This Easter break we headed off to North Devon to stay at 18 Bucklands, a holiday chalet at Bideford Bay, a Parkdean Resort located in Bucks Mills. The chalet is privately owned and has recently been fully refurbished to an extremely high standard. The family who owns it use it as their own holiday home and we were fortunate enough to be one of the very first guest families to stay in it.
AD: Gifted Stay.
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. Read the full privacy policy here.
The Parkdean Resort
Parkdean Resorts Bideford Bay is a holiday park situated on a hillside with a stunning view of the sea in North Devon, England. It boasts a variety of on-site facilities to keep the whole family entertained, including both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, complete with a water flume for the thrill-seekers. There’s also crazy golf, a play area, and even a multi-sports court for football, basketball, and hockey enthusiasts. On-site there is a well-stocked Nisa Local and The Manor Club which is where the restaurant, entertainment, and arcade are.
In addition to the park’s amenities, Bideford Bay is a short distance from a secluded beach, so you can spend your days soaking up the sun and exploring rockpools. The South West Coast Path curls around the outside of the resort so 18 Bucklands is a great base for exploring the area.
18 Bucklands
The chalet itself is simply stunning. This 2-bedroom chalet sleeps 6 people with a double bedroom, a twin bedroom, and a large sofa bed in the main living area, well-behaved dogs are also welcome so your four-legged friend can join you on your adventures. The owners have put a great deal of thought into how the chalet is decorated and furnished with lots of luxury touches to set it apart from your run-of-the-mill UK holiday resort accommodation:
- Underfloor heating with thermostats in each room
- Barista style coffee machine
- Dishwasher
- Starlink Wi-Fi
- Nightlights
- Bath with shower over
- Fully equipped kitchen
- Dog bowls
- High chair
- Travel cot
- Changing mat
- Full-size ironing board
- Built-in den in the twin bedroom
- 4 smart TVs including one each in the twin bedroom
- Wireless phone charging points
- Small selection of family medical supplies
- Hairdryer with a range of attachments
- Extendable dining table
18 Bucklands really is a home from home and such a fantastic base to explore all that North Devon has to offer.
The Manor House Bar and Restaurant
The Manor House is the hub of the Bideford Bay resort, this is where the entertainment takes place, the bar and restaurant are there and the arcade is also in this building. During our stay, we visited the Manor House twice for a meal because none of us felt like cooking. The food portions are huge so it is excellent value for money and even better than that, the food tastes delicious as well. On our first visit, we had a sharing starter, 4 adult main meals, 2 children’s main meals, and drinks all around. On our second visit, we had 5 adult meals, 1 children’s meal, and drinks all around. On both visits, the bill came to less than £150.
The Manor House serves food all day with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night menus as well as a children’s menu. The late-night menu is available for takeaway as either collection or even delivery to your accommodation (depending on availability). Food can be ordered and paid for via the app and then delivered straight to your table or your accommodation if you are choosing the late-night menu.
North Devon
The area offers exciting day trips to nearby attractions like Clovelly and Westward Ho! Beach, is a blue flag beach that is a popular spot for surfers. We spent a lovely couple of hours dodging the rain at Westward Ho! The beach is dog-friendly out of peak tourist season so the children, Millie, and I had a great time paddling and investigating the rockpools before heading inside to The Fairway Buoy for a drink and then hitting the promenade for ice cream from Nice Ice Cream who even stock Scoops Doggy Ice Cream, much to Millie’s delight!
Westward Ho! is quite an unusual place, it is the only place in the UK that has an exclamation mark intentionally in its name, in fact, there is only one other place in the world that has an intentional exclamation mark in its name ( Saint-Lois-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, Canada).
Another reason why Westward Ho! is unusual are its literary connections, firstly it is named after a book by Charles Kingsley because a company was formed in 1863 specifically to create a new town called Westward Ho! in order to capitalise on the public attention the book was providing to the area. Secondly, Rudyard Kipling attended the United Services College that was situated here, The aim of the college was to prepare boys aged 13 – 18 for service in the army and navy. His Stalky and Co. stories are based on his time at the college.
Further afield from Bideford Bay, there are lots of wonderful places to visit such as The Big Sheep, The Milky Way Adventure Park, Dartington Crystal, Exmoor Zoo, the beautiful wooded valley at Hartland, the varied Burrough Farm trail, the Mary Stella Edwards studio, not to mention all the wonderful beaches, stunning views, and beautiful food.
