Cornwall:
YES! Near Helford, Higher Trenower Farm. The farm has several properties and we stayed in Blackbird Cottage in 2009. The bed was superbly comfortable and the cottage very well equipped too. http://www.holidaycottages.co.uk/cornwall/west-cornwall/blackbird-cottage
NO! The Studio, Manacaan near Helford. The king-size bed was two old single beds of different heights (!) pushed together and covered with a mattress topper - no support for my back!
YES! The Cottage at Kierfold house, Sandwick, Orkney: http://www.cottageguide.co.uk/kierfiold/ Very comfortable king sized bed. We stayed in 2010.
Sunday 17 June 2012
Going on Holiday: always a gamble!
I have suffered from chronic pain in my neck, back and right arm for many years now following two doses of whiplash combined with a natural propensity to muscular skeletal problems. This has affected my life in many ways and one of these is the need to have a decent bed to sleep on. Even sleeping on a poor bed for just a couple of nights can greatly exacerbate my symptoms and cause long-lasting discomfort, let alone a sleepless night. Going on holiday is no simple affair. The quest for finding accommodation, be it B + B, hotel or holiday cottage is really a gamble. What proves to be a comfortable holiday bed for non-bad-back sufferers can prove to be the undoing of my own skeleton and leave me in misery for the whole of the holiday, making what should be a truly relaxing time in fact a time of pain and misery.
Over the years I have become more skilled at chosing holiday accommodation for my back, only selecting places that offer king size or above beds, on the grounds that the owners have usually thought more about the quality of the bed they are providing if they opt for a larger size bed. However, this does not always work. Take the place where I stayed last week. The cottage boasted a 'king size' bed but when we got there it was actually two very old poor-quality single beds pushed together with a thin mattress topper over the top. To add insult to injury the single beds were even different heights and the resulting 'king size bed' was not even level - see blog title photo!
It would seem that few accommodation providers consider how important a good bed is. Even though healthy back owners can easily make do with average quality beds it is noticeable that when my husband and I do find a place that has gone that extra mile how even he notices.
It may not be possible to convince the world of holiday lets in general to invest in high-quality beds but if you are a fellow bad back or neck sufferer do add to the list of 'back recommended' places to stay, with the date you stayed there, by adding your comments below. Please don't add to the list if you do not suffer from a bad back or neck as your view of what is comfortable could be completely different to ours!
Over the years I have become more skilled at chosing holiday accommodation for my back, only selecting places that offer king size or above beds, on the grounds that the owners have usually thought more about the quality of the bed they are providing if they opt for a larger size bed. However, this does not always work. Take the place where I stayed last week. The cottage boasted a 'king size' bed but when we got there it was actually two very old poor-quality single beds pushed together with a thin mattress topper over the top. To add insult to injury the single beds were even different heights and the resulting 'king size bed' was not even level - see blog title photo!
It would seem that few accommodation providers consider how important a good bed is. Even though healthy back owners can easily make do with average quality beds it is noticeable that when my husband and I do find a place that has gone that extra mile how even he notices.
It may not be possible to convince the world of holiday lets in general to invest in high-quality beds but if you are a fellow bad back or neck sufferer do add to the list of 'back recommended' places to stay, with the date you stayed there, by adding your comments below. Please don't add to the list if you do not suffer from a bad back or neck as your view of what is comfortable could be completely different to ours!
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