wheelchair friendly cottages new forest

Location

New Forest – Lymington

Description

Little Bench is a semi detached bungalow providing disabled friendly self catering holiday accommodation on the outskirts of Lymington, just 2 miles from the New Forest National Park. It is purpose built holiday accommodation, in a lovely quiet location, modernly furnished with all those home from home touches that help make your holiday easy and relaxing and is designed for up to two guests.

Little Bench situtated on the outskirts of Lymington. It’s great a base to explore the New Forest National Park (the park boundary is at the end of the road), to discover the picturesque town of Lymington, to enjoy day trips to Beaulieu, Portsmouth, Salisbury. Spend time on one of the beautiful south coast beaches or to enjoy a bracing walk along the coastal paths of the Lymington to Keyhaven nature reserve. There are lots of places to visit nearby from theme parks to ornamental gardens, crazy golf to museums, see our useful information guide.

Little Bench has a large open plan lounge/ dining area and kitchen, a large light and airy bedroom with a ceiling hoist, and a nicely laid out wheelchair friendly wet room.
Central heating, off road parking and free Wifi as standard.
All the accommodation is on ground floor, with level access throughout.

New for 2020 – Height Adjustable Profiling / Carers Bed nearest to the window – 2nd bed is a standard head and foot riser – profiling bed.

Little Bench welcomes all families, not just those who specifically benefit from the accessible nature of the cottage

You are welcome to take the 360° tour and look around the different rooms in Little Bench. Little Bench was made up with twin beds (a super king is available) for this tour.

Things you may need to know

Please see below regarding our property visits during this time. Little Bench is a semi detached bungalow (next to Bench Cottage) which is set back from a residential street down its own private driveway. The back gardens are shared between the 2 cottages. Pennington sports and social club is on the same street as Bench cottage. Outside of the pandemic the club hosts live music events and children’s fun days however they are running a reduced timetable for the foreseeable future and limiting events and customers. No children or dogs are allowed in at present.

The Spectrum Set-up

Usually we would visit each accommodation to assess suitability and to take note of any details our families may need to know. During the Coronavirus pandemic this has not been possible as government restrictions have prohibited travel. We have carried out a great deal of research on the local area as well as the property itself. We have spoken to the owners and asked the questions we feel our families would want to know. If you have any questions that have not been covered here, please get in touch and we will be more than happy to speak to the cottage owners on your behalf. Find out more about what equipment will be available and how we prepare all our properties for your stay here.

More information

The beautiful fitted kitchen includes dishwasher, washing machine, fridge with small freezer, electric oven and a gas hob, microwave, toaster and kettle. China and cutlery for four, a selection of kitchen equipment for cooking. In fact you will find almost everything you need for the perfect holiday. The kitchen units are split level to make easier access for everyone and so there is no excuse not to take your turn at washing up!

The lounge comes equipped with television and DVD. Comfortable chairs, including a electric riser/recliner chair and a small sofa, a gate leg dining table and chairs. All decorated to a modern standard.

The large bedroom is lovely and light. The bed nearest the window is an electric height adjustable profiling / carers bed with head and foot risers. The second bed is a foot and head riser bed profiling bed. These can be made up as either a twin or king, with access both sides of the bed. When made up as a king – there would be 2 seperate sheets on the bed. the height adjustable profiling bed is nearest to the window, the other side will be just an electric head and foot riser bed. More access can be made to either side. Let us know what you prefer and we will have it made on arrival. There is a ceiling hoist available, which can be used over the beds. Bedside cabinets and lights, alarm clock and wardrobe make this a very relaxing and quiet room.

The fully accessible wet room, is suitable for disabled and able bodies guests, it comes with an adjustable height basin for your comfort, has plenty of room for a wheelchair and the toilet has drop down hand rails. We even have shower wheel chairs and wet room seats you can borrow for the duration of your stay.

Outside Little Bench there is are two shared garden areas, one mainly laid to lawn in front of Little Bench and one to the rear of both cottages, which is slightly uneven underfoot and mainly shrubs to attract the local wildlife. There is outdoor furniture available in both areas – so you can enjoy the sunshine and listen to the birds. The guests at Bench Cottage also share this space.

Little Bench is up a long private driveway and the end you will find parking and turning space, all hard standing on tarmac and easy level access to your front door.

Height adjustable profiling / carers bed.
2nd bed is an head and foot riser bed.
Beds can be arranged as a twin or king size bed.
Ceiling hoist
Accessible Wet Room with optional shower chair
Open plan lounge with riser recliner and 2 seater sofa
Colour television with inbuilt DVD player
Dining area with seating for four
Free wifi
Turning space for wheelchair
Modern kitchen with split level surfaces
Washing machine, dishwasher and microwave
Off road parking and shared garden
Outside charging point for scooters

Local Amenities

Lymington has many restaurants, public houses and takeaways and lots of individual shops, as well as a number of national stores. Discover the hidden park behind the shops or visit our market which is held every Saturday from 8am till 4pm, where you can purchase everything you need for your perfect holiday. All within a 20 minute walk or 5 minutes by car. A map giving directions can be found in your cottage.

The New Forest National Park is on your doorstep, where 93,000 acres of forest are waiting for you to explore. Catch the New Forest Ponies wondering through some of the villages, walk through the enclosures and see if you can spot a deer – there are four species of deer in the New Forest.

Come in the spring when the young foals can be seen everywhere, sit in the shade of the forest or on the cliff tops in the summer sun. In the autumn come and see the splendor of the autumn colours, and in winter the forest is a magical place and there are so many attractions and museums to visit whilst you are here – you will find all the details in your cottage.

Explore the local area further and visit Beaulieu, one of south England’s top family days out and includes the National Motor Museum, Palace House and Gardens, Beaulieu Abbey and World of Top Gear! Save your feet, and ride on the “Sky train” (Monorail) and enjoy a birds eye view of Beaulieu grounds, or enjoy a more down to earth view on the veteran bus!

Take a day trip to Monkey World- Ape Rescue Centre. visit Gibbons, Orang-utans, Chimpanzees and lots of monkey species and see the rescue, and conservation work they do at the centre.

You can even have a free family photo shoot at your cottage by Helen who is not only the owner, but also a photographer at RenoufDesign. Helen understands how hard it can be for some autistic children to sit still for a “staged” photo shoot, so she comes to you while relaxing in the garden or exploring the New Forest to capture natural shots while you are enjoying your day! Full details can be found here

Included in your stay

Sensory equipment and toys as part of our Spectrum Pack including –

A selection of handheld fidget toys
Light projectors
Easy hold mirrors
Sensory light toys
A range of sensory tactile toys
Visual resource pack

Freeview and DVD player. Selection of children’s toys/books/DVDs. Duvets, pillows and bed linen are provided and beds will be made up for when you arrive.

Before and During your Stay

We understand that preparing an autistic person for a holiday can be challenging. At spectrum holidays we are always looking for ways to make this process easier for our families. We have visited each of the holiday homes personally and have put together a social story for each one. Just let us know how we can best support you in your holiday preparation and we will create personalised visual countdown calendar or timetable for you!

Inside the holiday homes you will find a set of visuals to help support you while on holiday, there is also a “now, next, later” travel keyring to take out and about with you as well as some information about the local area.

We work closely with all of our holiday home owners so there will always be someone available to help should you have any problems during your holiday. Please contact Spectrum Holidays in the first instance with any queries or issues and if applicable we will contact the holiday home owner on your behalf. We can also provide additional information on the surrounding area, local amenities or visitor attractions

Access statement

The full access statement for Little bench can be found here

Additional equipment

Accessible Equipment – We have a large range of equipment to make your stay easier – this is not stored on the premises and is only made available on request. Some of our images show our equipment in situ, but we do not include any aids as standard, as they take space you may need for your own possessions. We have limited quantities of some equipment – so this is booked on a first come first served basis. If it is not available we will let you know, if your booking depends on it – please check equipment availability first.

If you need different or more specialised equipement – you are welcome to hire it and have it delivered to the cottages on the Friday prior to your arrival between 10am and 1pm. Please let us know if you arrange this – so that we can ensure it is ready for your arrival.

You can discover more detailed information about our equipment here, unless it is a fixture in the cottage (riser recliner chair, ceiling hoist, changing table etc) then details will be on the access statement for that cottage.

How to book

Bookings are usually based on a minumin 7 day stay (Friday to Friday) however short breaks may be available upon request and depending on availability.

For up to date availability and pricing or to make a booking please contact us here

Please read the full booking terms and conditions here before making your booking by proceeding with a booking you agree that you have read and agree to the terms.

Availability Calendar

OUR AVAILABILITY CALANDERS ARE CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED AND WILL NOT REFLECT ACCURATE INFORMATION. PLEASE USE THE “CONTACT US” LINK ABOVE FOR AVAILABILITY REQUESTS