In December the Parent Friendly Stays clan enjoyed a self catering holiday at the family friendly farm of Bosinver in Cornwall.
Here’s our full review of our stay. Don’t forget you can also check out our Parent Friendly Stays listing for family friendly holidays at Bosinver, or you might wish to visit the Bosinver website directly to book your own stay!
Our accommodation at Bosinver
The open plan layout of our Bosinver cottage was perfect for family fun
“our cottage was deceptively spacious, tastefully decorated and impeccably clean”
As a group of two adults, two children and a baby, we stayed in one of Bosinver’s two bedroom cottages – Pentree. The single storey property is fairly unassuming on the outside (at least compared with some of Bosinver’s very attractive thatched cottages) but, on the inside, Pentree was deceptively spacious, tastefully decorated and impeccably clean. Everything we needed for the kids – a cot, high chair, children’s cutlery – was available in our cottage and we also borrowed a baby carrier to help us explore the farm’s extensive grounds.
Our bedrooms at Bosinver were light and spacious (though we were a bit miffed the kids’ room was bigger than ours and had the en-suite!)
We loved the welcome tray awaiting our arrival in our cottage – a festive treat of mince pies, chocolates and champagne! – and couldn’t wait to fire up our gas log burner in the evening. As we were staying at Bosinver over the festive period, we also appreciated having our very own Christmas tree in the corner of the living room.
Child friendly holidays at Bosinver
“oodles of child friendly activities right on our doorstep”
We were excited about our Bosinver holiday as we love visiting cottages where there’s entertainment for the kids on site; in our experience it’s the best way to ensure a relaxing break as it reduces the amount of time spent driving around hunting for places to visit. And Bosinver certainly didn’t disappoint with oodles of child friendly activities right on our doorstep.
Bosinver’s swimming pool was modern, clean and great fun for all the children
The indoor heated swimming pool was the first place we visited once we’d unpacked, and we subsequently visited at least once every day. The pool complex was modern, bright, very clean and well equipped for children with floats and so on.
The children couldn’t get enough of Bosinver’s well equipped soft play area
Our other favourite destination was the on-site play barn which was jam packed with toys, games, ride-on cars, push-alongs and, of course, a two storey soft play area with slide. The children loved the play barn and its wide variety of activities; and again, everything was well kept and very clean. It also helped that the play barn was right next door to our cottage!
Feeding the animals each morning with Farmer Dave was a highlight of the holiday
Bosinver is a working farm and we couldn’t wait to join with Farmer Dave’s daily animal feeding sessions. These were popular with all the guests, who clearly weren’t put off by the heavy rain: we loved feeding seeds to the ducks and chickens, bottle feeding the lambs and collecting a much-prized egg from the coop. Once a week there are also free pony rides after the animal feeding, an experience our eldest daughter really enjoyed (though on busy days you might need to queue for a while).
We enjoyed getting involved with nature at Bosinver’s Wild Kids club
Bosinver also runs regular Wild Kids clubs, where a trained instructor helps the children explore nature – cooking marshmallows on an open fire was a particular highlight for us.
“even in the winter, Bosinver was superbly equipped to keep our three young children happy”
Bosinver has several outdoor play areas with high quality slides, climbing frames and a zip wire
If that’s not enough, we spent many happy hours making the most of Bosinver’s other child friendly features including the indoor games room with pool and table tennis, several outdoor play areas (including one with a fantastic zip wire and large slide) and an exciting Gruffalo trail around the woods. Even in the winter, Bosinver was superbly equipped to keep our three young children happy.
Cornwall’s dramatic coastline at Polkerris was well worth a visit, even in the rain!
Given its location in Cornwall, there’s no shortage of exciting family friendly places to visit in the local area – not least Cornwall’s most famous attraction, the Eden Project. We particularly enjoyed exploring the dramatic cove at Polkerris, where we also enjoyed a lovely pub lunch at the Rashleigh Inn.
Parent friendly holidays at Bosinver
“Bosinver offers the perfect environment for mums and dads to relax in”
The owners of Bosinver have done a great job of considering everything visiting parents might need during their holiday. As mentioned above, our cottage was well equipped with everything we required including a quality cot and high chair, with plenty more equipment available to borrow if needed. We brought a variety of wet weather gear with us but needn’t have bothered, as we soon discovered Bosinver had a raft of wellies and all-in-one waterproofs ready and waiting for us – perfect for the muddy animal feeding sessions! There were also family board games, books and DVDs available to borrow, though unfortunately our DVD player decided not to work during our visit (despite the best efforts of the staff).
Forgotten to buy dinner? It’s no problem at Bosinver – just pick up a hand-cooked ready meal from reception
Bosinver offers the perfect environment for mums and dads to relax in, not least because there was little car traffic (except the odd arriving or departing family) and acres of open space to explore and enjoy. There are also a few touches aimed specifically at parents, including private hot tubs for some of the cottages – though sadly not ours! – and a sauna next to the swimming pool. Exercise fanatics will also enjoy making use of a treadmill and bike conveniently situated next to the soft play area, though (and we suspect we might not be alone in this) we were a tiny bit concerned that when in use the equipment might be a bit of a hazard for inquisitive children; our baby wouldn’t leave the treadmill alone!
Bosinver’s grounds are full of exciting places to explore, including a Gruffalo trail through the woods
Food times at Bosinver were a doddle with several major supermarkets able to deliver to the farm, and hand-cooked frozen ready meals available to buy from reception. We took the lazy route and bought these ready meals every day for the kids; the healthy but tasty options went down a treat and made tea time a lot less stressful than usual. There’s also a family friendly pub within walking distance and babysitters can be organised on request.
In summary…
“we had no doubts we’d want to bring the children back to Bosinver again”
We always think the mark of a truly great holiday is whether you’d consider returning again another time. Well in our case we had no doubts we’d want to bring the children back to Bosinver again another time, and we’re excited to say we’ve already booked our next stay later in 2016. We can’t wait! And three separate sets of friends have also decided to do the same based on our overwhelmingly positive feedback.
We can’t imagine any parents being disappointed with the fantastic child friendly holidays on offer at Bosinver.
The Parent Friendly Stays team
If you’ve been inspired to plan your own holiday at Bosinver, visit our full listing for more information or visit the Bosinver website directly. Don’t forget to mention that we sent you!