A charming centrally located 300 year old cottage. Sleeps up to 4, and arranged over 3 floors, easily accommodating couples and small families for walking, beach or retreat style breaks all year round. Wifi, gas central heating, bedlinen included. A stay in our cottage is unique. It comes with a private Beach Hut on the seafront, equipped with furniture and picnic-ware, and will provide you with many quintessential seaside holiday memories.
Valentine Cottage dates back over 300 years, and is located in the ‘Old Lyme’ area alongside Lyme Regis’s other charming historic town properties. Great for a romantic treat, walking base, family and friends holidays, artistic and literary excursions. The cottage is only a 4 minute walk to the seafront, with a choice of sandy, shingle and pebble beaches, fossil hunting and famous world heritage Jurassic coastline. On the seafront you’ll also find our cute Beach Hut, where you can sit and enjoy un-interrupted views of the beach, sea and famous Cobb Harbour. Valentine Cottage and the Beach Hut come together as a package, with the Beach Hut available at no extra cost.
We’ve owned Valentine Cottage for 20 years, attracted by its central location and historic character, charm and quirkiness. Very well equipped, it has a range of in-house entertainment - Wifi, DAB radios and a new Smart TV/DVD which is enabled for catchup TV e.g. BBC Iplayer, ITV Hub etc and Netflix. In addition the TV allows Chromecasting from smart phones and tablets. There's also a washer/drier, microwave; and for those with young children a high chair, travel cot and stair gate are all included.
As soon as you walk in through the front door, you will appreciate the attention to detail which has gone into making Valentine Cottage a special holiday base. Valentine Cottage continues to be enjoyed by guests wanting a romantic break, small families wanting to be walking distance to the seaside, and small groups of friends wanting to enjoy walking along the amazing coastline. Overall, we’ve aimed to ensure that the cottage retains much of its original 300 year old period charm and it is bursting with character, enhanced by a calm artistic coastal interior design theme that runs throughout. Includes a well appointed kitchen, separate sitting room and dining room, private garden, newly refurbished bathroom, and two bedrooms which sleep 2-4 people. Gas central heating. Bedlinen provided. COVID secure cleaning still in place. Towels extra. An ideal destination all year round.
Valentine Cottage is arranged over three floors:
Living Room
Cosy room with a new Smart TV/DVD which is enabled for catchup TV e.g. BBC Iplayer, ITV Hub etc and Netflix. In addition the TV allows Chromecasting from smart phones and tablets; sofa and loom armchairs providing seating for 4 people, coffee tables, contemporary lighting and window seat.
Kitchen
Small but well equipped to meet the needs of our range of guests :- cafetiere, digital radio, plenty of glassware, crockery, cutlery, oven and table-wear, and an array of artistic and vintage touches; gas hob, electric oven with grill, fridge (with small freezer/icebox), microwave oven, washer/drier, iron and ironing board.
Separate Dining Room
Dining table with seating for 4 people, additional loom-weave chairs, wall up-lighters, pictures and mirror. Door leading to our small private garden.
Bedrooms
Two bedrooms. On the top floor is a good size double bedroom with a new 'Which? Magazine Top 10' recommended mattress to start off the holiday season. On the middle floor is a smaller bedroom with a bunk-bed. Both rooms are decorated with the artistic and seaside theme we’ve chosen, and include bedside cabinets, bedside lamps, pictures, mirrors, hairdryer. Blackout curtain linings to help you sleep in the summer when we only have a few dark hours at night. Plenty of bedding provided - consisting of pillows and duvets. We also provide bedlinen and make up your beds ready for your stay. Bring your own towels – you’ll need some for the beach anyway. Although we’ve always got some for hire if needed.
First floor bathroom
Recently refurbished. Bath with hand shower attachment (not stand under shower), wash-basin, WC and shaver point. Compact, but well appointed. Guests with mobility problems may find the access difficult as there is restricted headroom at one end (see photos). But most guests love the quirkiness of the layout.
Outside - at the cottage
Small enclosed private patio garden which catches the mid-day to mid-afternoon sun. Bistro style table and chairs provided all year round. Raised borders and container planting.
Outside - at the beach
Free and exclusive access to our Beach Hut located on the picturesque row on Marine Parade. Hopefully the weather will be kind to you, so you can enjoy sitting in our chairs and admiring an un-interrupted view of the sea and Cobb Harbour. Decorated with bunting and an iconic vintage kitchen larder; and comes equipped with directors chairs, small table, small single burner camping stove, kettle, cafetiere, tea pot, plenty of crockery and cutlery for picnics.
Entertainment
As you'd expect, we provide a Smart TV/DVD, and digital radios in the kitchen and double bedroom. Free WiFi of course !!!
Children
We have plenty of families with small children staying in the cottage. But care needs to be taken since we have lots of stair cases. We provide a high-chair and stair gate provided at no extra cost. Plus use of a travel cot at no extra cost which fits snuggly in either bedroom, if you don’t mind a squeeze.
Heating
Gas central-heating is included in your rental fee. There's clear information in the visitors pack on how to over-ride it if you need it on for longer than programmed. You'll also find additional fan-heaters in the cottage if you need them.
Sea views
From the top floor rear window, there are good views over the town, and across the sea and bay where you can see the neighbouring town of Charmouth and its surrounding coastline. You'll also have a nice view across town from the bathroom window.
But the best views will always be from the Beach Hut. Located on Marine Parade, the Beach Hut has un-interrupted views of the beach, sea and Cobb Harbour.
Accessibility
As you can read from the reviews, our guests enjoy the unique layout of the cottage. But holiday makers with mobility problems might find the cottage layout over three floors (two staircases) and the compact bathroom a little tricky. So please ask for a copy of our Accessibility Statement if in doubt.
*** PARKING ***
Our lovely cottage is over 300 years old, so like other historic centrally located properties in Lyme Regis built when the town relied almost solely on 'Poldark' style transport, there isn’t any dedicated carparking. However, there are short-stay parking bays available about 10 metres away at the small library, short term on-street parking around the area, as well as two long-stay, large, well-lit public carparks about 5 minutes walk. There are a choice of council owned carparks. Our preference is The Holmbush car park which is the largest, is well lit, and is about 7 minutes walk from the cottage.
*** LYME REGIS & DORSET ***
The coastline around Dorset and East Devon is awesome, and has World Heritage site status, offering walkers breath-taking views and challenging terrain. There’s also plenty of attractions in Lyme Regis itself – a day in our beach hut, a mackerel fishing trip from the Cobb Harbour, a visit to the Marine Aquarium, Lyme Regis Museum or the Dinosaur Museum, a guided fossil hunt on the beach, touring around the town's art galleries, enjoying a live show or movie at the Marine Theatre, or a game of crazy golf. In the summer there’s usually a Jazz Festival, Fossil Festival, Carnival Week and Lifeboat Week.
There are sandy, shingle, beach-combing and famous fossil-hunting beaches in Lyme Regis; as well as rock pools, safe swimming and many water sports including sailing, wind-surfing and water skiing. The famous harbour at the Cobb is home to both working fishing boats and leisure vessels.
Lyme Regis is gaining an excellent regional reputation with foodies. In the town overlooking the Cobb Harbour is the Hix Oyster House, and there’s a new wave of great pubs and restaurants throughout the town, as well as a hand-full of takeaway restaurants. Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage Canteen is close by in Axminster, just 15 minutes away by car; and the famous Hive Beach Café at Burton Bradstock is just the other side of Bridport. We're happy to pass on recommendations.
If you enjoy cooking, Lyme Regis has its own fishmongers down at the Harbour, a cheesemonger and bakery close to the Town Mill. There's also great independent stores stocking local produce. For everyday grocery shopping there’s a small Tescos and Co-op.
