The Old Mill, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 3RH

A blast from the past. Used to holiday here when I was a little girl.

Very friendly hosts Dee and Bob. Couldn't do enough for us as a family. Lots of great stories. Had a great week. Nothing was too much trouble. Bedding smelt lovely. Thank you so much.They even lat us have family to visit whilst we were there.

A lovely quirky old building, was tea rooms 50 years ago when I had my wedding reception there. It has been lovingly restored by the very friendly owner Bobb. Yes it is next to a busy road but that paled into the background and ceased to be noticed, I took my breakfast out to eat by the river with the ducks each morning and thoroughly enjoyed it, and my dog was quite safe to join me unleashed. There was plenty there to keep kids amused. If you want sleek and modern this is not for you, but if you like old and quirky this is fantastic

We had a fantastic week in this fabulous quirky cottage. Enjoyed exploring the rooms and admiring the wood workmanship. Would be a perfect location for a murder mystery weekend. We were still looking for light switches when we left. The cottage is everything you would expect from an old building, low beams and fairly steep stairs. The time and passion Bobb has spent renovating this wonderful place is evident. Lovely welcome hamper and a very warm welcome from Bobb. The island garden is delightful. Secure enough for our 3 dogs and 20 month old grand-daughter who absolutely loved feeding the swans an Mr pig. what a lovely surprise the shed was too. We spent a lot of time in it and sat outside next to the river. True the road is very busy but the noise didn't bother us. Also we did have to put the dogs on their leads to get them to the garden but this wasn't a problem. The big kids in our party and the dogs loved the river and took full advantage of the canoe. A fantastic week had by all. We would definitely like to come back. Thanks Bobb.

Fantastic old quirky cottage, kids loved it. Plenty of games and books plus the cinema room and pool table was a hit. Bob the owner was very friendly and helpful. Probably not suitable for young children due to the river and road, but our grandchildren were 11 and 8 years old so OK. The road is very close and busy but the noise didn't bother us. The pig, ducks, ducklings and black swans were very popular with our party.

My family rented this property for my 75th birthday treat. I looked at reviews without telling them and was concerned as to what we were going to. I need not have worried - the house was warm and friendly and the owner (coicncidentally the same surname as mine and yet unrelated) was welcoming and helpful. Some of the recent reviews were misleading. Why do people slag off properties without raising the issues with the owner so they can be corrected?

All the alleged faults were not evident to us - probably corrected by the owner after he read the reviews - but the damage to other possible users had already been done - I was certainly most apprehenmsive.

I agree the A31 is a busy road but we had no problem in sleeping and generally enjoying ourselves. The human brain is capable of shutting out noises it does not want to hear.

Clearly it is a place where young children and dogs need to be watched and controlled due to the road and the river but the location and comfort of the property outweigh any disadvantages. What do people expect I woner?

All I can say is that the authors of the 3 previous reviews didn't do a very good job of researching their holidays. A quick visit to Google Earth would have soon revealed how close to roads and rivers the cottage is situated.

Let's examine some of the comments from the earlier reviews.

"layout is very quirky and impractical". It would be, it's a 300 year old Mill. What were you expecting, a Barrett home?

"The welcome pack consisted of a bottle of wine". Perhaps you were expecting a hamper. Or tickets to the theatre maybe? It's self-catering. you don't get a ready stocked larder.

"The many interesting if noisy ducks, geese etc". Big shock, geese live near rivers.

"Greeted in a cold and abrupt manner by the owner". We found the owner to be very helpful and friendly. Perhaps he just didn't like you!

"The owner, who we discovered lived at the back of the cottage". Well, he does own it. Daresay he's allowed to live there. We knew that before we went. Looks like another example of not researching your visit.

"I choose holidays very carefully". Obviously not.

It looks to me that the above reviews didn't investigate their holidays very carefully. True, I would be nervous had I had toddlers with me, what with the closeness of the road and rivers. True, the garden is in need of some attention, particularly the fencing around the island garden. We had two dogs with us and were a tad nervous about the road but as for the rivers, they loved a swim every day.

We had no issues with cleanliness or indeed anything within the cottage, including the games room. We would definitely go back for another visit.

The Old Mill was described as being centrally located within the village and along with an idyllic picture of this 14th Century cottage you assume all is peaceful and quiet. What you can't see is that the cottage is in fact cut off from the village by the extremly busy A31 road just 10 feet from the front door and kitchen windows with traffic hurtling past at up to 70mph! Accessing the road from the cottage parking area was made hazardous because of overgrown bushes which severely restricted vision in both directions. The Cottage itself has lots of period charm and woody character although its layout is very quirky and impractical. (eg Accessing the playroom is via a long round trip outside - (my wife took the short cut through the serving hatch!).

Many of the playroom games were damaged eg. 2 pool tables but only one working cue! A wonky wheeled bicycle and air hockey game with a puck held together with sellotape. (A wooden chair supports beneath the centre of the four poster bed). Take care - the canoes have no safety equipment ('do it at your own risk') and the beautiful fishing river has no practical access point. The welcome 'pack' consisted of a bottle of wine - I know its something, but in every other cottage we have visited over the years,(and seldom paying £1000+ per week), you would expect a little more - at least some milk or fruit or eggs or flowers etc but provisions were minimal lacking even the basics - soap or pepper/salt etc.

After a few days the intrusive road traffic noise became intolerable day and night. Fortunately Dorset has so much to offer and the weather was so glorious that we only stayed in there for the minimum of time.

I can see how parents with young children would struggle with the dangers of the road and an unenclosed garden leading to rivers, ditches and a weir.

The many interesting (if noisy) ducks, geese and swans on the Mill pond seemed to be the main focus of the owners attention - not the comfort and well-being of his guests.

We will not be returning (I suspect few do)and I would not recommend this Cottage for a holiday stay.

ps We loved the pig although he was dentally challenged!

Chelsealabrador instead of taking the time to tell other people what they should think why don\'t you just write how you found your own holiday. I find it interesting that most of what you have written is to do what the opinion of others,wonder why that is? Opinions are subjective and have nothing to do with anyone else so the fact that you have felt the need to react in this way suggests that you\'re not very genuine. With regards to the owner \'maybe he didn\'t like you\' hmmmm who cares,he suggested to my husband not to get married as women are only after your money,his opinion of me is not important.If you loved your stay,great,no one is saying you shouldn\'t but i will not have my opinion attacked as though it doesn\'t matter,i paid so it does.

I totally agree with the statement above in every respect. If you're looking for relaxation then you won't find it here, the traffic is so noisy that I found it impossible to even read a book in peace. The traffic also carries on all through the night so sleeping was disturbed. The place was very smelly and dirty and although I appreciate that living near a river will mean insects I didn't expect to find them in the cupboards and cutlery drawer. The place feels very unloved and I'm afraid that the quirky decor has come at the cost of being functional (we all have the bruises to prove it). We advised the owner that the smoke detectors were faulty and they did provide batteries which did not solve the problem which makes me think that they don't know how to check them properly. I went with my family, most of which have experienced a house fire and so fire safety is paramount. If there was a fire, there are no means of escape on the top floor and little elsewhere (unless you're small enough to fit out the the limited opening windows. Other safety issues include lack of hand rails on staircases and easy access to all electrics in the playroom just the right level for small hands. They could also benefit from installing a carbon monoxide detector (I brought my own)My general opinion is that this place is not looked after and that very little thought has gone into the safety of its visitors. The one positive is that Dorset is fantastic and is still my favourite county to visit and the resident pig at the mill is lovely and has a real character.

We have just returned from a holiday of hell. Arrived at this cottage to find it was located within an arms reach of the busy A31. Constant stream of noisy traffic, including army tanks as an army base is nearby. Couldn't open any windows (despite it being hottest week of the year). It felt like we were having breakfast on a roadside cafe. On arrival, we were greeted in a cold abrupt manner by the owner who we discovered lived at the back of the cottage, and therefore shared the garden etc. This information was not provided. Furthermore, the cottage was filthy, with dead insects in kitchen drawers, flies buzzing around, spiders and daddy long legs hanging from ceilings. Work surfaces sticky and the whole house was fusty and really smelly. I paid close to £1400 for 1 week and was not even provided with a towel - that cost extra!!

As a parent of 2 small children, I choose holidays very carefully and rely on descriptions provided by the agent. In this case, the description was far from the truth. The front door of the cottage is so close to a very road dangerous road.

In the end we had to move out after 4 days and checked into a hotel, costing an extra £600 which we had not factored in. I would never recommend this holiday cottage to anyone.