If it’s good enough for James Bond...

WHEN actress Rachel Weisz and 007 star Daniel Craig needed a bolthole to enjoy each other’s company over Christmas, they headed for Dorset to a £1,000 a week cottage with its own gym, sauna and cinema, writes Eileen Thompson Their cosy Christmas break was one more sign that Dorset – devoid of noisy motorways, rich in romantic Thomas Hardy connections and little changed in the past half century or so – is surging up the popularity stakes for ordinary families, as well as the stars, who decide to holiday at home.

Its image began to lift off in autumn 2009 when former Bond girl Gemma Arterton livened up the usually silent lanes and sleepy villages of West Dorset during the filming of Tamara Drewe.

The Stephen Frears film proved to be one of the big hits of 2010 and now the locals are cashing in.

The White Hart, a 17th Century thatched roof pub in the village of Yetminster provided a perfect backdrop for several scenes, with the landlord and landlady – who have run the pub for the last 15 years – among extras appearing in the film.

Blackdown House, near the village of Beaminster, was used for several interior scenes. Limbury, also used for exterior shots, is close to Bridport, another historic spot with fantastic sea views, quaint shops and great fish and chips.

Jeremy Smith, marketing director of Dorset Coastal Cottages, noticed such strong demand for more expensive seaside properties among his self-catering clientele that the company launched a new upmarket division for 2011 – Dorset Seaside Holidays.

When Claire MacLeod-Ash and her husband Nick converted part of their beautiful Grade II listed thatched cottage in Yetminster into a B&B, they aimed to keep things simple, and to offer top quality home from home holidays instead.

But they soon changed their minds when they found that stars on holiday properties were awarded for flat screen TVs, digital radio and power showers.

Today, a visit to Hound House in this idyllic village feels like a weekend in the country with the luxury you’d expect from a five-star boutique hotel – including wood-burning stove, crisp white linen sheets, big fluffy towels, eiderdown duvets and luxury toiletries.

“We wanted to offer our guests somewhere that feels like home, where they can put their feet up, not a swanky hotel,” explains Claire.

“Breakfast eggs are from our chickens and there’s homemade cake at teatime.”

Guests get the use of two floors: downstairs is a large sitting room/breakfast room, where Claire serves a five-star, locally sourced, full English breakfast, overlooking the pretty garden.

The fridge is stocked with juice, milk, local yogurt and Claire’s fruit salad, and guests choose from a range of quality teas and freshly ground coffee anytime they fancy a cuppa.

The downstairs bathroom has plenty of space for wellies and coats (ask Nick about his Great Uncle’s Second World War boots on the rack). Upstairs are two beautifully decorated, spacious double bedrooms and a large but cosy bathroom.

What makes Hound House unique is that the accommodation is totally separate from the rest of the house, occupied by Claire, Nick, two children and two (very loveable) black labradors.

“Guests like to know I won’t be popping in all the time,” says Claire.

“I serve breakfast every morning and that’s when I answer questions – where to walk, the best pubs, the nicest beaches. We have some amazing fossil hunting on the Jurassic Coast.

We want this to be their home while they’re here.”

She believes Hound House guests want an authentic, luxury country experience rather than plasma screens and high technology.

Breakfast includes sausages, bacon and black pudding from the village farm shop where they rear their own animals (well worth a visit to take back some goodies), eggs laid by the four Leghorn and Bluebell chickens in the garden, local mushrooms and tomatoes, Claire’s homemade bread, her plum jam, Dorset honey, Sherborne marmalade and Dorset Cereal.

Claire’s tips include The White Hart in the village, The Rose & Crown in Trent and The New Inn in Cerne Abbas.

Another gem is The Wooden Cabbage, Susie and Martyn Lee’s B&B in the village of East Chelborough, which enjoys stunning views of Hardy Country. Much of the food served at breakfast and dinner comes from the couple’s vegetable garden, and the antiques on show are interesting, too.

INFORMATION

Dorset Seaside Holidays 0800-634-9000 and dorsetseasideholidays.com; Hound House 01935-872-243 and houndhousebandb.com; The Wooden Cabbage, East Chelborough 01935 83362 and woodencabbage.co.uk.