Perfect family memories at Haulfryn’s Finlake

Written by Sarah Cooper

Leaving my house on the wet and windy morning on which we headed for Haulfryn’s Finlake in Devon I was filled with a certain amount of trepidation.  I felt ill, the weather was miserable, the kids were being naughty, we faced a long drive and the thought of sleeping in a strange bed when I felt unwell didn’t make me feel particularly joyful.  But then we arrived at our destination and despite still feeling ill I was instantly struck by the fact that Finlake looked exactly as it had in the brochure.  So many times in the past we have got to a holiday property to find that the photography was carefully staged.  Finlake on the other hand offered every quality the brochure had.  After driving up the winding path with trees gracing each side we quickly located the area where our lodge was at and the sensory experience began...

The birds twittered, the woody fragrance filled our nostrils, endless beauty filled our line of sight and excitement was most definitely in the air!  We could park very close to our lodge and we descended to the property through a pretty wooden gate and then down some steps to a suitably wooded area (just like the brochure).  The squirrel which jumped out before us couldn’t have appeared at a better time and he was quickly nicknamed ‘Nutkins’ by my son.  You can imagine the squeals of delight by my son who seemed to think that the squirrel had come especially to welcome us and we saw him a few times after that (or at least one of his family members). The environment reminded us of Enid Blyton’s book ‘The Faraway Tree’ and I could just imagine something magical happening on our break here.   

And as we excitedly opened up the door to our property we knew that this was going to be a wonderful break. Everywhere was just so cosy – whether it was the warm colours from the wood used so frequently throughout the lodge, the plump looking beds or the balcony which you could view part of the forest from it was quite simply enchanting.  We had ordered a highchair and stair gate for our property and these had even been put up for us already, which instantly made me feel secure and safe in the place.  Everywhere was very clean and well organised throughout the lodge and we had just about every appliance we could need there including a washing machine, tumble dryer, microwave, ironing board and even hairdryer!

The first night we graced the onsite restaurant ‘The Retreat’ and the fish and chips that were served there were ravished by my usually fussy children.  Staff were friendly and done their best to make us feel welcome.  Whilst there were tons of things to do in the local area we wanted to check out some of the facilities available on site.   We started with the play area which was dearly loved by my children.  It’s not often a play area facilitates my two sons as they are differing ages of 2 and 8 and so usually we are faced with a park that is too babyish or too difficult for little ones.  This play area managed to combine everything needed to interest differing age groups though with a huge slide/monkey bars/climbing bar play equipment to a smaller version through to a basketball hoop and football goalposts. 

We did encounter a rather funny incident at the play area.  My youngest son wanted to have a try at the bigger play area which meant that my husband had to climb on to supervise him.  After putting Bailey (age 2) down the large slide my husband had hoped that Bailey would wait on the ground for him to climb down and accompany him again.  But obviously Bailey had other ideas and proceeded to climb up a climbing net which was totally unsuitable for him by himself as he would have probably have just fallen through.  I was at too much of a distance to be able to leap in to action and so my husband caused a fit of laughter from other guests when he came shooting down the slide with such force(like a scene from Superman) to rescue Bailey before he hurt himself. It just looked so funny a fully grown man shooting down a slide like a small child. And it is this amongst other lovely memories that will remain with us from Haulfryn’s Finlake.  After this we went on a lovely forest walk in which we recited the rhymes from ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen. 

It’s a shame we didn’t get to use more of Finlake’s facilities as they also offered a games room, gym, spa and indoor and outdoor swimming pool but as we were only there for two nights we wanted to visit some local attractions.  And with Finlake being at such a great location we were spoilt for choice in where we could go.  We ended up visiting the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth which was fabulous fun and Paignton Zoo.   Culinary-wise we also enjoyed a delicious generously sized meal in the Ten Tors in Kingsteignton and were lucky enough to encounter the particularly friendly staff that served us.  Finlake really was the perfect base to be staying at!

I should add at this point that despite remaining ill for the rest of the stay, the beds were so comfy to sink in to and the total environment so welcoming that I didn’t feel at all strained!  If I was to query one thing with Haulfryn it would be what washing powder/fabric conditioner they used for their bedding as it all smelt so lovely and yet subtle. 

We will most definitely return to Finlake it was one of the most tranquil breaks we have ever taken and I thank Haulfryn for providing such a unique and well organised venue.

See website for more details www.haulfryn.co.uk