Have you ever visited Dorset before? If not I would suggest you pop it on your list of places to visit! We have just got back from a weekend away in Upwey, Dorset and I didn’t want to come back!
Sykes Cottages invited us along to review one of their properties, so we picked Casterbridge and Everdene in Upwey Dorset.
Our two properties were within a group of 5 stunning cottages, ours were the 2 on either end, in between the gate. This was perfect for us, as we were coming on holiday for my Dad’s 70th Birthday, and meeting up with my parents, and my sister with her family from Devon. So all in all we had 11 of us!
Picture Of Everdene
The properties were perfect, they were clean, well presented, with a fully equipped kitchen and the decor was subtle but with a shot of colour. Each cottage had their own colour scheme, Everdene has red sofas with black furniture. 
Picture Of Everdene
Where as Casterbridge has black sofas with a small amount of colour. I noticed the other properties has different colours schemes too.
Picture Of Casterbridge
Bedrooms
Both these properties sleep 6 people, with the main bedroom upstairs. This is accessed straight from the lounge, with its own en-suite. My worry with rooms in the ‘loft’ area is that they will be become too hot or cold, no worry here. They have windows that can be opened easily, and also integrated blinds.
Picture Of Everdene
Plenty of storage space for hanging clothes on hangers or in the drawers. Hairdryer provided too. Along with lots of plug sockets!
Picture Of Everdene
With a little dressing table area, and smart TV’s in every room! This was great for us, as it meant the kids could watch their TV and we could watch ours!
Picture Of Everdene
Bathrooms
The en-suite was lovely, large and very clean. With a shower over the bath, so you had options. The showers were very powerful and coped with all of us having showers. I would have liked to have some handwash left for us though as we didn’t bring any with us, as quite often this is provided. One loo roll was left in each bathroom.
Picture Of Everdene
There is also a downstairs bathroom which was for the 2 downstairs bedrooms. Again very clean, and with a shower over bath.
Picture Of Castebridge
Bedroom Arrangements
When calling up to find out about key collections, you can request which way around the beds are put together. Either twins or kings. I did the request to have ours as 3 kings as my son likes the opportunity to sleep in a big bed when he can, however on arrival we had 2 kings and 1 twin. Not a big problem.
Pictures Of Everdene
Pets Welcome
What is lovely about Casterbridge is that we could bring along Gus the dog. There are 2 properties out of 5 that you can bring along your dog, 1 welcome. Upon booking the request is that the dogs must be kept downstairs, and not left alone in the property. I do think this should be mentioned on the website, as then people will know that can’t arrange to go out for a meal or anywhere without their dog. This wasn’t a problem for us, as he came everywhere with us, and the owner was very helpful in sending us a selection of dog friendly places we could visit.
Picture Of Casterbridge
This view above is the ‘back’ garden and all dogs must be kept on the lead out in this area. However, there is a grass back garden situated to the right of the front door. A dog bowl and some poo bags were provided, also which came in handy is a hosepipe on the side of both houses. We were able to wash our boots off, and the dog easily. Gus and a lovely time with us, and it was so nice to be able to bring him along for his first holiday!
Parking
Casterbridge and Everdene have plenty of parking. When we had extra visitors and 5 cars between us, we just double parked ours to keep the spaces free for the other guests.
They have even thought of parking for your bicycles too!
Video Tour Of Casterbridge
Walking Around Upwey
As it was my Dad’s 70th Birthday weekend, we wanted to celebrate with him, and have all his family with him. My Sister and her family came up from Devon, and we came from Hampshire. On the Saturday my cousin and her family came along for the day too.
They were able to play together in the garden behind the cottages, and as Upwey is a very pretty little village we could all pop out for a walk around the village together. Plenty of walks around, as the properties are within the valley of the River Wey, and surrounded by fields.
Party Time
I briefly mentioned to the owner that it was my Dad’s 70th Birthday, and wasn’t expecting anything from it. However when we arrived, my parents property had a disco light bulb in the light and balloons all around the room! What a thoughtful thing to do, and it was very much appreciated.
Picture Of Everdene
So how did we feed everyone?! As there was 14 of us on the Saturday we carried over the table into one of the properties and popped them together! As the kitchen is so well stocked, we had plenty of plates, cutlery and serving dishes for everyone. It was a lovely evening, and not once did we feel squished in.
Picture Of Casterbridge
What Is In The Area?
We stayed close by in Upwey on the Saturday, and just enjoyed being together. So come Sunday we were ready to explore the area. Casterbridge and Everdene are a perfect location, the village feels far enough away to be relaxing, and feel like you are in the countryside, but you’re only 10 minutes away from Weymouth beach from, and 10 minutes away from Dortchester town.
So we headed towards Dorchester and went to Maiden Castle, do not follow google maps, or the post code on the website! We went all around the other side to get in! Head towards Dorchester, and follow the brown signs. Maiden Castle in Dorset is one of the largest and most complex Iron Age hillforts in Europe – the size of 50 football pitches.
Then we headed back down towards Weymouth beach, and of course if you are near the beach you must have an ice cream! We sat there freezing and blowing a gale eating ice creams!!
Notice the black gloves! Not a typical ice cream image is it?!
Up until Easter dogs are allowed on the sandy beach, so we took a lovely walk along the beach, and threw Gus’s ball for him.
Then you have your typical beach front fairground, and a perfect opportunity for a go at bumper cars!
Overall
We would 100% book Casterbridge and Everdene again, I loved the area of Upwey, love the house and 3 nights wasn’t enough! My parents are there for a week, and they’re going to have plenty of time to explore the area. The house was comfortable, and I could have easily slept there longer. I was sad to leave and I want to go back!
Vlog Of The Weekend
*We received a discount on these properties as part of this review, however, all words are honest and of my own.
56 Comments
I love the fact that you were given poo bags! Sykes Cottages are brilliant – we’ve stayed with them before, and were impressed.
Yes good hint to clear up! Although I would anyway but some wouldn’t. Yes Skyes were really good to use, I’ve never used them before.
This looks like a perfect getaway! Would definitely love to spend some time there myself.
It was really nice, thank you
Dear Steph,
So glad you enjoyed the stay at our holiday cottages in Weymouth, I’m delighted that it worked well for you and the family. I hope you don’t mind if we share the lovely comments and your blog content with our other guests?
Kind regards
Helen
Yes of course you can, we had such a fantastic time! Thanks for providing such great accommodation.
Looks lovely accommodation and always like the flexibility of superking / twin bedrooms! I’m a massive fan of Sykes Cottages and have booked many cottages with them before myself. Will keep these ones in mind for that area of the country. Great review, thank you
Thank you, it was the first time withe Sykes Cottages and we were super happy. Like you I would happily book with them again.
Upwey isn’t too far from me and we love a trip to Weymouth (we were there last weekend). I am ashamed to say I have never been to Maiden Castle, will have to rectify that!!
Maiden Castle is great if you fancy a windy stomp somewhere. Great for history as well if your little ones are interested in that too. You’re lucky living in such a beautiful part of the country.
The interiors of the cottages look absolutely gorgeous, so fresh and modern!
Super clean as well, such a nice property to be able to walk into and relax.
Wow plenty of space here. The decor looks amazing.
Loads of space for everyone, it was the perfect place!
Wow this looks AMAZING!!! We are going to dorset for our summer holiday this year so his got me super excited!!
Oh have a lovely time, if your near Knoll Beach then take a trip there. Beautiful sandy beach and looked after by the National Trust so really clean.
We’re heading to Dorset this summer for our holiday! I’ll check this out. Can’t wait.
Have a great time! I think Dorset is my favorite place in the UK
Wow they look amazing! Reading your post made me want to organise a long weekend away with the whole family
It was super fun! So nice getting everyone together
Oh wow, this place looks so beautiful. If I could pick and design my own place to live, it would look just like this. I love the large windows and light. Beautiful pictures too looks like a great place to explore. I would love to visit 🙂
Thank you. The other ones on the end of the buildings had floor to ceiling windows, and all the way to the point, stunning.
Dorset is a long long long way from where I live, so it wouldn’t be my first choice; having said that, your stay looks fabulous and certainly the kind of place I would love to visit. Such a nice standard of accomodation, great for a family stay. I’m always worried about things like cleanliness in places that so many other have stayed, so it’s reasurring to see that it looks well kept. Splendid.
If you ever end up this way then I would recommend visiting Dorset, a very beautiful county. I know what you mean about cleanliness, this place was spotless though and looked brand new.
Wow these are gorgeous, I am so fussy about design and luxury when I travel and these seem just perfect so contemporary, thanks os much for linking up #MondayEscapes xx
You would be really happy with these, they were super clean, modern and luxury. Perfect!
What a beautiful cottage in a beautiful location! We are going to Dorset later in the year and I can’t wait now. #mondayescapes
Have fun, there are so many beautiful places to explore.
seems like a nice place #mondayescapes
Thank you, it was a great place to explore
Looks lovely. I want to go back to Dorest now Kitty is older and can appreciate the Jurassic Coast and fossil hunting. Thanks for sharing. #mondayescapes #staycationinspiration
Dorset is one of my favorite places to explore. So many beautiful areas
I have never stayed with Skye cottages previously but it looks like such a great place for accomodation, and what a location too!
I haven’t stayed with them either before this, but it was really positive a great choice of places.
Never been but only because I don’t live in the UK and it’s not everyday I get to go the UK.
But this looks amazing. I love the brightness. There is a lot of light coming in
Oh it is very pretty in Dorset. It was very open plan and airy, made it feel so big.
Looks like a fantasic family break. I really wnat to visit Dorset, looks like there is a lot to see there. That hill fort looks impressive! #TriedTested
Dorset is so lovely, so many places to explore.
It looks like you had a lovely time in Dorset. Happy 70th Birthday Dad! Xx
Thank you!
Wow factor tripled by 100!! These cottages look so cosy, welcoming, calming, and peaceful as does where they are located. What a wonderful time you and your family most have had 🙂
They were So relaxing!
Wow what a stunning place to stay I’d love to visit Dorset and will have to look more into Sykes cottages.
Dorset is so pretty, loads of places to explore.
this looks wonderful – the accommodation and the area it is in. I’d want to move in!
I didn’t want to leave at all, it was perfect! I think I could easily live there!!
What a wonderful place to stay, the cottages look amazing and they have thought of everything. I love that they had balloons and disco lights for your dad, what a personal touch. It’s my mum’s 70th birthday next year and we are going to on the search for somewhere for us all to stay. I will add this to the list to check out. I’m so pleased you had a lovely time x #triedtested
Thank You. So thoughtful wasn’t it, Dad was chuffed to bits with his birthday weekend.
That looks beautiful. The kind ofplace we would love to visit! #triedandtested
It was so peaceful, and relaxing. Lovely place to stay
What a fantastic place to stay. It looks gorgeous.
It looks like you had the best time!
#TriedTested
We had a great time, thanks!
Wow what a beautiful place to stay! It looks perfect.
Thanks for sharing your review on #triedtested this week x
It really was perfect, didn’t want to leave
This looks wonderful, I could do with a weekend away with my family right now #triedtested
We really needed it! My Dad had a lovely time