The Pig-at-Combe will always hold special memories for us, we had such a magical mini-break there in the September sunshine. I’m so happy to be writing about a hotel stay again finally on here too, almost 2 years since the last!
My 40th birthday was something I’d (for a LONG time) planned to celebrate in the Maldives. When covid turned that on it’s head we looked to The Pig as we already knew it to be family friendly and booked a March stay. March turned out to be a rotten lockdown but as luck would have it our rebooking instead took us to a few glorious summery days in September which we have just returned from.
It really was so good. Sure it was our first hotel stay for 2 years, but after two years not leaving it, everything is ‘just so’ at home so it takes more to be impressed. We were impressed!
There are two things that these days make a hotel stay for me. The first is the staff and the second is how my toddler is looked after. The Pig delivered perfectly on both. The other stuff comes with the price tag, but these two things are the differentiators that cost nothing and make all the difference.
Staff at The Pig are always excellent and at The Pig at Combe they have some of the best. They are vibrant and bubbly. Always helpful and happy to chat, remembering guests from one day to the next. They like what they do and look after the guests. And they come down to toddler height to greet him and make he’s part of the holiday fun and attention.
Making the child welcome makes me relax into my holiday. The Pig litter is known for being family friendly at the same time as being boutique and luxury. Somehow they’ve pulled this off to perfection. Piglet food menus that are simple, varied and tasty are a big win. Babysitting is available so that adults can dine as adults and not at tea time. And a farm visit to feed the pigs and collect the eggs, including a ride in a Land Rover.
With those two differentiators we relaxed into the dreaminess of our stay, welcome birthday fizz and a glorious tour of the grounds to make us feel at home was the perfect start too.
The Pig at Combe drips with character, it’s an Elizabethan manor house that has been part of The Pig litter since 2016. We actually visited before it was a Pig and it was lovely then, but now it is perfect. So much thought has gone into the decor, the use of space and the little details – old worlde charm snazzed up for today. The bar and lounge areas are homely and the dining room is charming and quaint. The gardens are great to roam around, we did many laps of the vegetable garden, the green space with views, the green houses and swung merrily on the elegant swing seats.
Rooms
Rooms are unique, so many different sizes and prices to choose from, in fact I think The Pig at Combe has more choice than some other properties – including cottages and family rooms. I chose a suite connected to the main house so that if necessary (in bad covid times babysitters weren’t available) we could have used our baby monitor to sneak to the restaurant for dinner. Our suite – The Laundry – was extensive. Little P called it the holiday house!
To my surprise it had its own garden which was a lovely little suntrap. The only room/suite that does. The suite was enormous. A spacious and comfortable lounge with high ceilings and original laundry features, two big sofas, coffee and tea-making and a well-stocked fridge and larder. The bedroom was dreamy and the bed was super-king size and the curtains were blackout. There was plenty of space for the toddler z-bed too, he also found the sofa useful to climb up to join us in our big bed! It’s not the first time I’ve chosen a room partially based on the bathroom – the bath is immense and big enough for swimming lessons. The Bramley products are lovely to see in a hotel. It’s a really impressive and the old-features like the toilet cistern, toilet seat and the big tub are great. The team had left a bottle of Nyetimber for us on arrival and it was delicious to sink into the sofas and relish on the fact that finally after 2 years we were staying in a hotel again!
Food and drink
The way to my heart is via an amazing breakfast and the breakfast buffet was so good that we didn’t need to order any cooked food alongside. Everything you can imagine of the highest quality, with little bottles of Bramley hand sanitised dotted amongst the dishes! There was even vegan butter, dairy free cake, oat yoghurt which is an even quicker way to my heart! The toddler teatime ‘Piglets’ menu is spot on – a choice of meats, carbs and vegs that meant we could put together simple food our toddler would happily eat! There’s a choice of ‘Piggy bits’ for adults to eat alongside! We ate in the restaurant on the evening we had a baby sitter and it was so good, to be out for dinner and in such a lovely location. The dining room is dotted with plants and old-fashioned furniture and looks lovely dressed for the evening. The 25 mile menu is quite superb – excellent choice of local fayre put together in a way that was thoughtful. We dined like champions and were looked after by the friendliest of staff. The wine list by the glass, carafe and bottle is superb, we weren’t disappointed.
One disappointment for me was that the Folly was never open for toddler tea time and snacks like it should have been, there were private functions which was annoying as it was somewhere I was looking forward to a lazy teatime at for all of us!
Nearby
Combe is easy to get to – for us it’s straight down the A303 but if you are coming from further then it’s not far from the end of the M5 or from Exeter airport. Despite great access, it still feels completely remote at the centre of a massive private estate. It’s 20 minutes away from the coast. We went to Seatown on the vintage tram and enjoyed a swim and fish and chips on the stony beach. Another option would have been a return visit (for us) to the miniature trains at Pecorama and a visit to the fishing village of Beer. There’s plenty of places to stop along the A303, we actually got lunch at Teal’s farm store on both occasions, but with more time there’s two excellent museums – the Fleet Air Arm and Haynes Motor Museum. I can vouch for the play area at the Fleet Air Arm being excellent, but we arrived around nap time so didn’t visit the museum.
The Pig really do get things just right, we loved our stay and I’m eagerly looking through their rooms at other locations to decide where to stay next. It’s a luxury hotel formula that worked so well for us all.
No stay would be complete with out meeting the resident pigs… We met these friendly folk on our farm trip to feed them breakfast and collect the hens eggs one morning during our stay!
The Pig at Combe in their words “nestled in the Otter Valley and just 15 minutes from the coast; this is our secluded, mellow, honey-coloured Elizabethan Gem”
The Pig at Combe, Gittisham, Honiton, EX14 3AD
