Name: Hills Farm Stays
Address: Hills Farm, Whitford Road, Axminster, Axminster, Axminster, EX13 7NS, United Kingdom
Rating: 8

Smoke-free property

Heating

Garden

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

Outdoor furniture

General

Bridal suite

Non-smoking rooms

Family room

Rooms

Accessibility features

Wheelchair Accessible

Accessibility

Breakfast

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Picnic area

Fishing

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Spa tub

Pool and beach

Business center

Event facilities

Meeting and presentation facilities

Conference Hall

Business

Massage

Beauty services

Beauty and wellness

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets allowed

Pets

Extra decontamination measures

Personal protection equipment for guests

Contactless check-in and/or check-out

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hotel

Exeter International Airport

Hills Farm Stays

Axminster

We went for a depot team building weekend. First class. We did...blind driving! Hilarious, one of the funniest things I have ever done in my life. Steve was an excellent host and really made the team feel special. We then did archery and axe throwing. Both harder than it looks, I thought I would be good but it transpires that I was the worst out of everyone! We then had an excellent meal in the restaurant followed by a few drinks in the bar. 

The rooms were beautiful and I Steve done us an amazing deal for the whole weekend. 

We will return and try some of their other activities. Thank you so much to Steve and his staff

Team building 

We had a team get together, night away and sales meeting next day.  Location is to die for.  Rooms stunning, and if your lucky a stand-alone bath  in which to soak I. While admiring the views.

We were treated to a fun day of blind driving, archery and axe throwing, great fun.

Food & drink served in chilled surroundings, staff very attentive.

A fab country retreat,

Our recent visit was for a long weekend with friends staying mainly in the large barns. 
Positives … the farm is in an excellent location with amazing views.  The barns are good for accommodating large parties. 
Negatives … aga made kitchen and surrounding area too hot for comfort, lack of hot water in bathrooms, lack of ventilation in bedrooms as windows wouldn’t open and poor lighting, and most important, your customer service with our organiser was totally unprofessional, upsetting and should never have happened. Customer service is a vital part of any organisation and on this occasion it failed.

Excellent location but let down by too many negatives …

Firstly, the farm is an amazing set up and the cottages are great spaces for large groups. We did the axe throwing/archery/shooting activity which was amazing and done very well. We also had Sunday roast which was delicious and as we were a large group, I was impressed how efficiently it went and how good the food was. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end. Steve was rude and unprofessional towards our organiser. Our barn was unclean and after 3 days of cold showers, I was pleased to return home to hot running water. The wagon shed was boiling due to the aga and the bedrooms could not be properly ventilated. Honestly, the farm had so much potential to be great this weekend, but due to a lack of care for the barns and those paying large amounts of money to stay, it sadly falls short. 

It really could have been better...

My amazing cousin arranged my Hen Do with Steve. Everything was so chilled and perfect. Blind driving, archery, axe throwing - all amazing and so much fun and food was incredible!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! 

Best Hen Do EVER!!!

We have recently returned from an overnight stay in Stable Cottage along with my sister and brother-in-law. One of the main reasons for choosing the Cottage,  given my brother-in-law is disabled, was the fact that there were no steps to be negotiated and the accommodation was all on one floor with each bedroom having an en-suite shower room. However, it was disappointing to discover that there were no grab handles in either shower room, which given that the word “accessible” is used in the description was somewhat puzzling.

We really liked the layout of the accommodation and the property is very inviting and comfortable. Unfortunately, the claim that there was a “fully stocked kitchen” turned out to be woefully untrue. Just by way of establishing some credibility we successfully ran 3 self-catering properties, 2 of which were in France and one in Dorset, for several years. Since all 3 properties had a dishwasher, then as is normal practice we provided double the quantity of crockery, glassware, cutlery etc. This property was supposed to house 6 people but there was not even 6 of everything, let alone 12! There were significant omissions too, the most alarming one being the lack of a coffee maker and a cafetière. Most places we visit these days has a Nespresso or similar coffee maker. There was also no teapot.
 
If we were being unkind then we could assume that the reason for the lack lustre approach to equipping the kitchen was meant to encourage guests to use the restaurant and that the self catering part of the business is a low priority compared with weddings, corporate events, hotel and restaurant. Clearly, we do not know how well the other properties are equipped, but what a shame that the wonderful renovation work has been undone by something which would be so easy to remedy. The showers were also lukewarm and there was no welcome pack. In fact we didn’t see anyone during our short stay. We will not be coming back. I sent an email to the owners on our return and a week later I have had no reply or acknowledgment. They clearly don’t care!

Good with significant shortcomings

Excellent Birthday weekend with friends in the large barn accommodation. It was modern, clean, well equipped and very comfortable. 
Lovely touch to find the sun beds around the hot tub outside, which was a complete sun trap with stunning views. 
We were made to feel very welcome and had a great meal in the restaurant. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Would definitely like to return again soo  . 

Beautiful stay in the countryside. 

The recent tea-party for my mother's 100th birthday party held at Cranberries Hideaway  was a most successful afternoon for about sixty guests. As well as a venue for functions, Cranberries offers attractive accommodation - mainly sympathetically converted stone farm buildings and barns - in a beautiful rural environment for guests who wish to stay overnight which makes it a viable venue for a variety of occasions. We had chosen the smaller linked function rooms although there was a much larger barn available.
 We were allowed adequate time to decorate the rooms and owner Steven Littley and the staff were available to answer queries and give assistance. Although previously cleaned, the areas were again hoovered to clear up the decorating debris. The only negative point (for one of the guests) was negotiating the few stairs up to the main party room. Steve had earlier pointed out a wonderful view point and photo shoot location (bit far for our elderly guests but amazing for weddings and parties in general) and provided parking areas for the less mobile. The food selection was as requested and gluten free alternatives were provided.
Steve, Heidi and the Cranberries Team - all so friendly and courteous -worked well together to assist in the smooth running of the party - handing out drinks, replenishing the food and cutting up the cake were seamlessly organised with minimum fuss. 
 It was a kind  and much appreciated gesture from Heidi to give my mother a beautiful bouquet. Thank you Cranberries for providing the stunning setting and splendid tea to create a sparkling and memorable afternoon to celebrate a very special birthday.

Amazing venue for a special event

Booked the Stables for 4 adults. Arrived to a very cold room. Tried to turn up the heating, nothing working. Floor cold -underfloor heating clearly not working. Heated towel rails in both bathrooms stone cold. Small electric heater in room which took considerable time to warm the living area. You can only warm up one room so bedrooms were cold. Notified owner’s Father ? As owner not on site, who left another room across the yard open for us to shower in as we did not have hot water! Definitely not the luxury break we paid for. Having paid £500 for two nights room only we were very disappointed. We were told that it would be looked at in the morning. We went out for the day but on our return - no change, nothing repaired, and no explanation left. On the plus side the food and staff in the restaurant were great. 

Cold stay certainly not what we paid for

Aspects of this stay were really nice while other aspects were not... so please read the whole review for what I believe is a balanced account...

We booked 2 days in the "Rustic Cottage" (which was basically just a bedroom with an en-suite and kitchenette).
Check-in was very flexible. We thought we wouldn't be there until ten or eleven at night (and they were fine with that) but we actually arrived at 16:30.
On arrival, the host was very welcoming, friendly and accommodating.

Unfortunately, while the welcome was great, the stay wasn't all good... 
The room was described as "rustic" but that shouldn't mean "not clean". There was mould in the bathroom and cobwebs etc but overall it was pretty much OK... but the worst issue was the horrendous smell from the drains. We reported this but unfortunately it wasn't resolved. It literally made us gag. 

The bed was a good size (I think king or queen) but the mattress didn't seem big enough for the frame and the TV was off to one side which made it uncomfortable to watch from the bed.

The room door was beautifully rustic (original - many decades old) but the lock consisted of a bolt on the inside and a bolt on the outside - so we could have been locked in. And, as the door wouldn't stay shut, the inside bolt needed to be on when occupied - meaning if one of us was in the bath room and the other was outside, the one outside couldn't get back in.

We hadn't booked breakfast but they were more than happy to open up just for us,  even though we were the only guests having breakfast.
The chef was extremely friendly and helpful. The overall breakfast spread was superb, as was her cooked breakfast (breakfast was the only meal we had there) and she even treated our dog to a sausage!

Although we were quite desperate to leave the smell in the room, before departing we stripped the bed to help out the cleaner, which revealed rather disgusting stains on the mattress. 

When we booked, we asked if we could take our dog (a non shedding, well trained small dog) but we got no reply so assumed it was OK. Nothing was mentioned on our arrival with the dog but when paying for the breakfast at the end of our stay, they added £25 for her... it's hard to understand what that was for and we would have liked to know in advance... perhaps they should say "charges will apply" rather than "charges may apply".

We might have given this venue 4 stars if it wasn't for the smell (and if we hadn't seen the mattress) but it really did ruin our stay.

Hills Farm Stays

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