Salt Bay review: cottage in Camber Sands
What’s the ultimate accessory for a weekend in Camber Sands with kids? A fantastic beachy cottage in Camber Sands with a large helping of luxury as the icing on the sandcastle.
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That part of the East Sussex coast is one of my favourite stretches of seaside, so I never say no to a chance to hit the dunes – especially once I’d seen the collection of self-catering accommodation from Beside the Sea Holiday Cottages.
So if you’re planning a trip to Camber Sands with kids, read on for my full review of Salt Bay cottage, to see why I was tempted to make off with some of the furnishings and why it ticked all my beach-loving boxes.
Beside The Sea Holidays: Salt Bay Review
Although this review is focusing on Salt Bay, one of the newest cottages in the collection, it’s important to point out that there’s a whole string of self-catering accommodation in Camber Sands to choose from Beside The Sea Holidays.
So if you’re visiting with a baby, a dog, grandparents, friends or just generally a bigger family, it’s worth looking at the other choices too.
Many of them (including Salt Bay) are dotted around Whitesand too, just five minutes walk from Camber Sands beach – which is a big bonus in summer, when the area’s car parks fill up fast.
The helpful code on the website shows which are baby-friendly (with high chairs, changing mats and travel cots provided), and which such as Sea Salt, have outdoor space, which would be lovely for summer evenings.
Many, like The Beach House are also dog-friendly if you’re visiting with your furry member of the family.
Ours had one bedroom and a sofa bed but there are bigger family options with two bedrooms or more.
And all are decorated in the same gorgeous relaxed nautical style – lots of pale blues and whites, beach-themed artwork from photos to slogans – along with those luxury touches.
Salt Bay: cottage at Camber Sands
Our stay at Salt Bay had been postponed once to avoid torrential rain and petrol queues, plus a particularly nasty winter cold, and we’d battled hold-ups along our route and my phone battery running out along a dark, twisty country road.
But as soon as we pushed open the front door, I felt myself relax – and not just because there were some extra goodies waiting for us from the nearby Farm Shop.
The essentials
Shortly before you check in, you’re sent a link to a digital welcome booklet, with practical details like which off-street parking space is yours to the code for the key box and WiFi, but also suggestions of places to shop, what to bring (and what you don’t need to bring), links to appliance instructions, even where to find the fuse box.
Although happily we didn’t need to!
So I already felt relaxed, knowing what basic supplies were already stocked up: the only thing worse than bringing loo roll when you didn’t need to bother is discovering at 9pm on Friday that you did need to bother but haven’t.
Both toilet paper – from We Give a Crap – and other eco-friendly kitchen supplies, like washing up liquid, soap, recycled bin bags and compostable J-cloth were supplied too, along with salt, pepper, tea, coffee and sugar.
Not just coffee either, but capsules for a proper coffee machine, which always gets my holiday off to a good start.
Downstairs at Salt Bay
Which brings me neatly to the kitchen – about the only thing ours didn’t have was a dishwasher (some of the other Beside the Sea Holidays cottages do).
Huge fridge and freezer, proper oven and hobs plus a microwave, along with plenty of crockery, cutlery, glasses (including massive red wine glasses, which got the thumbs up from me), saucepans, baking trays and so on.
I don’t tend to cook anything too ambitious when I’m on holiday (I’m on holiday, after all) but it’s lovely to have everything you might reasonably need.
Having the appliance guides came in handy too when we did hit a snag with the oven (as well as having the mobile number for owners Richard and Sophie as back-up).
And I definitely recommend stocking up at Salts Farm Shop nearby, which has all kinds of delicious goodies from local and independent companies, as well as Cook frozen meals, meat from a local butcher and local beer and cider too.
The kitchen and dining room are open plan, with two comfy sofas (one a sofa bed) complete with beach-themed cushions and artwork.
There are little tray tables if you want somewhere to put a drink, as well as a proper table and chairs cleverly folded up and tucked away behind the door if you need a proper space for dinner.
Add in throws in case you get cold, a huge knitted pouffe for your feet and a big smart TV with all the channels, so we had everything from Strictly to Netflix.
Tucked away in the cupboard were some board games, plus books in case you fancied something different to read.
There’s a separate toilet downstairs as well, handy if you have kids sleeping on the sofa bed – and in one of the many appealing little touches, the framed music on the wall mentions Camber Sands.
In fact, everywhere I looked there was something to catch the eye – a blue and white striped dish in the shape of a fish to pop your keys in (even the keys were on a little beach house keyring), art work made of driftwood and stones to look like the ubiquitous seagulls.
Upstairs at Salt Bay
But it was upstairs which really brought out my desire to make off with a few odds and ends (I didn’t, obviously).
In particular, a deep blue sheepskin rug which was so soft that both Minnie and I would look for excuses to walk over in our bare feet – in the end, we both just stood there burrowing our toes into its fluffy softness.
An anchor print cushion on the bed, along with soft silver grey cushions, throw and headboard, plus squashily comfortable bed which kept us toasty warm during our October stay.
If you are staying longer, there’s not only a good size chest of drawers but two built-in cupboards between the bedroom and its en-suite bathroom too.
In fact, you have two bathrooms upstairs – a separate one with its own shower, plus the en-suite with a bath and unexpectedly powerful overhead shower.
The words above the bath suggest you ‘Enjoy… Soak… Relax’ – and who am I to argue with a sensible suggestion like that?
All the practicalities are covered here too – fluffy towels, a place to put all your toiletries above the sink – as well as more little touches like the ornamental sailing boat.
Around Salt Bay
When we came to get our bearings, there’s a helpful description in the guide on which way to go and even with my shaky sense of direction, a few roads later we were climbing the dunes from the car park on to the beach.
White Sands itself is lovely too: lots of blue and white clapboard-style houses among the red brick, a mix of rows and little detached cottages set around quiet cul de sacs, with lots of green space at the centre.
For more things to do in Camber Sands with kids as well as things to do in Rye with kids, check out my top picks
There are little shops in walking distance, as well as some restaurants if you don’t want to self-cater the whole time, plus the cafe on the beach, near the main Camber Sands beach car park.
Or if you want to get straight to the beach, you can head out to the dunes away from town and wander along towards Rye Harbour.
If you’re feeling particularly energetic, you can even walk all the way to Rye, which takes around an hour – or 10 minutes by car, less to Rye Harbour.
Instead we saved our energy for the beach, hunting for shells, dodging the waves, scrambling up the dunes and walking the length of the beach to the River Rother as it meets the sea.
It was the kind of October day that thinks it could almost be summer but I can very happily while away hours on this beach at any time of year – as can my daughter.
There’s plenty to do around Camber Sands with kids too – from Bodiam Castle and Battle Abbey, to Rye and Hastings (for starters) but the idea of strolling to the beach every day from Salt Bay cottage is pretty close to seaside holiday perfection.
If you do need more inspiration, there are lots of tips on activities including walks, where to hire e-bikes and great places for wildlife, as well as more days out in Sussex with kids.
Salt Bay – our Camber Sands cottage review
I do like to be beside the seaside. In fact, I get withdrawal symptoms if I’m away from the beach for too long.
But after a string of stays in self-catering accommodation which had all the basics but nothing more, I was more than ready for a bit of style at the seaside – and the Beside The Sea Holidays collection was perfect.
I don’t think I’ve ever had such a comprehensive guide provided, and having it in advance was ideal: just one of many thoughtful and personal touches which you don’t often find.
Even with the extra luxuries, the price tag isn’t huge – under £300 for two nights for Salt Bay out of peak season, under £500 for three nights in the Easter holidays – especially when you consider all the little extras and the care with which it has been furnished.
Having the beach so close is a huge bonus too: the perfect location for a weekend break, this could just be the perfect place to stay as well.
PIN FOR LATER: SEA SALT COTTAGE IN CAMBER SANDS
Disclosure: Our stay at Salt Bay was free for the purposes of review – all opinions and coveting of sheepskin rugs are my own.
Images copyright MummyTravels
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