The temperature where I live near Bath was just over 30°C as I prepared to take my family on a week-long trip to South Devon. I’m usually not that affected by the heat, and I endure it until it becomes unbearable, like Egypt in August, but on this day my whole body rebelled. Maybe it was because I had a ton of work to do before we left, or maybe it was because I’d decided to drive to Devon straight after school pick-up, an unrealistic plan that left no time for important tasks like transferring the dog biscuits, finding walking boots, or packing icepacks in the cooler just to transport the ball. Mozzarella di Bufala I had some almost-expired beer and a quarter pint of milk. I don’t know. But by 1pm I was freaking out and by 3pm I was melting. My back was sweaty, my underboobs were sweaty, even my fingers were sweaty, but there are no sweat glands between them.
I know this isn’t a standard introduction to an article about a luxury clifftop villa — “underbust” and “psychotic” probably aren’t among your desired SEO keywords — but it’s important to provide a little background and then gradually and seamlessly lead you to the climax of this vacation review.
I’m going to tell a funny little story about how we packed when it was 30 degrees, and therefore only had a beach dress and sandals in our suitcase (no jumper either), and how the weather was not to our liking. Ah, the irony! It was grey and rainy almost every day of the week we were there, and two of the seven days it was pouring, so hard you could barely stand.
But listen to what I’m going to do next (the climax as promised). The grey weather was no problem.. The heavy rain didn’t bother us at all.. That’s because we were staying at Clifftop, a sprawling holiday home that can be booked through Perfect Stays, and the views from this home were even more amazing from inside than they were from outside.
We’re not exaggerating: Sitting in any of our clifftop oceanfront rooms (including two of the seven bedrooms, the main living space, a second top-floor living space, and three spacious balconies) feels like watching a perfectly filmed video of the Southwest Coast in an IMAX movie theater. 24 hours a day, floor-to-ceiling windows offer views of rolling waves, rugged cliffs, and breathtaking sunsets. We never got bored.
(Sure, if you actually watched it in an IMAX theater, you’d probably get bored after about four minutes, but what if that was real? Really sitting on top of a cliff, sitting in a rocking chair, listening to the waves crashing below? It was an experience that can’t be put on a price. Soothing.)
I could go on forever about the views, and actually, I think that’s totally justified. I love a great view, I bought the house for the view (partly influenced by the oil baron ski lodge vibe and ’70s two-story lounge), and I generally appreciate a view, especially a well-framed one. Whoa. If you have a perfectly framed view of something — a forest, a cliff, or even just a nice piece of tree or sky — it doesn’t matter how small the window is. I nod in satisfaction that my little slice of the world has been perfectly captured. It’s living, breathing, moving art.
Anyway, there was more to Clifftop than just the views. First, it was huge and beautifully finished. There were 7 bedrooms, 6 (and a half) bathrooms, 2 living spaces, a room with a ping pong table, a snuggle room, a separate kitchenette on the top floor (with the best view in the house), and an office in a cupboard. Even with 14 of us staying there, we didn’t feel cramped and felt very comfortable and luxurious. Two of the bedrooms were on the bottom floor and faced the ocean, making us feel like we were on a cruise ship, but without all the inconveniences that come with a cruise ship (i.e. being confined to a cruise ship, being on a ship, etc.). Jeez After watching both ships for over eight hours, Titanic and the more modern ship “horror movies”, The triangle of sadness.
There are balconies on each floor and the design is cleverly arranged to accommodate four people on the top floor and eight on the lower floors, with the main living space sandwiched in between. (If you noticed there aren’t two, you’re correct – there is an extra bedroom on the main living floor.) The top floor has its own lounge area, dining space and very spacious kitchenette, so families can even live separately on the top floor for a week if they want their own space, plus the lower floors could accommodate two or three more families.
What a joke.
Of course, if you like to travel in large groups, and this house is well-thought-out for that, with practicalities and logistics thought out: space for three cars (with an electric charging point to boot), kitchen worktops that can accommodate at least five adults simultaneously feeding the kids and frantically chopping and plating veggies like chefs. The RitzOne child eats a triangle bagel with cream cheese and a sprinkling of chives, another asks for sausages cut lengthwise “like alien fingers,” and a toddler wants cheese on his baked potato but can only eat the finest grated…
Cock! Please service me!
But oh the view. Always there. ThereIt was like a giant wall of blue and grey and green colliding. I honestly felt no emotion other than gratitude. I stopped multiple times throughout the hour and never got bored. I know I said I wouldn’t dwell on it, but it was really amazing and special.
The utility room was no different. It’s a special space that deserves attention. Now, this utility wasn’t special because it had any of the current trends, like a DeVol unit or a pantry with an herb rack or a place to arrange flowers. This utility was special because it was so thoroughly thought out and comprehensively planned that it’s hard to find fault with it. In a sense, this utility was the engine room of the home. All the work was done there, behind the scenes, allowing the rest of the home to chug along beautifully and leisurely, without the grit and dirt and smells that usually ruin a large group getaway.
The utility room is accessed from outside, directly from the beach. It has an outdoor shower (hot! amazing views!) and a series of hooks and drying pegs, as well as places to store a variety of swimsuits and towels, beach toys and body boards. All clutter is left outside the door. Inside there’s another shower, a huge sink for washing the dog (at least we hope that’s what it’s for), more pegs and rails and shelves. And did you know? It’s a home that sleeps 14 people. needs All this! Everything! But many places don’t have them. These are very important as unattractive but practical areas, otherwise the house will get dirty and in time the house will fall apart. Here it’s no problem, there is plenty of space for the dog and the sandy kids, you can close the various doors and partitions and give the whole house a thorough wash…
The other utility door led out a staircase that led down to a small cliff-top garden, which contained a large hot tub (with the aforementioned views, but have I mentioned the views already? I can’t quite remember) and, to my surprise, a niche pleasure: a sauna.
At the risk of turning this article into a drinking game (“Take a drink every time she says ‘the view’!”), the sauna was tucked away at the edge of the property, with a small window looking out onto Chalaboreau Bay. I sat there a little too long and nearly burned my insides, because I was so entranced by the surfers paddling out and biding their time, and the people running around in the water on the beach. What a place to feel your nose hairs self-combust!
In summary, it’s a huge house, beautifully designed (the renovation is relatively recent and the attention to detail and quality of finishes are incredible), well equipped, with more than enough towels and about 18 pillows and cushions per person. The location is great, with an easy walk to Burgh Island (what a magical little place) and Challavrallah, and only a short drive to Kingsbridge and Salcombe, so you can spend every day at the beach.
Not one person in our group of 13 had a bad thing to say, except for one who can’t speak yet, but what about the rest? They all complimented it. There are a lot of stairs and steps (the house is 3 stories) so that’s something to take into account, but I liked that the bedrooms weren’t all on the first floor, which would have been chaotic.
Prices for Cliff Top start from £2,950 for a week in the off season (in fact it’s £3,350 for a week at the end of September, when the weather is still relatively good), and if you divide that by 14 to work out the price per person… well, for pure luxury and those views (sorry!), we don’t think it can be beaten.
For more information on Cliff Top, check out Perfect Stays (with better and more helpful photos). hereHere is a video of the Full House Tour. Click here here Or press play on the video screen below.
Source: Ruth Crilly – www.ruthcrilly.co.uk
