Sweet Hill Farm

Liked Lovely site, good facilities. Nice flat ground and very friendly staff. The facilities were kept very clean.

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From the manager: Thank you so much for your review. We’re really pleased you enjoyed the site and found the facilities clean and well looked after. Our team works really hard to keep everything that way, so it’s always great to hear.

Thank you for staying with us and we hope to welcome you back to Sweet Hill again soon!

Liked Views

Disliked How we was treated by staff
How horses were kept - no grass horse poo everywhere
Our tent broke due to the very high winds staff didn’t help told us to sort it ourself over the phone, told to take the broken tent with us to find a bin and advised there was a tip on the island, stayed in a hotel for the night then when we come back was told to pitch up anywhere for then later that night we was told that we had to move and he tryed saying he said only 2 fields so we had to move the next morning. This really disturbed the 2 kids that was with us at the time however the views are amazing

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From the manager: Thank you for your review. We’re sorry that the very high winds made this such a difficult camping weekend for you.

On the grass and the horses: like much of the country, we had experienced weeks of drought before your visit, so the grazing was extremely dry and bare. Our horses are supplemented with hay during dry spells and the fields are cleared as they are rotated. Sweet Hill is a working farm as well as a nearly-wild campsite, and Chesil Equestrian is a separate business, so there will inevitably be horses and some horse manure within grazing areas, but this shouldn't be confused with the cleanliness of our campsite facilities, which our team works extremely hard to maintain.

We were also sorry that your tent was damaged in the high winds. Unfortunately, we can't take responsibility for guests' camping equipment or dispose of large damaged tents on their behalf. When you called, our team advised you of the local household recycling centre so that you had somewhere appropriate to take it.

When you returned to the campsite, two of us suggested Sammy's Paddock because it offered the most shelter from the wind. The pitch you set up in was in Mollie's Meadow, an electric hook-up pitch clearly signed as reserved for guests who had booked and paid for EHU, and it had already been paid for by another guest. That was the only reason you were asked to move, and I'm sorry it added to what was already a difficult weekend.

I would also like to say a word for our team. They have worked incredibly hard through an exceptionally hot and busy summer, keeping the facilities clean and looking after our guests with genuine care. The weather made for a challenging weekend, and I am proud of how they handled it.

Sweet Hill is a nearly wild campsite on a working farm in a very exposed coastal location. That's a big part of what many of our guests love about staying here, but it also means we can't control the weather or remove all the realities of camping and farm life. We're sorry your stay wasn't the experience you hoped for, and we wish you well on your future camping trips.

Liked Very friendly welcome with clear instructions on finding and choosing a pitch. The location has to be one of the best places to camp in England, just three minutes walk from Portland's stunning cliffs and 15 to Portland Bill. Each day I woke up with a smile when I stepped out of my tent with an almost panoramic view of the lighthouse and English Channel. Bus links are very good to Weymouth and beyond, but there are plenty of good pubs on Portland, a couple within a short walk. The shower block was very good - £1 for 3 minutes, the portaloos are what they are, but there were plenty of them, and they were cleaned out regularly. I didn't try the farm cafe, but it was nice to know it was there.

Disliked The wind was quite strong (20mph+) for my final day and night which rattled my tent quite severely, but nothing broke or blew away. Next time I stay, I'll try to find a spot with a bit more shelter.

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From the manager: Thank you so much for such a great review. It sounds like you really made the most of your stay and everything Portland has to offer. Waking up to those views across to the Bill and the sea is definitely one of our favourite things about the campsite too.

We’re really pleased you found the facilities clean and well looked after, and that you had such a friendly welcome from the team.

The Portland wind certainly made itself known on your last night! Next time you stay, just have a chat with us when you arrive and we’ll happily point you towards one of the more sheltered areas if the forecast is looking breezy.

Hopefully we’ll see you again, and perhaps tempt you into the farm café next time too!

Thanks again for staying with us.

Liked weather, staff,showers, views, peace and quiet!

Disliked toilet. Can you put in better toilets? at times the toilets were very smelly and not too clean.

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From the manager: Thank you so much for your review. We’re really pleased you enjoyed the peace and quiet, views, showers and, most importantly, had a warm welcome from our team.

We completely understand your comments about the toilets. They have been an ongoing challenge, despite being professionally emptied regularly, cleaned twice a day, and checked throughout the day by our team. At particularly busy times they can unfortunately become unpleasant quite quickly between checks.

The good news is that we now have planning permission in place for improved permanent toilet facilities, so please bear with us while we work towards getting these built and in place.

Thank you again for staying with us, and we hope we’ll see you back at Sweet Hill, hopefully with even better facilities next time!

Liked Quiet and easy going

Disliked Portaloos

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From the manager: Thank you for staying with us. We’re really pleased you enjoyed the quiet and easy-going atmosphere at Sweet Hill.

And yes, the portaloos! We completely understand. They’re not our long-term plan and we’re very happy to finally have planning permission in place for improved permanent toilet facilities. Please bear with us while we get them built!

Hopefully next time you visit, the portaloos will be a thing of the past. 🤞

Liked Beautiful views, toilets were clean and had toilet roll. The sausage breakfast rolls on site are delicious!

Disliked Very windy and wet trip, feels quite exposed- but trip before was amazing, so think its more our poor checking of the weather forecast!

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From the manager: Thank you so much for coming back to stay with us and for such a great review. We’re really pleased you enjoyed the views, clean facilities and especially the sausage breakfast rolls!

Portland certainly gave you the full weather experience this time! We are in a beautifully exposed spot, which gives us those incredible views but does mean the wind can make itself known when the weather turns.

We really appreciate you recognising that, especially after your amazing stay with us previously. Hopefully your next visit brings sunshine, lighter winds and another breakfast roll! ☀️

Liked Second stay and just as chilled and lovely as the first time

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From the manager: Thank you so much for coming back to stay with us! It’s great to hear your second visit was just as chilled as the first. That’s exactly the kind of atmosphere we want Sweet Hill to have.

Hopefully we’ll see you for stay number three! 😊

Liked Yet again a brilliant few nights wild camping st Sweet Hill Farm. Everything you need on tap and wonderful bacon rolls and delicious coffee. Will definitely be back soon.

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From the manager: Thank you so much for coming back to stay with us. We’re really pleased you had another brilliant few nights at Sweet Hill and had everything you needed.

Great to hear the bacon rolls and coffee hit the spot too!

Thanks again for choosing to stay with us, and we’ll look forward to seeing you back again soon. 😊

Liked The view and peace

Disliked I was expecting compost toilets so was happy when I saw portaloo’s until I went inside. Absolutely disgusting, compost toilets would have been so much better. I don’t know if they clean them or didn’t top them up with water but everyone had xxxx up the bowls. So disgusted we ended up leaving early. Luckily for us we are only in Weymouth but for some people who were there for a holiday… you poor things!
I did try and call the office to tell them how revolting they were but it went a “full up voice mail” certainly won’t be recommending or returning.

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From the manager: Thank you for your feedback. We’re glad you enjoyed the peace and the views, but genuinely sorry the toilets were in this condition during your stay.

The portaloos have been an ongoing challenge for us this season. They are professionally emptied twice a week, cleaned twice a day, and checked regularly throughout the day by our team, but unfortunately, at busy times they can deteriorate quickly between checks, particularly when they haven’t been flushed properly. That said, what you describe is clearly not the standard we want for our guests.

We're also sorry that you weren’t able to get through to us. We would absolutely have wanted to know at the time so that somebody could have gone straight over to deal with it.

We originally had compost toilets on site, but unfortunately had to take them out of service due to ongoing problems with waste collection. The good news is that we now have planning permission in place for much better permanent toilet facilities.

We're sorry that this affected your stay enough for you to leave early, and thank you for bringing it to our attention.

Liked Another great stay at Sweet Hill Farm, i'm starting to lose count, but i'm sure it's at least five visits now. The site never disappoints, they always put me in my favourite field (sweet hill pasture) and being a bit of a creature of habit, i always seem to pitch in the same spot. The site seems to attract people of a similar ilk, who love the peace and tranquility and subsequently there is never any bother from noisy campers. Even the odd groups who bring along a guitar for a sing song, are very respectful of other campers and it is nice to be serenaded before dozing off, lol. I enjoy my time camping here when i'm down fishing the local marks. Hopefully i'll be back again before the weather turns.

Disliked Nothing of significance

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