home! Avoid the queues and delays at the airport and perhaps choose to visit South Devon – once discovered you might not want to leave!

Coast & Country Cottages – Over 300 holiday properties throughout the beautiful South Hams coast and countryside. For Free Brochure or Owners Guide call 0870 40 50 530 or visit www.coastandcountry.co.uk. To arrange a free property visit with no obligation or ‘hard sell’, or for helpful advice before purchasing or redesigning a home for holiday rental, contact Andrew Jones via our local offices: Salcombe properties (01548 843773), Kingsbridge, Hope Cove & South Hams villages (01548 852572) or Dartmouth properties (01803) 839499.

Source: Coast and Country