Cotswold Accommodation

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I thought I'd better move to this forum. Well, I'm salivating over all the lovely villages. I'm leaning toward staying in the South Cotswolds for our short break from oxford in September. I looked at Painswick partly because it's on the Cotswold Way and partly because Pauline lives there and it just sounds like a sweet village. But....the problem is they all seem wonderful. Perhaps Painswick is a little too small. So my meanderings took me to Chalford in the Golden Valley. Now I'm just lost. Stroud aso looks wonderful. I'm drawn to it's larger size(but not too large) and that it seems to have a large alternative lifestyle (read aging hippies) population. I need to move on to other things but I'm lost in the villages. Help me decide where to stay!

 

[jonathan]

Chalford is a very pretty village, with narrow lanes snaking up the steep sides of the valley, and good walking trails both alongside the canal in the bottom of the valley, and up the hillsides. But it's also pretty small (comparable to Painswick, I'd say), and so very limited in shops & services.

We certainly like Stroud - we moved here (from London) over 20 years ago, and aren't looking to move on! It's surrounded by beautiful countryside, has a good main line railway station and lots of shops - but most of the town itself isn't picture-book pretty...

Have you looked at Minchinhampton? It's one step up in size from Chalford/Painswick, but still very attractive. Pauline has lived there for a while (no surprise: she's lived in most of the places round here ) and could tell you more. And do (if you haven't already) look at the very useful town/village profiles on her Cotswolder site.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Chalford is a very pretty village, with narrow lanes snaking up the steep sides of the valley, and good walking trails both alongside the canal in the bottom of the valley, and up the hillsides. But it's also pretty small (comparable to Painswick, I'd say), and so very limited in shops & services.

We certainly like Stroud - we moved here (from London) over 20 years ago, and aren't looking to move on! It's surrounded by beautiful countryside, has a good main line railway station and lots of shops - but most of the town itself isn't picture-book pretty...

Have you looked at Minchinhampton? It's one step up in size from Chalford/Painswick, but still very attractive. Pauline has lived there for a while (no surprise: she's lived in most of the places round here ) and could tell you more. And do (if you haven't already) look at the very useful town/village profiles on her Cotswolder site.

Jonathan,
Thanks for the info. Very helpful. Yes, upon further research, I discovered that Chalford really would not be suitable. While I love the countryside, I'm not a superfan of twee villages. Well, I like to look, but I prefer to be where "real" people love as opposed to rich Londoners using it as a weekend getaway. Stroud sounds fine and a quick look at Minchinhampton and it looks great as well.

The problem I'm encountering is mid September seems to be a popular time. Most places are booked. And the ones that aren't are either too expensive or in much smaller villages.

I had thought we would only go away for 4 or 5 days but mid breaks are not avail until later in the year. We don't really like small b&bs. We like to do our own thing. The idea of getting up for an English breakfast...well just say, it's not for us. We'd prefer a larger b&b or an inn but ideally a cottage or flat.

Stroud itself seems to have limited accommodation. Any suggestions? I've been thinking I might leave this until we're actually in Oxford and see about a last minute vacancy. But if you can recommend a place in Stroud or Minchinhampton, that would be great.

Of course, I've read The Cotswolder! And the other one about the villages and many other bits of info.
Thanks.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Just to add to the above. I'm thinking of renting The Bolt Hole from Character Cottages. It's in Minchinhampton. For some reason, I can't link it w/o including the entire url from trip advisor where I orginally saw it.
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/VacationR...Stroud_Cotswolds_Gloucestershire_England.html
This would be a 4 day w/e . Sept 19th.374 pounds.
Thoughts?

 

[Pauline]

Here is the link for Character Cottages - The Bolt Hole. That looks like a very nice place. We spent a week in Minch on our 2005 trip to England, where we spent a week in four locations in the southwest (Salisbury, Minch, Somerset, Devon). It is a very pretty town and is a good central location as Jonathan said.

One of my favorite tea rooms in the Cotswolds, The Kitchen, is in the center of Minch. They have a small village shop, but it is only 5 mins by car from Nailsworth or Stroud with more shops. Nailsworth is more fun to walk around and look at shops, I think, than Stroud. The Minchinhampton Commons are at the edge of town and are beautiful. The cows will still be roaming free in September.

Stroud has limited accommodation because it is not a tourist destination. While some of the villages in this area are stunning, this is mostly a more "locals live and work here" area than some of the north Cotswolds. Chalford is not twee and is a strong community of locals. Painswick is a bit twee (but in the Georgian style rather than Cotswold chocolate box) but it is a place where locals live and commute to work. Winchcombe, though in the north Cotswolds, is also more of a "real" place. But we have rich Londoners everywhere since this area is only 2 hours by car from London.

If you are arriving September 19 we will be able to see you while you are here. We return September 20.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I booked The Bolt Hole for 4 night from Sept 11th. This worked out better for Ron's commitments. But we may return to the area in October. It looks totally wonderful. The agency was very easy and made changes to their booking schedule to accommodate us.
One thing that was surprising is they use paypal and what with conversions and extra papypal costs etc it turned out to be quite pricey for a little bolt hole. But this may just be what it costs in the area. 374 pounds for 4 nights turns out to be $735 CDN.
I see that many places that aren't available for Sept are for Oct.
Pauline, I read your link instructions in the How To Forum and bingo it worked
I feel we are having a very British summer here in eastern Ontario. Rain and more rain. Cold and blistery. While the UK seems to be basking in the best weather in years.

 

[Pauline]

The pound is high now (I was complaining about this in another thread). Not as high as when we came here in 2008 for months to see if we wanted to move here (then it was almost $2.10 USD per GBP). Last year it was much lower - between $1.50 and $1.60. The current value makes travel expensive here. Wait until you purchase petrol for the car! But the walking is free.

We won't see you on this trip. Let me know if you want any travel info for the area. I could scan some of the walking information for Painswick and Slad and email it to you.

We have had a great summer. I hope it continues into the fall.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Pauline,
Even though I'm sure we will find walking info once in the Cotswolds, I'd love to get yours in advance.

 

[Pauline]

I will get some organized and email it to you.