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“I’d previously disregarded self-catering as not relaxing or indulgent enough for a break but research turned up a selection of cottage owners who’ve invested real attention to detail in design and both parent and baby-friendliness.
As well as offering the space, flexibility and facilities babies and toddlers need, they are just as focused on parental relaxation with services from babysitting and eco-nappy deliveries, to pre-bookable private chefs and beauty therapy.”
BABY IN TRANSIT
Are you looking for a holiday and despairing of finding somewhere trendy that caters for little ones? Despair no more.
Parents no longer have to substitute good taste and luxury for toddler-proof plastic and fun parks, according to babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk, a new website featuring a collection of stylish and child-friendly UK holiday cottages, which launches on September 16.
The site promises oodles of stylish self-catering, perfect for pre-schoolers, and the range includes the seaside chic of Gitcombe Cottages in Devon and coastal retreats in Northumberland, to a funky farm feel at North Bradbury Farm in Devon.
All catered for
All properties featured on the website have been subjected to a strict selection process to ensure that, along with contemporary styling, their idea of child-friendly extends beyond the customary high chair and travel cot. As well as nursery equipment ranging from stairgates to sterilisers, they offer thoughtful extras such as 'baby arrival survival' packs (nappies, wipes, calpol sachets etc.), three-wheel strollers, sand pits, dressing-up boxes and 'soft play' rooms (Gitcombe and Tredethick).
All properties featured offer baby sitting services and local restaurant recommendations, or even in-cottage catering for total relaxation. North Bradbury Farm boasts a dining room linked to baby listeners in the cottages, so parents have the opportunity to eat out without the services of a babysitter. Some of the properties even boast pools, saunas, steam rooms and pre-bookable beauty therapists.
Boutique Hotel Junkie...
The Baby-Friendly Boltholes Collection is the brainchild of Sian Williams, a travel PR specialist who developed the idea when she became a parent herself.
"I'm a boutique hotel-junkie but I couldn't enjoy them as a parent. I'd be on toddler-induced tenterhooks awaiting the next food-splattering or objet d'art grabbing scene. I needed an alternative and the answer came from travel industry and media contacts who suggested cottages.”
A Baby-Friendly Boltholes pocket guide, featuring the accommodation collection along with tips and advice from travel writing parents, will be available from January 2007.
