Keepers Cottage

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first. The property listing says it is 'in a very rural location with an unmade track'. That's a bit like saying the Himalayas are 'a bit hilly'. The track is about a mile long, with steep gradients, deep potholes, and after heavy rain has streams running down it that cut gullies into the road. It's also narrow with only a few passing places (and other vehicles regularly use the road). If you have a car with low ground clearance, think twice before booking. Even with an average height car and driving cautiously, I still managed to scuff my front bumper on one of the deeper potholes, and it was caked with mud by the end of the trip. If you're happy with having a bit of an off-road adventure every day, then the rewards are worth it. The cottage is charming and spacious, with a lovely garden and amazing views. The new part of the property is especially impressive, with huge glass doors on two sides of the lounge / diner, and the master bedroom has massive windows overlooking a field and woodland. It's well-decorated, beds are nice and comfy, and the kitchen is extremely well equipped (important to us as we generally self-cater). There are lots of country walks you can do directly from the doorstep, and the Isle of Wight Steam Railway runs just the other side of the field next to the property. You can see the train passing from the upstairs windows, or take a 5-minute walk to the nearby level crossing and watch it come past. From there you can walk down to Wootton (20 minutes), which has a number of pubs and restaurants (though the walk gets muddy in wet weather). There are a few downsides to it being an old property in an isolated location (other than the approach road). The staircase in the old part is steep and narrow, and there are small steps between the bedrooms and landing, and between the old and new parts of the house, which we had a few trips and stubbed toes on. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with limited mobility. The old part is also only single-glazed and got very cold during our Autumn holiday, so we had to run the heating frequently (not helped by the controls being in a cupboard blocked by furniture) and made full use of the log fire. Mobile phone signal isn't great, and the WiFi runs off a 4G mobile phone signal and hence is very slow (<10Mbps) and barely usable in the parts of the house furthest from the router. Also there is only one small (non-smart) TV with blu-ray player in the old house lounge, and just a hi-fi system in the main kitchen / lounge area. So it's great if you want to disconnect from the modern world, but not so good if you need to work or study during your stay. Overall though, we had a very pleasant stay at Keepers Cottage. It's not for everyone due to the remote location, but if you're looking for a real getaway that you really can't get with many properties, then it's ideal....

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Cottage lovely and location excellent if you want a quite break but beware the road to the property is awful so if the suspension on you car is low I would advise to give it a miss, 4 X 4 would be an advantage.

We enjoyed our stay at Keepers Cottage. Lovely quiet secluded location, with a garden in which we saw red squirrels. Extension is beautifully done. The sofas in the television room are a bit soft if you want to sit in them to watch telly. The bathroom sink in the older part of the cottage is nice but the sink is slow to drain. The plug doesn't lift up enough and needs adjusting. The lane from the main road to the cottage is awful. We didn't go much above 5mph along there, and it's long! We have a large MPV with good ground clearance, but even so... There's plenty of parking in front of the cottage though, and overall, the cottage is certainly worth getting to. ...

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We had a wonderful stay. Hugely recommend the properly. Magical experience for our family and two kids.

We had the most wonderful break at Keepers Cottage. Such a peaceful location surrounded by an abundance of wildlife, we spotted red squirrels, bats, barn owls and field mice. So easy to get to everywhere on the island from here. The additional bonus of the steam train passing by certainly made it more fun, especially for the two year old! We would definitely recommend this beautiful well equipped property. ...

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