Perfect holiday cottages in Yorkshire for families

I must get asked at least once or twice a week where to stay in Yorkshire with kids and the truth is that I can seldom answer the question without bumbling along because no one really stays where they live.

I’ve lived in rural North Yorkshire all my life, so I can tell you where to find the best little boutique shops, I can give you advice on where to enjoy meals and I can 100% tell you about all the amazing things to do with children in Yorkshire.

What I struggle with is where to stay. Now for years I’ve said an ambiguous “Um, York is really nice…” or “There are loads of B&Bs… we have a Hilton in York that I hear is nice and The Principal by the station is beautiful… but I’m not sure what prices they are and you would maybe need a suite…” Basically, what I’m telling you, is that I’ve been pretty useless when it comes to offering much advice on where to stay in Yorkshire with the kids. Now, however, all of that has changed.

You know when someone does something that is just really kind? Well that was this experience for us. As you might have heard if you follow me, we are having a load of building work done at our home, which is making it a bit of a nightmare to live in. We have the living room and… yeah that’s it for downstairs. No kitchen. No downstairs toilet and no rooms to escape each other. To make matters worse the rooms upstairs are crammed full of stuff, which is one hell of a pain in the arse. Anyway, I have been creating videos for instagram about the build work and generally trying to find the light in our current living arrangement whilst being honest about how bloody hard it can be.

Which is when Kirsty and Graham from Beech Farm Cottages got in touch and offered us a complimentary stay in one of their holiday cottages without any obligation to promote them in anyway, they just wanted to extend a helping hand and if we did end up loving their cottages and talking about them it was a bonus.

Well OF COURSE I’ve been singing the praises of the cottages all week because they have far surpassed all expectations – and I finally feel like I have a place I can genuinely recommend to families of all sizes, for a reasonable price and in a wonderful location.

Apart from the fact that Kirsty and Graham are clearly awesome people for offering to help us like this, they run the most superb cottages in Wrelton, just outside of Pickering and around 35mins from York, 25mins from Whitby and 35mins from Scarborough. The location is ideal for walkers or families that want to explore the Great Yorkshire Moors, be that at the visitor centre and in a fairly easy going environment or trekking across moorland, there is something for everyone.

Each cottage caters to a variety of families, the one that we were offered a stay in was Shepherd’s Lodge which sleeps up to 10, has 5 bedrooms and a fabulous 4 bath/shower rooms which meant there was no squabbling over who got to go to the toilet first!

The rooms were spacious and decorated perfectly for that cosy cottage vibe whist still being modern and just beautiful. The cottage has 2 double rooms with ensuite shower rooms, 1 double room, 2 twin rooms and then a bathroom with a really deep tub and a shower room that Reuben made the best use of. The bathrooms all had a lush hand crafted hand and body wash, made right here in Yorkshire. It was available to but but unfortuantely I have no room! Apart from the extremely comfy beds and cosy rooms, the downstairs was a treat too. Not only does the cottage have a lovely spacious living room with more than enough seating and space for everyone to sit down in, but it also had a snug room which could be used either as a playroom or as a small living room for older family members – ideal for us as a large family because mum didn’t feel the need to take off her hearing aids when the kids arrived home from school!

The kitchen diner is simply lush, filled with tea, coffee, brownies, sugar and milk when we arrived, and boasting all of facilities that we could need. We’re talking coffee machine, dish washer (and tablets to go with it), cleaning products, and allllll the pots, pans, kid’s cups/plates and so on. It felt instantly like a home away from home.

Now, when we arrived you can imagine that we were delighted with our cottage and the fact that this lovely couple had welcomed us so well into their family run cottages, but our delight when we found out that there was SO much for the kids to do just can’t be put into words (but obvs I’m going to give it a go because, you know, blogger.)

Graham took us for a little tour around and, despite having looked at the website the day before, we had completely forgotten that Beech Farm Cottages have a beautiful pool, sauna and spa pool. The kids were so excited, and we were really impressed with a.) how well kept these facilities were but b.) (and most importantly in my opinion) the door was locked permenantly and each cottage had a key, to make sure that no little bodies could make their way into the pool area without an adult present.

As you can imagine the kids were practically feral when they discovered a pool to play in (Beech Farm has a range of toys for the pool but you can bring you’re own too) but even more so when they realised that Beech Farm cottages have what is essentially a small holding and sometimes petting zoo at the end of the site. Yep, goats, chickens, doves and sheep are all in the field at the back and every day the staff come out to feed them at 9am and welcome guests to join in if they want to. If you’re not an early bird or you can’t make it at 9am, Graham or Kirsty are happy for you to join in putting the animals to bed in the early evening, which is what our little tribe did. Kirsty even let the kids collect eggs and keep them (Toby had a breakfast of scrambled eggs in the morning!)

Personally, I think the above is more than enough to solidify in my mind that this is one of the best places we’ve ever stayed, but Beech Farm cottages is the place that keeps on giving. When we had finished feeding Noodle and Doodle the sheep, we went to meet Eddie the rabbit and his guinea pig pals, who live on site and are always there to say hello to and occasionally feed. The cottages also have a wonderful communal play area, complete with football goals, sunken trampoline, picnic bench and swing/slide set. Edith was captivated with the mud kitchens too! Lastly there is a BBQ area with table tennis and a lovely laundry room that has ALL the fun toys that your kids are welcome to take back to their cottage and hold onto for their stay, returning them when they are ready. Reuben had several action figures such as Iron Man, Thor and Spider Man, meaning it all felt like it did when he was at home.

Ultimately, as I sit and type this whilst fondly remembering grabbing Pain au Chocolat from the freezer, I have to say that it was an absolute delight to stay in Beech Farm cottages and how lucky we are to have such a gem in our area.

North Yorkshire does have a lot to offer, it’s a place that offers you multiple beaches, small towns with boutique shops, food festivals and more. There is the beautiful city of York, only a 35min drive – you really can’t ask for more.

If you would be interested in staying at Beech Farm Cottages you can find out more information here, but for us this is the ultimate way to holiday – a real home away from home.

H 🙂