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10 of the best Isle of Wight holiday cottages for large groups 2020
If you're planning an Isle of Wight holiday for three generations of the same family plus assorted hangers-on and aunts then you'll probably be looking for a large property which can cope with at least 10 or 20 people.
Here is my pick of 10 of the highest rated and best value large self catering holiday cottages on the Isle of Wight. If you're doing stag do research, check out our guide to activities for an Isle of Wight stag weekend or see our guide to 7 of the best Isle of Wight manor houses for more of this sort of thing.
Here is my pick of 10 of the highest rated and best value large self catering holiday cottages on the Isle of Wight. If you're doing stag do research, check out our guide to activities for an Isle of Wight stag weekend or see our guide to 7 of the best Isle of Wight manor houses for more of this sort of thing.
1. Kingston Manor, near Chale, Sleeps 16
Kingston Manor near Chale has got a lot of history about it, with parts of it dating back 800 years. It's got huge 15 acre grounds, so you can wander around pretending you are Lord of the Manor for a few days. There's a big dining room called 'The Great Hall', eight bedrooms, an outdoor heated swimming pool and a games room.
It's in the South Wight, about 10 minutes in the car from the Isle of Wight's crumbliest stretch of coastline. My favourite beach - Compton Bay - is about 15 minutes from the house and is good for bodyboarding and surfing. However, it's a less child-friendly stretch of the coastline with only basic toilets and an ice cream van if you're lucky. For young children, you'll want to head over towards Sandown, Shanklin, Ventnor or Ryde which are about 20-30 minutes from Kingston Manor.
It's in the South Wight, about 10 minutes in the car from the Isle of Wight's crumbliest stretch of coastline. My favourite beach - Compton Bay - is about 15 minutes from the house and is good for bodyboarding and surfing. However, it's a less child-friendly stretch of the coastline with only basic toilets and an ice cream van if you're lucky. For young children, you'll want to head over towards Sandown, Shanklin, Ventnor or Ryde which are about 20-30 minutes from Kingston Manor.
2. The Marine Villa/Charleston House, Shanklin, Sleeps 20
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This one is pretty spectacular - Marine Villa (also known as Charleston House) is a 1920s gentleman's residence with fantastic views and a dining room suitable for a sword fight scene in a Bond film. Its water feature is something else and its art deco touches are pretty cool too. It's actually not all that expensive if you spread the cost out between 20. It has seven bedrooms in total.
The location is on the cliffs over Shanklin with sea views from the end of the garden. Shanklin is a traditional bucket-and-spade sort of place which is great for kids, with a long sandy beach and multiple minigolf courses on the esplanade. There are also several places to eat on the seafront. You can walk to the seafront from the house in about 10 minutes. |
Marine Villa is an art deco style house...
...with a good sized dining room
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3. Gladices Barn, Chale, Sleeps 14
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I don't know who Gladice is but she's got a lovely converted barn in the rural South Wight which has 7 bedrooms and (count 'em) 8 bathrooms. It's got a one-acre garden, distant sea views, parking for 10 cars and comes with its own hot tub. Inside the barn, there's not a cow in sight, with a slick modern interior which gets very good reviews.
It's in a quiet part of the Isle of Wight but you can head to Ventnor for meals out, or Newport for shopping in 15 minutes. Quiet beaches are about 15 minutes drive away or busier beaches such as Shanklin and Ventnor are 20 minutes drive. |
Gladice's Barn is in a very quiet spot in the South Wight...
...and it's got a nice modern interior
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4. The Hermitage, near Ventnor, Sleeps 20
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The Hermitage is a swanky manor house with 11 acres of land, sea views, 10 bedrooms, a gym and pool table. A friend of mine was taken there by his employees for a team-building thing and spoke very highly of it (my employee usually goes for Travelodge, which doesn't seem fair).
In case you're interested, I'll tell you that it was built in the 1890s. Be honest, you're not really interested are you? You'll find it in the rural South Wight, a couple of miles inland from Blackgang and Ventnor. |
The Hermitage is big enough for several families to get together...
...and it's rather nice inside
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5. Rossiter's Vineyard Barns, near Yarmouth, Sleeps 26 in 5 barns (or smaller groups)
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Rossiter's Vineyard Barns near Yarmouth in the West Wight is an appealing option if you're concerned that your Aunt Maude will be bickering with your mother-in-law after 20 minutes under the same roof.
There are five properties, so you can strategically spread people out, just like you would when creating a seating plan for a wedding. The only downside is that they are separate properties so dining together might be a challenge and you'll need to book early if you want to get all five of them for yourselves. Of course, you don't have to book all five so these would be suitable for groups of about 10-15 as well. Most of the properties have wine related names and are called Madeline Angevine (sleeps 6), Rondo (sleeps 4), Dornfelder (sleeps 4), Orion (sleeps 6) and Rossiter's Cottage (sleeps 6). The barns only opened in 2018 so they're nice and modern. Three of the properties have hot tubs so you can sit outside and say things like "ahhhh, this is nice". |
There are 5 adjacent barns at Rossiter's Vineyard...
...and some come with hot tubs
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Other properties which are good for groups who want to live in next-door accommodation rather than in one big house include:
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The Island Riding Centre has several holiday cottages in a courtyard
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This is one of three adjacent cottages owned by the National Trust
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6. Burwyns, Ventnor (ish), sleeps 16
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If you want panoramic views of the South Wight and your own sauna, you might consider Burwyns near Ventnor. It looks fairly ordinary from the outside but it's got a modern open-plan interior and six bedrooms including one with a balcony (so you might end up politely arguing over rooms). It also lets you bring a couple of dogs. There are quite a few steps to climb, as the whole of the South Wight is on a great big hill, so not one if you are a wheelchair user. Reviews are very positive.
For those who don't know the Isle of Wight very well, Ventnor is in the south so you'll either conclude that it feels a bit cut off or wonderfully secluded and other worldly, depending on your point of view. This particular property is near Ventnor Botanic Gardens and Steephill Cove. The beach is only accessible on foot and down a steep hill (hence the name...) but it's a really lovely secluded spot. It's also not too far from the busier and more accessible beach at Ventnor. |
Burwyns is a dog friendly holiday home...
...with space for 16 people
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7. Bembridge Manor, Sleeps 16
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Bembridge Manor House in the East Wight also goes by the name of The Pink House for obvious reasons.
It has the significant advantage over the others on our top 10 of being right on the seafront. The beach is genuinely 'a stone's throw' from the garden, whereas most properties which claim such things turn out to be half a mile away. It sleeps 16 people in 8 bedrooms and you can also bring along two dogs if you want to. There's a tennis court and a table tennis table, as well as enough dining space for everyone to eat together. When we checked, it was scoring 5/5 on Airbnb, albeit from a fairly small number of reviews. Bembridge is a posh village which has a harbour, a lifeboat station and the UK's oldest working phonebox. It's also got an airport, but don't worry it's not quite like being under the Heathrow flightpath... |
At low tide, the beach at Bembridge Manor is much bigger...
...and you get a good view of it from the dining room
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8. Greystones, Freshwater, Sleeps 12
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This former vicarage is halfway between Freshwater and Yarmouth in the West Wight (the quieter side of the Isle of Wight with crumbly cliffs, rather than the amusements and pedalos of the East Wight). It sleeps 12 people in 7 rooms and is one of the cheaper large accommodation options we've found. Reviews were averaging about 9/10 when I checked.
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Greystones in Freshwater
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9. The Mill House, Brighstone, Sleeps 12
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Pretty Brighstone is in the quieter West Wight, with gorgeous sandy beaches but not a whiff of the bucket and spade tourism of places like Sandown and Shanklin (not that there's anything wrong with buckets and spades!). Mill House is ideal for a quiet holiday spent trying to work out how an AGA works or going for coastal walks, or playing the piano. See our guide before you decide which Isle of Wight town you should stay in.
Mill House also won a bronze award at the South East's Tourism Awards in 2019 in the 'Self Catering Accommodation' category. |
The Mill House in Brighstone is an award winner
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10. Shalfleet Manor and Shalfleet Manor Barn, sleeps 14 or 20
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Shalfleet Manor sleeps 14 people, whilst they also have a separate property called Shalfleet Manor Barn in the grounds which sleeps another 6 (I'd stick the noisy side of the family in this one). The rooms are huge and there's a tennis court and outdoor swimming pool for lounging around. The grounds are a whopping 60 acres in all.
Shalfleet isn't right by the sea, but it's towards the pretty West Wight. |
Shalfleet Manor dates back to the 16th century, which is even older than Barry Cryer's joke book
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11. Northcourt House, Shorwell, Sleeps 20 or 30+
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Northcourt House is in Shorwell which is a pretty little village in the West Wight. The Manor is older than the United States of America and can sleep about 20 people, or 30 plus if you also rent Little Northcourt. Inside it's a classy manor house with a terrace for summer evenings and a grand piano so your children can play 'chopsticks'. My favourite stretch of Isle of Wight coastline is about 10 minutes to the west by car.
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Northcourt House has two adjacent houses you can hire
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Accommodation for really big groups...
If you are visiting the Isle of Wight as part of a school, church group or some other big rabble then there are a few options which can accommodation groups of 100 or more people:
- Urban Saints Westbrook (up to 110 people)
- YMCA (up to 113 people)
- East Dene (up to 180 people)
- UKSA (up to 270 people)
