The Holiday Cottages at Harewood Holidays
Harewood Holidays are located at the Harewood Estate (the countryside surrounding Harewood House) which is just seven miles from Harrogate, and they make a truly gorgeous place to stay!
Harewood House
Harewood House is one of the Treasure Houses of England and is open seasonally across the year to day visitors. Guests visit Harewood House to enjoy the gardens, arboreta, woodlands, park and to explore the house.
Harewood Holidays
Harewood Holidays are nestled just outside the main house grounds’ on the Harewood Estate. They are a collection of Grade II listed buildings including former farm worker’s cottages to an ancient hunting lodge. The holiday cottages are all self-catering and their setting is ridiculously peaceful. The holiday cottages are very luxurious, yet cosy all at the same time.
Cherry Blossom Cottage
We were invited to stay in-between Christmas and New Year at their Cherry Blossom Cottage and we had the loveliest family time.
The buildings have been extensively refurbished within the last few months, meaning everything was shiny and new and picture perfect!
The Holiday Cottages
There are currently five gorgeous individual cottages, with two more planned to open by the end of January and more planned! The cottages are perfect for a romantic stay for two, right up to family groups or the option to hire out all the cottages together for larger parties. Bookings are taken for both part and full weeks.
Cottage for Six
We stayed in Cherry Blossom Cottage, currently the largest cottage which sleeps six in three bedrooms with two bathrooms. It’s perfect for families and it would be equally lovely for a Mama trip away for some R&R or for a group of couples looking to escape the day to day of busy lives.
The cottage had all the feel of a luxury hotel but with all the cosiness of a cottage setting.
Picture Windows
The views all around were beautiful with the sash windows making moving pictures before your eyes.
Dressing Room
The beds were super comfy and the bed in the master bedroom super king – which meant the best nights sleep were had by all. The award winning Hypnos beds were heavenly and very hard to get out of on a morning! The Master bedroom has it’s own dressing room complete with oodles of storage and its own en-suite.
Family Friendly Kitchen
The kitchen was really family/group friendly. It had everything you could need and the rest! The large farm house style table made it a really sociable space, where we ate, played lego and drank tea and chatted. Perfect.
All the kitchen equipment was brand new and spotlessly clean, with lovely smeg fridge and neff oven making cooking a real joy.
Luxury Bathrooms
The children’s bathroom was beautiful. I had one of the nicest baths I’ve had in a while where I was staying. Totally relaxation in the peaceful setting.
Chapter Organics
The gorgeous Chapter Organics soaps and creams ensconced across the cottages all smelled amazing. The products are made locally in Boston Spa and were from ‘The Peace’ range – which was perfectly fitting, and I was completely smitten with them! My gloves still smelled of the hand-cream a few days after and I was taken straight back to Harewood with their scent!
Welcome Basket
When we arrived we were welcomed with a basket full of treats from local farm shop Fodder. It included tea, coffee, butter, bread, eggs and the all important biscuits! A really nice touch.
And in the fridge were two bottles from the Harewood Food and Drink Project‘s real ale range – which went perfectly with our evening meal!
Two gorgeous Living Rooms
The cottage was plenty large enough for the five of us with two lounges downstairs in addition to the kitchen diner.
We designated one of the lounge areas as the grown-ups lounge – where we lit the log fire on an evening and played family board games – it was perfect.
The other lounge was the TV room and the Smalls mainly hung out in there watching Christmas films like Paddington as we prepared meals!
Useful Utility Room and Porch
There was also a downstairs utility room which handily had a washing machine and large sink and loads of space for boots and outdoor gear.
There was an entrance hall at the front and back of the cottage, with the all important porch for wellies and coats, meaning the house stayed clutter free!
Dressed for Christmas
The cottage had been dressed for the season with two gorgeous Christmas trees – brought in from the grounds – and door wreaths and decorations a plenty, it gave a really festive feel to the setting and had been really nicely put together.
As much as we loved spending time in the cottage we also wanted to get outside and explore the gorgeous estate! The grounds are vast with so much to see.
Harewood House – Adventure Playground
The Smalls mainly wanted to head to Harewood House adventure playground, which they played on for hours!
Luckily there was hot chocolate and mulled wine on tap at the kiosks so Harrogate Papa and I had the luxury of conversation with each other on the outdoor benches while the Smalls happily played!
Harewood House
We all had the chance to visit Harewood House itself too, where it was decorated for the Christmas Experience.
I’d love to go back and take it all in properly as the Smalls did race through it quite quickly, there was so much to see! It’s a really great way to see the House and the volunteers were really helpful too.
Mary Berry’s Country House at Christmas
You can check out all the glory of the House for yourself on the BBC iPlayer as Mary Berry hosted her ‘Mary Berry’s Country House at Christmas’ TV show from the House this year and it makes for great viewing.
Life at Harewood Holidays
We mainly spent our days relaxing in the peaceful setting. Enjoying long meals together as a family, stopping for tea and cake before heading off again to explore on a walk through the grounds of the estate.
Deer
On the last day we explored the land that the deer roam across, and the Smalls delighted in being so close to the Stags. It was a really amazing experience for them as the deer hopped along in front of us, not from behind a fence. They loved seeing where they deer had rubbed their antlers across the tree trunks and pulled the bark away. Something you don’t get to see everyday!
It was brilliant to be so close to the Deer in their natural habitats. We also got to see Red Kites circling at dusk and some gorgeous late winter sunsets too.
Walks around the Estate
The Lake at Harewood makes for good viewing too and there were no end of walks we could have taken had the Small Boy’s legs not been so small, though we made the most of the walks we did go on and we all slept all the better for them. There was always something magical to spot that you can only enjoy from being out in the countryside.
Family Time
On an evening we chilled out with wine for the grown-ups and and family board games, which mine all love to do! It’s so great to spend that family time all together and they’re the precious memories we’ll all remember.
Happy Fresh Air Days and Peaceful Sleeps
We all slept like babies in the softest beds in the most peaceful setting.
A Reminder of What’s Really Important in Life
All in all we had the most wonderful break, there’s nothing like getting back to nature in a stunning setting with your family to remind you what’s really important in life.
Well done Harewood Holidays – we think you’ve created a successful recipe for a happy memory making for lots of people to enjoy in the future!
To find out more about Harewood Holidays and how to book you can visit their website at https://harewoodholidays.com/.
Harewood Holidays invited us to stay with their compliments, the views as always, are my own.