Willow Valley Holiday Park — Hotel in Great Britain

Me and my partner stayed in the Helyk lodge at Willow Valley Holiday Park, in mid-October 2023. I booked via their website, and all communication with Jen and Chris was super quick and easy, and they were welcoming from the very start.

We booked a Thursday to Monday for our anniversary.

Jen and Chris were away on our arrival day, however we were greeted by Cloe (Duty Manager) on the Thursday evening. She couldn't have been more lovely and showed us to our lodge and explained the hot tub use, and where our keys were etc. We were then very much left to enjoy the lodge, the park and then all Bude and the surrounding area had to offer. Jen and Chris had even left us a little hamper full of treats and Prosecco, and a card wishing us a wonderful anniversary - that was a wholesome touch, and we very much enjoyed the nibbles! Cloe popped to check the hot tub each day, but she always made sure to either do it while we were out, or while we were not using it - obviously! She always greeted us with a smile, and we even asked for some restaurant recommendations and we went to her favourite, and it was delicious!

The lodge itself was immaculate. Very spacious living area and lovely kitchen amenities. The bedrooms aren't the biggest, so space for suitcases/bags is minimal - but you have plenty of space in the living room to keep stuff! The beds were good (unfortunately I suffer from bone/joints issues, so double bed was a little firm for me but I'm sure others would be okay!). Lovely bathroom, and super clean. I did speak with Cloe when we checked out, and I mentioned a mirror in the bedroom would have been handy for the women that like to do make up and hair not over the bathroom sink, but that's a minor inconvenience for such a lovely lodge and time away. The only other minor thing (or a tip for future Willow Valley friends!), is that there is a skylight in the double bedroom, which has no shading or blind. If like me, you need it to be pitch black for sleep, I'd advise packing an eye mask, as the beautiful starry sky and the morning sun certainly can light the room up! Once again, not a complaint, but more a heads up :)

The hot tub was truly a gem with this lodge! After a long day exploring Bude, Tintagel and Port Isaac, it was dreamy to come back and relax into a steaming hot hot tub under the night sky, in our private sunken garden.

The location of the park was also great, in easy distance of Bude Town, local food and drink places and the main roads for further exploring! Though, if you're coming northbound on the A39, be careful as the entrance comes up quite suddenly and the sign wasn't too obvious - we missed it the first time! But that could have just been us! Coming southbound, the sign is more visible :)

All in all, a fabulous holiday and we were very happy with how we were made to feel special and welcomed. And the lodge was a great place to stay for a week. We'll 100% be back.

If you're looking to stay, don't hesitate, you won't be disappointed.

for reference, I took the lodge pictures on the morning of check-out, so I had stripped the beds for ease of housekeeping - the beds were immaculately made when...

Back in September 2020 myself and my now husband stayed in a yurt with our 3 month old. On the first night the temperature dropped, but we had been given furs, blankets, heaters and hot water bottles so battled through! The next day without prompting or hinting, the hosts Jen and Chris offered to upgrade us free of charge to a log cabin to ensure we and our little one were warm. They also let us use the hot tub for the night! This incredibly kind gesture led us to book our honeymoon here too.

Our wedding was initially scheduled for January, however with lockdowns, this got rescheduled to June. Jen and Chris kindly offered to move our stay to be after our wedding in June, but not only this, they also offered us two nights free of charge in the log cabin we’d originally booked. Again, going that extra mile to not only make our stay, but to cheer us up after our wedding was postponed. This was completely beyond our expectations.

Upon arrival it was clear to see just how much work they’d done in the 9 months since our previous stay. The site was already great, but they’ve put their heart and soul into adding more incredible places to stay, such as a little retro caravan, and a long gypsy hut with a private fence. There were even more yurts and the place was bustling with happy campers. There’s a great play area for kids, and even though our little one was too small for most of it, he loved the baby swing!

We spied an old yellow school bus which will one day be a place to stay - and we already can’t wait to book in for that! They have decking for fire pits so you can relax and watch the night sky, they provide breakfast in the morning if you book before 8pm the previous night, they check the hot tubs twice a day, and are on hand at all times to help with anything you need.

When we entered the cabin we could see they had even upgraded that! There was a brand new, lovely kitchen, with a dish washer - and on the dining room table was a bunch of flowers, a hamper of biscuits, chocolate, crisps and tea bags, and a card to say congratulations on our wedding day 😭 there was the worlds comfiest sofa, and the best bed in the world. They also provided a travel cot and a really nice high chair free of charge for our little boy. We had a chat with Chris who told us how many amazing plans they have, and how much work Jen has put in to what’s in store.

They’re so friendly that we feel a part of the family after just two visits, we already can’t wait to book a trip again ❤️ Thank you for making us feel at home every...

Liked: Pleasant site, good facilities, plenty of hot water in the showers and for washing up. Site wifi was good - even though the information at reception said it wasn’t good enough to stream TV/films we found it did so with no problem. We didn’t have kids with us but those that were on site were clearly having a great time in the play area. Site owner was friendly & helpful. Convenient location for breaking the journey on the way down into the furthest parts of Cornwall, and nearby Bude was a good place to spend a sunny Sunday. The pub at Poughill was lovely and did great takeaway fish & chips.

Disliked: If like us you prefer to leave the motorhome on site and get out for the day either by walking, cycling or catching a bus this location wasn’t great - the only way out on bikes is on the very busy A30, the nearest bus stop to catch a bus into Bude would have been a 20-odd minute walk along the same v busy main road with no pedestrian footpath most of the way, and although you can walk off site without going along the main road it involved going up a steep, muddy path which we didn’t fancy coming back down for risk of slipping after the rain - so after we found our way to the pub we ended up walking back along the A30, again without any pedestrian footpaths. Would not have wanted to walk or cycle along there with kids.

And because the site is right next to the main road there was a lot of traffic noise during the day - not great if you want to sit by your pitch and just relax.

Also, nowhere for MHs to drop grey waste - not a problem for a 2-night stop but would have been v difficult for a...