Ilex Farm Equestrian, Ilex Farm Camping, and Holly Cottage — Hotel in North East Derbyshire

Liked: Good remote location. The campsite was peaceful. Service signal was good too.

Disliked: Unfortunately we felt the staff were rather unwelcoming. The were no signs other than on the main gate, so me and my partner were unsure on where to park/where to locate any workers… on the track going in I was stopped by one of the owners, I asked “ Hi, I’m just looking for the campsite?”, to which he looked at me and just went “yeah”, I said “yeah where is it sorry?”, he aggressively went “well, have you actually booked?”, I replied “yes I have, I just don’t want to be going the wrong way”, he then drove off providing no directions to me. Further down the track, me and my partner accidentally drove around the entire campsite as there were again no signs were to park/ where to speak to workers. It turns out the other owner was actually watching us do this and didn’t say anything. My partner then saw her and said “Hi we’re just looking for the owners of the campsite, we’ve booked for the weekend and not sure where we need to go?”, she responded “ well it’s me and you usually come to speak to someone before driving around”, he responded “well yes we are lost, looking for the reception area, which is why I’m speaking to you”. Furthering this, when being shown our pitch, we were met with comments about our age, being inexperienced and assumptions we were going to be noisy.

Another thing, there were only two showers and one single toilet. These were clean upon arrival but shortly after and for the rest of the weekend remained filthy. There was no ventilation/windows in each of the three cubicles, meaning they smelt. You were told to press the shower on before getting in as it’s cold, this water then came straight out the shower onto the floor and flooded behind the toilet (no drain or mop) and as there was no mop, the floor was covered in mud all weekend. These weren’t cleaned over the Friday - Sunday (only seen being cleaned when we were checking out) and the only single cubicle was out of the loo roll for the weekend aswell. With limited cubicles anyways, we expected them to be cleaned at least once a day.

Sadly we booked this as the pitches were spacious, but the owner pitched our tent between two motor homes and told us we needed to “move up”. The led us to have two awnings, one right against our car and the other touching our tent. This was a shame as we were sat on top of each other with...

Several happy days here as part of Motorhome Fun rally in Sept 2025. It's a C&CC CL in rural Derbyshire and a perfect place for us. (Apart from the obvious absence of a sea view & the sound of crashing waves!!) Instead there are lovely views across the fields and nice places to walk to for people who like a gentle stroll to a farm shop/cafe or an oak beam type country pub with fancy food but also for people who have longer legs & wider horizons. The toilet & shower facilities are very new & very lovely - not extensive in number but more than adequate for everyone there along with us. Lovely barn for gatherings. Not sure how open this is for more casual visitors, check the website or ask if it matters but for us 'rallyers' it was an excellent asset, charmingly if inaccurately re-named 'cow shed' by one of the bands who performed for us it's got nice wood panelling and infrared heat to give a cosy feeling (without being actually toasty warm) and all the space you'd need for the size of the site. There is a steepish longish walk for those of us in the bottom field up to the facilities but I didn't mind that a bit as we got better views across the fields. I cannot at all agree with the one-star reviewer who criticised the discrete entrance signage and the need for multiple drive-wheels to exit the site. This is pretty dry stone wall territory - neon lights & shouty signs are for city high streets, he must have been not following the sat-nav properly and/or driving too fast and if he really needs 4 wheel drive here he also needs a driving lesson. (imho!) So, lovely campsite delivers all you could expect and we're looking forward to re-visiting in the future. Very happy to recommend &...

Liked: Having just brought a Motorhome wanted to have a break in it locally and try it out. Ilex Farm suited perfectly quiet setting on a stables and riding school with picturesque views around. Facilities basic, electric hookup, water and toilet service point. Brand new spotless WC & Shower unit (3 cubicles). Site is small; dozen or so pitches.

However me and my wife found the setting perfect for our planned BH break which was also her birthday. Lovely farm shop and coffee shop at Stretton (walking across fields on Bridle path) Also lovely walks to Ogston reservoir nearby too. Which also was great as had two dogs with us on our stay.

Disliked: No fault of site but either need to come equipped or willing to drive out to...