BRAMBLY WELL, MERRICROFT FARMING, GORING HEATH, Reading, Berkshire, RG8 7TA

A group of 5 from Australia rented this self-catering dwelling for a week. We used it as a base for walking in The Chilterns. The cheerful and obliging proprietor, Jon Hatt, lives nearby, and called by several times during our stay. We were provided with detailed instructions for reaching the property. It is located about 20 minutes drive northwest from Reading. It feels quite remote, whilst being reasonably close to shops, restaurants and rail services.

Brambly Well is in an excellent location, with plenty of opportunities both to walk and drive. The rooms are comfortable and well equipped, with a spacious lounge area. WiFi came at no extra cost, and was much appreciated. The small kitchen is well equipped, though we felt several on the saucepans were in urgent need of replacement, and the knives needed sharpening. There is a small room just beyond the front door, which we found was an excellent space for storing raincoats, walking poles and muddy boots.

There were some maintenance problems during our stay. The heater was not working in one of the bedrooms, and the lever that opened the clothes drier was broken off. Whilst both these faults were quickly corrected by the proprietor (the heater immediately it was noticed not to be working, and the drier within 24 hours), we felt these faults should have been picked up in a weekly maintenance check. We also felt that a property for up to 6 people needed more than one combined bathroom-toilet.

Note that this property is normally rented on a Friday-to-Friday basis. As we were renting other places on a Saturday-to-Saturday basis, this was potentially problematic. The proprietor was very flexible about this, and we were able to have the cottage starting on a Saturday. However, had it been peak season, this could well have been problematic. Why there is not better co-ordination throughout the UK between places renting on a weekly basis remains a mystery to us.