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IDEAS AS FRESH AS AIR - from the Saturday Telegraph

16 October 2006

EXTRACT FROM TWO PAGE DARTMOOR FEATURE IN THE SATURDAY TELEGRAPH TRAVEL SECTION -

IDEAS AS FRESH AS AIR -
Dartmoor has always offered thatched cottages and mind-clearing open spaces. Now it also has stylish hotels and restaurants - making it the perfect place to be snowed in this winter, says Nigel Tisdall ...

"Holne Chase Hotel, that Dartmoor classic beside the River Dart that loves dogs and horses as much as bipeds, has kept complacency at bay. The grounds are gorgeous the service tip-top, and a confidently run restaurant serves with a smile everything from cider soup to egg soldiers. "Its like staying with a favourite aunt," the children said approvingly as they thrashed me at Scrabble beside an afternoon tea of mammoth scones and cakes.

Even the normally slow-moving world of holiday cottages has been upgrading. Smart owners have twigged that the USP of a Dartmoor break is its opportunity to mix some seriously beautiful outdoors with snug interiors - and if the product's right we're happy to pay as much for this as a trip abroad.

In high summer, a week in the new five-star cottages at Holwell Farm, a gaggle of burly granite buildings tucked in a green cleft near Saddle Tor, can cost up to £2,000, although a three-night break next January starts at £300.

With chunky oak beds, Sky TV, ever-warm Sandiford cookers and bespoke kitchens featuring an "honesty freezer" full of farm meats and home-made pies, I can't think of a better place to get snowed in this winter.

So, if you're a tensed-up city-dweller suffering from polluted lungs, cramped shoulders and computer-screen ague, there's nothing better than scrabbling around this vast granite playground of abandoned railway tracks, free-living ponies and babbling leats, then retiring to a cosy hotel or cottage that's warm, chic and comes with the promise of copious hot water, flop-on-me sofas and a leisurely supper starring delicious local produce."

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