FB Twitter

Holly Cottage

Holly Cottage

4.6
out of 5
Ratings from 22 reviews
95% of guests
recommend
Cleanliness
4.5
Comfort
4.7
Condition
4.4
Location
4.9
Value
4.3
Customer
Service
4.7

Visit website

Check Availability


Holly Cottage is a gorgeous example of a Cotswold stone cottage, so typical and popular with visitors to this area of England. It is a detached, three-storey property with the perfect combination of character features, including an inglenook fireplace, oak beams and flagstone flooring, alongside modern facilities, which include underfloor heating and Apple TV. Situated on a quiet country lane in Coln St Aldwyns, this beautiful, historic and untouched village, has a great pub, an excellent community shop and circular walks right from the door. The cottage comfortably sleeps eight guests across three double bedrooms and one twin bedroom, with one ensuite and one family bathroom, both with walk-in showers and baths. The cottage has a large, private courtyard garden with a covered eating area and barbecue and parking for three cars.

Beautiful home on fantastic location

Review submitted on Thu, 04 Jan 2024
4.3
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
3.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
4.0
Location
5.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
5.0
We emailed the property manager on the chance of an earlier check-in and were delighted that we could arrive earlier than planned. The house is in a small pretty village and we had ample driveway parking. We were left a handwritten card from the property manager which was a really nice touch. The house had excellent walking routes from the door and a pretty village shop. Shortly after arrival we discovered that parts of the house had not been cleaned at all from prior guests. The fridges were filthy and we had to take out the shelfs and trays to wash them in the sink. The front of the fridges were covered in dirty hand prints/food and so were many of the cupboard fronts. The tiles above the hob were covered in food and grease and had not been cleaned. Both baths and showers upstairs had long hairs and the previous occupants shower gel in. One bath had a soap ring around it. Only the toilets appeared to have been cleaned. The ground floor tiles did not appear to have been mopped as all of our socks were dusty if not wearing slippers. Myself and my mum cracked on cleaning as we did not want the hassle of awaiting a cleaner coming to the house after we’ve already arrived and settled the dogs after a long journey. A beautiful house at a very high price point had really been let down with such poor cleaning.



Wedding Weekend

Review submitted on Tue, 07 Nov 2023
4.7
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
4.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
4.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
We’ve now returned home after a great weekend at Holly Cottage. It was our daughter’s wedding on Friday at the Stone Barn, and the cottage was an ideal base for all of us to prepare and then for us to wind down afterwards. All our guests were very impressed with your lovely cottage.



Family stay at Holly Cottage

Review submitted on Tue, 12 Sep 2023
4.3
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
4.0
Comfort
4.0
Condition
4.0
Location
5.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
5.0
Lovely traditional cotswold cottage in quaint quiet location. Spacious enough for the family. Everything provided for. Double room on second floor unfortunately very hot over a warm weekend as window small and boiler in the room. 2 small fans provided, would have been better with more fans or bigger ones. Overall, everything fine and we had an enjoyable stay.



Stay at Holly cottage for a wedding at bibury . Brilliant customer service from start to finish.

Review submitted on Sat, 09 Sep 2023
5.0
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
We had a lovely stay at Holly cottage . We were able to stay longer with our 2 day old grandson which meant a lot



A beautiful base for our Cripps Barn Wedding

Review submitted on Tue, 25 Jul 2023
5.0
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
If you want to feel like you’re part of the film The Holiday - this is your place ;)

In all seriousness, Holly Cottage is truly idyllic. I rented the cottage as the base for myself and my bridesmaids for our wedding at Cripps Barn. Despite the pouring rain, we felt so relaxed at Holly Cottage. On our first night we enjoyed a cosy candlelit dinner at the dining table made so easy by the incredible array of utensils and equipment in the kitchen. We all had the most peaceful and comfortable sleeps ahead of the big day.

The conservatory was just perfect for our hair and makeup glam on the wedding morning! We had three stylists working their magic all at the same time in the room and the light was unmatched.

Simon was incredibly helpful throughout the few weeks prior to the stay and during our stay itself. He and his children even left us a chocolate cake - such a lovely touch.

We certainly are already planning our winter retreat to the cottage so we can snuggle up by the lovely fire!

Thank you all, see you soon!





Beautiful house in wonderful location

Review submitted on Mon, 24 Jul 2023
4.3
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
4.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
4.0
Location
5.0
Value
3.0
Customer
Service
5.0
The house is comfortable and modern on the inside and really has everything you need for a large family or two families to stay. Enough room for at least 3 cars to park and get in and out easy. The village is beautiful with a little shop that can probably cater for everything including a lovely tea room and the local pubs are great.



Beautiful typical Cotswold house in a stunning setting.

Review submitted on Sun, 26 Mar 2023
4.3
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
3.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
4.0
Location
5.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
5.0
A gorgeous house in a gorgeous Cotswold village. Tastefully decorated throughout although a little dusty. Well equipped kitchen, comfy beds. Location was stunning, The New Inn a must and the walk to Bibury so pretty.



Beautiful property in stunning vilage.

Review submitted on Tue, 24 Jan 2023
4.5
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
4.0
Condition
4.0
Location
5.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
5.0
This is a beautiful old Cotswold property in a stunning village setting. We were a group of 6 adults, 2 children and 2 dogs staying for a weekend catch-up. The property provided everything we needed including warmth given the -5 overnight temperatures. Lovely access to countryside for dog walks including riverside walk to Bibury. Handy village stores. Quite expensive for two nights but appreciate we were paying a Cotswold premium. Would absolutely stay again.



Wonderful stay at Holly Cottage

Review submitted on Mon, 14 Nov 2022
5.0
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
Just back from a 2 day stay at Holly Cottage and we had a wonderful time. Such a beautiful house, so warm and inviting; really well equipped and had everything you could possibly need. Lovely peaceful location but still close enough to a couple of lovely pubs. Would highly recommend and will definitely be back.



Lovely cottage in a great location

Review submitted on Sat, 24 Sep 2022
5.0
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
We had a lovely stay at Holly Cottage and would stay again. A lovely quiet village with a pub in walking distance, great walks and the cottage was perfect, it had everything we needed. The information we got pre arrival was a great help. The cottage is very well appointed, we cooked in one night and went to the pub the second. The beds were very comfy and bathrooms/ showers excellent.



Bolthole Retreats replied more than 1 year ago
Thank you for your lovely review. So pleased you enjoyed your stay.

Weekend for my wedding!

Review submitted on Sun, 07 Aug 2022
5.0
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
Thank you so much for the cottage. We used the cottage for my family to stay in for the weekend of my wedding. Beautiful setting in the morning for myself and my best man and ushers for photos.
Very spacious inside and the bedrooms and bathrooms are excellent.

Will definitely be booking a family holiday here in the future.



Bolthole Retreats replied more than 1 year ago
Hi David, Congratulations on your wedding! We are so pleased to read that you had such a great experience at Holly Cottage and look forward to welcoming you and your family back for another stay. Best wishes, Bolthole Retreats

Excellent short stay

Review submitted on Tue, 19 Jul 2022
4.8
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
5.0
Beautiful house in a lovely location. Everything you need is provided and the rooms are well furnished and beds are extremely comfortable.

The village shop is a couple of minutes walk away, stocking essentials and more and the coffee shop is really cute, lovely staff and nice garden to sit in.

Two pubs in walking distance, food at the Keepers Arms was plentiful and great value, and super friendly.



Weekend break

Review submitted on Sun, 22 May 2022
4.5
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
4.0
Location
4.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
5.0
We had a wonderful long weekend at Holly Cottage. It was beautifully clean, well presented and there was plenty of space for 6 adults.
The location was perfect for walking, some lovely circular walks to local villages such as Bibury and Quenington providing plenty of picnic or pub stops along the way.
The village of Coln itself has a lovely pub which came highly recommended and didn’t disappoint. There is also a cafe within the village shop which is in a lovely location to sit in the garden and watch the world go by.
The hosts and housekeepers of Holly Cottage made every effort to make our stay an enjoyable and comfortable one. The beds were cosy and all linen and towels were of good quality and allowed for a good nights sleep by all and a feeling of staying in a country boutique hotel.
We would definitely return!



Bolthole Retreats replied more than 1 year ago
Hello Emma, Thank you for your review. We are pleased to read that you had an enjoyable stay and would definitely return. Kind regards

Holly Cottage - Coln St. Aldwyns

Review submitted on Thu, 30 Sep 2021
5.0
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
Lovely old Cotswold house which has been restored to the highest standard with a sympathetic touch and a simple neutral colour palette. Original beams etc give a sense of it's past. Very helpful information pack and "starter kit" of basics (milk/coffee etc) - and very responsive maintenance when we found the water wasn't heating up. The village pub - The New Inn - is a gem, with attentive staff and great food and beer !



Bolthole Retreats replied more than 1 year ago
Dear Jeremy, It's lovely to see you enjoyed your stay at Holly Cottage, thank you for taking the time to leave a review. Hopefully, we can welcome you back to the Cotswolds again very soon. Kind regards Bolthole Retreats

Not as photos or as described

Review submitted on Mon, 06 Sep 2021
2.3
out of 5
Guest doesn't recommend this property
Cleanliness
3.0
Comfort
1.0
Condition
2.0
Location
4.0
Value
2.0
Customer
Service
2.0
We were very disappointed with this property, it was not as the photos, as soon as we arrived, we actually drove past it as there were cars parked directly outside the property on the path. This was not a good first impression as the cars stayed parked in this position for the duration of our stay, leaving us unable to open the blinds in the kitchen and lounge we didn’t want to look at these everyday!
The garden was a mess with weeds, the outside eating area was filthy and hadn’t been cleaned from previous clients, there was leftover food on the table/chairs and it just wasn’t comfortable to sit out, the description doesn’t mention that you will be looking at your car constantly in the drive whilst outside.
Going into the property, the utility room was disgusting, the smell was so bad we actually stopped using that access into the property, The utility room wc was also filthy and we had to use WC’s upstairs instead.
The kitchen was not clean, the kitchen tap handle was loose and hanging off, cupboard doors were hanging off and didn’t fit properly, the freezer drawer was taped together, we couldn’t find any bin liners to sort the rubbish. The kettle was scaled up and not clean, we had to try to descale it before use. Overall, we didn’t feel that we could cook in this kitchen and had to eat out every day which became a chore as this wasn’t what we had planned to do during our visit.
The sofas in the lounge were grubby with worn out arm rests and not at all comfortable, the tv didn’t work properly and we felt we couldn’t sit in this room, spending most of our time in the conservatory. The WiFi also didn’t work very well which at times was frustrating as I was still working whilst away.
There was also a very off putting smell in the bedroom, The window catch was missing from the window, the bed was not comfortable and quite small, there was no change of bed linen provided as we were staying for two weeks, previous properties always leave a change of bed linen so we are able to freshen up the bed. We were woken by car alarms going off at 6am in the mornings and selfish people talking loudly outside the property very early in the mornings so we wouldn’t say the property is very relaxing if you want to lie in.
The gate didn’t shut properly so we didn’t feel secure at nighttime.
We had booked the property for a two week stay, but felt so uncomfortable and sick at times with the smell and grubbiness of the property, we decided to cut our holiday short and left two days early.
A very disappointing experience overall and not one we would recommend to others. We we also not contacted by the agency during our stay to ask if everything was to our satisfaction.
The only positive we would say is that it’s situated in a quiet village with a lovely little cafe/post office 5 minute walk down the road, but make sure you get there early as they run out of hot food very quickly.



Family wedding

Review submitted on Tue, 17 Aug 2021
4.8
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
5.0
Perfect accommodation, beautiful location , had everything you could ever need . Wish we could have stayed longer



Bolthole Retreats replied more than 1 year ago
Hi Sandra, Many thanks for your review. We're so glad you enjoyed your stay at Holly Cottage and hope we can welcome you to another of our Cotswold cottages in the future. Kind regards Bolthole Retreats

Lovely cottage

Review submitted on Sat, 17 Jul 2021
4.3
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
4.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
4.0
Location
5.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
4.0
Lovely setting and beautifully quiet. Nice cottage too.
Having paid nearly £ 150 extra for the Covid clean we expected it to be spotless. However we felt the need to wipe out one of the fridges before use and the family bathroom still had hair in the shower trap. The freezer was iced up on arrival and the middle drawer impossible to get open. We managed to put our frozen items in the top drawer but when we went to use ice cream it was liquid and had to be thrown away. Apparently they were aware of a problem with the freezer but thought previous visitors hadn’t shut the door properly.
The boiler is in a cupboard in the second bedroom so light sleepers should be aware. Two main bedrooms and bathrooms very good size with big shower in en suite. The other bedrooms lovely for children.
As mentioned in the details there is very poor mobile phone signal. If you go to the top floor we found you could make calls etc!
We would suggest offering summer weight duvets or perhaps a top sheet for hot weather ?
Overall would definitely recommend.



Bolthole Retreats replied more than 1 year ago
Hi Valerie, Thank you for your feedback. We will address the points that you have raised and hope that they did not spoil your trip. Best wishes BoltholeRetreats

Fabulous weekend

Review submitted on Wed, 28 Apr 2021
5.0
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
Great cottage in a wonderful little village which was an excellently located base for a Cotswold visit. On arrival parking of two large cars was easy, the garden is really well equipped for outside entertaining with the gazebo and provided BBQ.
Inside all the rooms are well furnished and equipped, a nice plus were the childrens toys. Bed linen was fine and the cottage was spotless. The local pub (New Inn) was very accommodating and the local shop / cafe provided basic needs and refreshments



A wonderful stay in the most beautiful place

Review submitted on Tue, 20 Oct 2020
5.0
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
5.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
We had such a wonderful time in Holly Cottage, it was the perfect getaway for friends to get together and enjoy some fresh air especially during such difficult times. The cottage itself was incredibly spacious and well kitted out; very homely, cosy and the decor very tasteful. We had fresh flowers from the owners and the house is so perfectly situated in the village of Coln St. Aldwyns - easy access to footpaths, friendly people and beautiful views. Would highly recommend and will definitely be returning!



Relaxing getaway in quiet Cotswold village

Review submitted on Sat, 19 Sep 2020
4.5
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
4.0
Location
5.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
4.0
Lovely getaway to meet with our adult children. Very comfortable house met all our requirements. So lucky to enjoy hot weather and make good use of the outside space. Quiet village as we had hoped, local pub with food and well stocked community store was a lovely surprise.
Unfortunately we had water heating issues, this was dealt with immediately by swift communication with the housekeeper and maintainance team who turned up asap when we called late at night. Bolthole Retreats gave appropriate compensation for the inconvenience.




Great house

Review submitted on Mon, 02 Mar 2020
4.8
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Condition
4.0
Location
5.0
Value
5.0
Customer
Service
5.0
This property is fantastic - beautiful old building but done up to a very high standard. Underfloor heating, log burner, plenty of amenities, books & games. Situated in a great little village with a nice pub literally 400yds down the road and another pub about a miles walk away.

The only negatives experienced were that the showers seemed to run out of hot water on our final day (we only stayed for 2 nights). I am not sure if this is common or a one off. And also we thought that the strict 10am check out time was a little tight given the check in time was 4pm.

All in all only minor issues on what was a great stay in a lovely house.



Nice cottage for a few days holiday

Review submitted on Wed, 19 Feb 2020
3.8
out of 5
Guest recommends this property
Cleanliness
3.0
Comfort
4.0
Condition
4.0
Location
4.0
Value
4.0
Customer
Service
4.0
We have just enjoyed a 2 night stay at Holly cottage.
It was reasonably priced and situated in a lovely part of the Cotswolds.
The booking process was easy. Communication was good.
The only negative comments I would have is the cottage wasn't as clean as I would have liked.
The sofas were covered in dog hair. We couldn't find the remote for the DVD player so pulled up the sofa cushions to search for it. Lots of. Dog hair and crumbs from old food.
Not pleasant.
The recycling from the previous occupants and also been left inside the cottage and hadn't been moved by the cleaners.
The upstairs of the cottage, bedrooms and bathrooms were spotless though.
Other than that we had a lovely stay.




Bolthole Retreats replied more than 1 year ago
Dear Ms Holland Thank you so much for choosing to stay at our beautiful cottage; we are so glad to hear you enjoyed your stay and were able to explore our favourite part of the Cotswolds. Thank you too for taking the time to leave helpful feedback. We were puzzled by the comments about dog hair as we don’t actually allow pets in the property for the very reason that cleanliness is so important to us. On reflection, we can only imagine that the reindeer hide adorning the sofa must have moulted. As such we have asked the house keeper to remove this with immediate effect. As far as the recycling goes, I believe that some plastic bags and a wine box were left in the kitchen cupboards. Presumably our cleaners thought these might be useful but we totally agree that they should have been removed before your stay, and have asked them to remove all similar items in future. Your comments regarding crumbs under the sofa have been taken on board and fed back to the cleaners; this is clearly unacceptable and will be addressed accordingly. We do hope that these small frustrations did not effect your stay too negatively and that you will bear us in mind for future visits to the Cotswolds. Mike & Adele Worsley