Rainforest Chapel

At first sight the chapel looked lovely.

Look at bit closer and it wasn’t so great. The cleanliness was the worst we have been to at a Sykes property. There were hairs around the taps, floor and shower in the bathroom. There was a sticker on the tap in the bath “not in use” so even though the property had a bath, you were not allowed to use it. You were not allowed to change the heating, again, another sticker saying “do not touch” my elderly mother was cold in the evening and had to sit with a blanket and duvet around her. The microwave was dirty inside, the saucepans were not clean from the previous people and the kitchen cupboard door under the sink wouldn’t close as it was hanging off. Did I contact the owners at the time? No as all the negative stickers around left is feeling we wouldn’t get a good response. We were only staying 3 nights so we made good of a bad experience. We did however give the owners 30 days to respond which they did….negatively hence the honest review. I sent all the photos to the owner. A few dog hairs I could accept, but the pubic hairs around the shower…… no.

Very well renovated chapel with every thing you need for a holiday stay and some things that are more style over practicality.

Nice bath ... that cant be used and would be better replaced with a large shower tray. Also far too many remotes for changing light colour!! There was however a lovely welcome hamper and the chapel was perfect for our 1st Forest of Dean adventure.

Atypical and very well-appointed accommodation.

All the necessary comforts, ideally located between Wales and Cosworlds.

We have just got back from a lovely week away.

The location was perfect as we have a young daughter. There was loads to do within 20-30 min drive. The property was great and we wouldn’t hesitate to return.

A lovely property well placed for beautiful walks.

Good hot shower, very important. Great kitchen facilities with everything we needed. The hosts were communicative, friendly and helpful. I would suggest bringing a blanket or good jumper, due to the layout and building restrictions it can get a little chilly in the evening

Very comfortable cottage, with lots of walks from the door.

Owners are easy to contact by phone if you have questions etc. All the lights switches are clearly labelled so it's was simple to learn your way around the property. The welcome hamper even included treats for our dog, which was appreciated. Parking was fine, we didn't have trouble finding a space next to the cottage.

Great stay in this historic, open plan Chapel.

Chapel is warm and bright and comfortable. Would recommended. Thank you. Forest of Dean is a beautiful area for walking.

Fantastic 3 day stay over the Christmas period, beautiful old chapel with some lovely original features.

Highly recommended with some lovely walks close by.

We had a wonderful stay at the chapel, it is surrounded by the beautiful forest of dean.

Amazing walks for the dog. The chapel has everything you need for a wonderful holiday . The gift basket was a lovely touch. Stuart the owner was a godsend and couldn't have been more helpful ,he made our holiday possible for me and my disabled husband . Thank you again

Just got back from a lovely week staying in this chapel.

Beautifully kept and the best walks all around with the Forest of Dean on the doorstep. The property is managed by the landlady of a local pub, who was very friendly. The meals at her pub were also amazing, so much so, that we ate there 3 times. Would recommend this beautiful holiday home and will return at some point

The chapel is in a gorgeous location and is lovely inside and out.

Couple of things we would say is that if you have a dog who likes to follow when someone moves about this may not be the place for you, with the up and down stairs and wooden floors. Also would have been good to have something in the welcome pack to tell you about the switch you need to turn on in order for the fire to work. But it didn't stop us from having a lovely break, everything easy to get to, great chippy round the corner and the welcome basket complete with dog treats was a lovely touch!

Beautifully decorated and calming colours.

The scenery is amazing and totally stolen our hearts, sad not to wake up there this morning

We had a great time in this beautiful Chapel in superb weather.

It was a very clean and tidy building with fantastic facilities. A great place for visiting The Forest of Dean. Communication with the owner was excellent and he was very kind and thoughtful . Thank you for a fantastic Welcome Pack plus items in the fridge. The local community were very friendly too.

We had a really good holiday and loved the conversion.

Couple of small points: we could have done with some hooks in the bath/shower room: and did not find a shaver point for an electric shaver. Only minor points, everything else was brilliant. Plenty of room for 4 adults. As a retired Church Pastor, it gave us a different view of 'Chapel' thank you.

OMG!

This property is stunning, both inside and out! And right in the middle of the Forrest of Dean! We have taken many holidays with Sykes since covid and have always been reasonably happy with our choices, but the Chapel beats everything! From indulgent welcome pack to having all of the other bases covered, even down to dishwasher tablets, expense has not been spared on the sympathetic restoration and change of use at this property. WiFi and Sky TV, Neff white goods, and leather sofas aplenty, comfortable beds, beautiful home furnishings and a beautiful modern fire made us all feel good. And the area, so near to what the Forest has to offer, close enough to Gloucester to make for good days out, a local shop a walk away, bigger supermarkets just a couple of miles away. This property is suitable for cylists, bikers, hikers, ramblers or like us, just needing to get some time away..... If you are looking for somewhere special, this is the place.....we made memories here!

In general we had a lovely stay in this unique and quirky accomodation.

There were a few niggles that, if addressed, would make the stay even more perfect. 1. We did not have enough towels provided - this was rectified soon after arrival. 2. The bed in the downstairs bedroom was advertised as a super king size but was in fact a double. 3. The Xbox did not work on arrival - again rectified soon after arrival but would have been better to have been checked prior to arrival. 4. There were not many loo rolls or bin bags provided. 5. Batteries in some of the remote controls were dead and we were told it was our responsibility to replace! 6. No oven gloves or dishcloth provided in the kitchen - making it very difficult to wash up and use the oven! 7. It would have been nice to have more than one blanket provided as the evenings were sometimes a little chilly. 8. There were a few ants in the kitchen and bathroom. 9. There was a sharp edge on the coffee table in the living room - which my daughter cut her leg on. As I said, none of these issues were particularly major but lots of little niggles which added up to being quite annoying.

A well thought out property, requiring some finishing execution, excellent family spaces and some welcome extras if you are not a techy!

We enjoyed the entertainment. A few tweaks, some extra thought for the guests and the Chapel could definitely be the ultimate place to stay! Good luck.

Thank you very much!

What a stunning property!

The pictures don't do it justice. Sympathically converted in a fabulous location. The property was very clean, it has everything you need. All the fixtures and fittings are top quality and work as they should. Our teenager loved the mezzanine as it gave her her own holiday space. I can't recommend this property enough. It's just stunning. Easy travel to many great places. We will definitely return.

Lovely, comfortable place to stay.

Great facilities, everything you would need in the kitchen. Parking on the street was no problem at all. There is as well stocked corner shop a five minute walk away and the chippy just down the road is excellent. Everything was clean and comfortable, a lovely welcome hamper was waiting for us. There was only two of us but if you are staying with more, having two TVs would be very useful. The area is lovely, we visited castles, railways, abbey's, cathedrals, docks, forests, gardens and ancient monuments- all within no more than a 40 minute drive. Highly recommend.

The Rainforest chapel is quirky , comfortable and sympathetically converted , love the experience .

A great spot and such easy access to the Forest .

We had the best time thank you very much.

The chapel was amazing the children and us didn’t want to come home.

The property has been decorated and furnished to a high standard giving a very comfortable stay.

There is a comprehensive folder giving all information needed to use and maintain the facilities in the property. Also details of local shops, cafes, and places of interest are given. A car is essential to enjoy this area to the full, although there are numerous woodland walks possible from the Chapel itself. The Forest of Dean Heritage Centre nearby is excellent, and the attractions of Cheltenham and Gloucester are only a short drive away. Overall we had a very enjoyable week.

We had a fantastic week at the Rainforest Chapel.

This quaint, characterful property was exactly as described. We appreciated the info/welcome pack that was emailed prior to our stay. A big thank you to Stuart for all the information and the generous welcome basket. We enjoyed our week, with lots to do in the local area.

Wonderful, respectful chapel conversion.

The original character was maintained despite the addition of all mod cons, including two huge TVs with full satellite packages. The visitors' guide was top quality and must have taken a long time to prepare. Contact with the owner and his site manager was pleasant and efficient. Squeaky floorboards were an inevitable consequence of the authentic restoration work but the beds had obviously seen better days. It was not the owner's fault that the pub next door was also being renovated but it will no doubt add to the pleasure for next year's visitors.

The Chapel is an amazing place and unlike anywhere we've stayed before.

Our son loved the mezzanine gallery space. Because it's stone built it was lovely and cool, a real bonus as we were there on the hottest week of the year! It's very well equipped if you want to cook and there is plenty of crockery. Would be good to have a teapot though! The welcome hamper was a treat, especially the prosecco! We had a couple of issues during our stay, one quite major but Stuart and his lovely manager Nikki sorted things out quickly and with no fuss which was much appreciated. We really enjoyed our stay and would definitely book again.

The chapel is a fantastic place to stay, second visit for us.

A few changes this time, all good ones, the dolce gusto machine was fab - if you include this in the listing that will help people who want to use it come prepared! Children loved the colour change lights and mezzanine snug. Only two minor issues with our stay - one towel per person for a whole week not enough in a place with no tumble dryer - a second smaller towel each would have helped. Also we couldn’t find any additional bin bags for our stay. Having to take the recycling to a collection point or back home isn’t ideal - if the recycling issue could be sorted out that would be a big help. Overall, another fantastic stay and we can’t wait to return.

We loved our stay at Rainforest Chapel - a lovely characterful property right on the doorstep of the forest.

Stuart, the owner, was brilliant with communication and even arranged for complementary celebration balloons for my husband's 60th birthday! The chapel was a little cold on arrival but soon warmed up after instructions from Stuart via text (there was even underfloor heating in the mezzanine bedroom). A brilliant chipshop within walking distance and a local shop. Cinderford, a very short drive away, has lots of food outlets (some with delivery) and a supermarket. We walked, canoed and cycled - there really is so much to do!

Well presented and clean.

Very nice welcome hamper - thank you. Good amount of cooking utensils (good sharp knives!) and pans. Would have liked more support for encouraging recycling (there was no recycling box and we had no car - I put our recycling into a neighbours box, but I am sure that would not be appreciated if a regular occurance!). Despite the weather (we arrived during storm Gladys and had storm Franklin!) we had a pleasant stay. Thank you.

The person we support and staff had a great holiday.

Cottage was beautiful and we would use again. Many thanks :)

The accommodation was excellent for a relaxing break.

Fabulous and well equipped kitchen. Lovely welcome hamper. Very comfortable and stylish, loved the colour change lights. Only issue was lack of recycling facilities which needs to be remedied.

A quirky holiday rental, ideally located for exploring the area, also great to have the chip shop so bear along with pubs and shop.

The traffic was quite noisy but not intrusive. It’s worth noting that the double bed is only a double, but is comfortable, and that did cause us problems, but only because we have bad backs and a super king bed at home, the home is well stocked and it’s great to have access to SKY & WiFi and other entertainment sources. If renting in the summer it would have been nice to have better outside space but early October it was fine for us. ps ... the underfloor heating in the bathroom is a real treat!

Contact prior to rental with comprehensive instructions was very helpful, access on the day was simple and hassle free.

Property was as described and suited our purposes admirably. No issues whatsoever.

We had a fabulous stay at the Rainforest Chapel which we chose as it was close to family who we hadn't seen for over 18 months due to the pandemic.

We weren't disappointed! The Chapel has been designed very well with lots of lovely, quirky touches and it was a very relaxing space. The bed was comfortable and the kitchen had everything we needed during our stay. The welcome hamper was a lovely touch too. The village is small but has a convenience store and a pub, I would recommend the Fish & Chip shop, good price and the portions were very generous. We were very close to the Forest of Dean and enjoyed a few walks from the cottage during our stay.

Very sad to see that there is a new no pet policy at this property.

The floorboards were very squeaky, but aside from that, an absolutely lovely stay

The property is great.

The space perfect for a family. Location for short trips round the Forest of Dean ideal. There is a lack of food serving equipment though, no serving bowls, no serving spoons, and I’m not sure why anyone would want knives that leave green paint in your food. Also the shower needs fixing.

Overall the cottage was very nice and situated in an area extremely close to some very nice forestry.

Stuart (the person with whom I dealt in any matters relating to the cottage) was friendly and helpful and went out of his way to make sure I had a few things that were not there that I would have expected. The cottage was a little cold (as we were told it probably would be). My only minor issues were things like we could have done with more hand towels or kitchen towels for drying plates etc. The place could do with larger bowls for eating breakfast or dinner, new knives and a chopping board (there was no chopping board at all...?). But overall these are very minor issues in what was a lovely cottage with good facilities. I would recommend this place and I'd happily go back.

A beautiful and unusual accommodation that we mostly enjoyed.

It’s an old building and as such certain considerations must be made. Downstairs floorboards are original wood and therefore creak, a lot, so anyone going to the loo during the night will quite possibly wake everyone. Original windows means early morning weekday traffic is noisy and will wake you. As long as you consider these things everything will be fine! Local people are friendly and there are multitudes of forest areas/walks nearby. Acoustics in the chapel are amazing, say a word in a normal voice and you can hear it anywhere. Chapel is well equipped to keep you entertained if the weather is bad.

This is a fabulous holiday let.

It was lovely and clean and it was very tastefully done. It had everything you needed. Highly recommend.

We absolutely loved our stay and will definitely be back!

This was a truly beautiful place, the Chapel has been converted in a very tasteful way, retaining and enhancing original features whilst also being very modern and comfortable.

Well stocked with games and our 6 year old loved the colour changing lights which looked amazing with the high ceiling. Lovely park just a short walk away and tasty food at the local fish and chip/Indian takeaway and restaurant. Location is great for lots of outdoor activities, we all had an amazing time.

The chapel is a quirky and fun place to stay, providing a good base to explore the Forest of Dean / River Wye / Gloucester.

Useful to have takeaway and pub with small garden so close by, and we found everyone exceptionally friendly locally, in a village where you are in the only holiday let. House is kitted out well enough, plenty of games and tech, kitchen stocked fine. Worth considering that you are living in one space in the chapel, so you will hear each other's movements and TV-watching at night, best if you are a group with the same bed time hours. I concur that it does get very warm for sleeping in hot weather, but we were there in exceptionally warm weather. Small things, it is a fun place to stay.

The Rainforest Chapel is beautiful, exactly what we expected from the listing and photos.

With Some areas even better, eg new sofas and a very well Equipped kitchen. It was so spacious and tastefully decorated and on hot days was lovey and cool (the windows upstairs do open). We had a wonderful stay, with access to the forest just a short walk away as well as being close to so many local attractions. Thank you.

Lovely accommodation situated perfectly for the forests.

Could have been a little cleaner but was acceptable. Welcome pack was a lovely gesture. We were comfortable for the week and would recommend it. There is a manhole cover outside the property (not the owner’s responsibility) that makes a noise like someone knocking on the door every time it was driven over! Made the dogs jump up for the first few days until they got used to it! Personally I would be contacting the local authorities (who have marked it as an issue) to push them into repairing it! Okay for a week but I would hate to live with it!

Very unusual building that has a snug in the mezzanine bedroom and TV as well as a living room and kitchen downstairs that my parents found really charming.

Both cosy and warm in an ideal location the chapel was a superb treat and my parents spent much of the time just enjoying the property. They were delighted by the food hamper left behind with nice treats and had a fish and chip shop and Indian take away a short walk away. The local food store was well stocked and with forests surround the village plenty of walks or cycling were available. But despite all of this the property was a real star. I would highly recommend the place and my parents already want to work out a way to return.

Not happy I couldn't get hold of the key holder to get the safe code until half an hour after I could have checked in, especially as we were in the middle of storm Dennis so I didn't know whether to even set off.

However Lisa and her colleagues at Sykes were super helpful and eventually between us we managed to get him. Can't praise skyes enough for their help

This old chapel is a lovely building, beautifully converted, and the owners have worked on the heating so it is now cosy in Winter - the underfloor heating upstairs is amazing!

The area is surrounded by forests, with so many walks - you could do a different walk every day for a year I think! The locals were friendly and relaxed, we and the dog loved it!

Perfect location to explore the area.

Perfect for dogs. Very friendly and helpful people in the village.

Along with a number of properties we have stayed in, it would be useful to have recycling instructions rather than leaving everything in a general bin.

This property is cleverly converted but the outside is small and not secure, and the bath has very high sides which make it challenging to get into. Also it is only single glazed so you do hear traffic early morning.

Rainforest Chapel is a well presented renovation.

It was very clean, dog friendly , with a well equipped , modern kitchen and bathroom, Sky TV package on two large screen TV's and Xbox upstairs in the second mezzanine bedroom. The shower is over the bath , which is quite high , so may not suit the less able. Sykes website photos were very accurate in their presentation of the accommodation,which did not disappoint. Ruspidge is not a holiday destination , and there is little to do there, but the stunningly beautiful Forest of Dean is on the doorstep, plus the chapel is central to day trips to Wales, Gloucester, Hereford ,Ross on Wye and the Cotswolds.The views at Symonds Yat are breathtaking. The small towns of Coleford and Cinderford are a short drive away for supplies.Parking is on the road opposite and there is no outside space as such, except for the gravel frontage, but that was not really a problem. Handy little pub and takeaway just down the road....I would highly recommend the quirky Rainforest Chapel for a break away.

The chapel was the most breathtaking place we have ever stayed.

It's bigger than you'd think inside with lots of space. The area itself is absolutely beautiful and it's amazing for walking or you can explore so many different places. Our favourites were; Clearwell Caves (20 minutes away, spent 2 hours there), International Birds Of Prey Centre (1 hour away - very awkward to get to, spent 1 hour there), The Forest of Dean (5 minutes away, the biggest one is pay and display and does not accept cards !!, the best trail was the Sculpture Trail, 5 Miles and took about 2 hours). We found the best and nearest supermarket was Tesco, Lydney (20 minute drive and was a large shop which had everything we needed(. Every interaction we had with the owner was helpful and polite, he was a really lovely person. The downsides to the property are: There isn't off road parking - you park next to the chapel and have to carry all your luggage across and it isn't guaranteed that you can park right outside so may have to park down the road, there isn't a garden- when it states garden/patio it means the small patio outside the front door, finally bring your own fans if you're visiting in the summer as it gets really really hot - the bathroom windows open but the rest of the windows are the beautiful chapel style ones which do not open. If anyone is looking to visit the area, it's a really gorgeous place to stay and we would definitely return.

The sofa and chair smelt awful.

We couldn't sit on them. Could do with a couple of outside chairs as we couldn't sit out at all.

Great base for walks with the dogs.

The local pub The New Inn was just two minutes walk away and the landlord and locals very friendly . The cottage was comfortable and had everything that you needed.

Facilities to do recycling would have been good.

Very quirky accommodation beautifully decorated and almost everything there to make your stay comfortable.

Lack of outdoor space despite being advertised as having a garden .... it doesn’t. Great base for walks into the Forrest, not much in the town itself but lots of nice places further afield.

Perfect location for beautiful walks into the forest of Dean!

The chapel was beautiful and comfortable, but there was a lot of pet hair in places but overall, we loved our trip.

Lovely chapel.

Plenty of room for 4 people. Boys loved having their own floor to themselves. Had a problem with one radiator not working in the living room but this was rectified by the owner quickly. Chapel in an ideal location for exploring the beautiful forest, didn't have to travel far. This was about the 6th time we've visited the forest, different accomodation each time and we've never been disappointed. Would highly recommend the location & this accommodation.

The Chapel is realy amazing!

There is anything you need, including two big Flatscreen-TV, X-Box and so on. You'll find a warm welcome - it's like coming home. The Rainforest Chapel is a great place to see the forest of Dean, visiting Wales and lots of other places (Stratford-upon-avon 90min, Oxford 90min). The host is realy generous and friendly. Highly recommended!!!

Rainforest chapel is a lovely place which is kept in high standards.

It is about 5 minute walk away from the Forest of Dean. There is a nearby fish and chip shop and a convenience store for food shopping. Tourist attractions are easily accessible by car. We recommend go ape adventures for teenagers, the forest itself for nice walks and some lovely meal in Hopewell Colliery. Gloucester is easily accessible by car for shopping and sightseeing, lots of shops and restaurants. The Cathedral is worth a visit. A very lovely holiday!

We loved the Chapel as the location was fab for us with the dog as there are so many places to take them.

The local pub and the Indian are so friendly and I would love to go back. I would recommend this for a couple only though as the top open bedroom doesn't give much privacy. The welcome pack was amazing and the owner was so helpful. Had the best week and would definitely go back.

Fabulous house to stay in.

Only 5 minutes walk and you are in acres of woodland. The house was gorgeous, clean and we were spoilt with the welcome pack. Kids lived the Xbox and having SKY!

I made this booking on recommendation from your online assistant.

This was the first time I had used this facility, happily locating my own accommodation from your website in the past. I was looking for a cottage in Gloucestershire with a large double bed and was given several options, Rainforest Chapel being one of them. The name Rainforest Chapel conjured up an image of a peaceful location and the one exterior photo on the listing did not dispel this. We arrived in the village of Ruspidge to find our accommodation in an industrial village, a most unlikely holiday location, with the chapel sitting on a a fork in the road. The interior was as per the listing - an excellent kitchen, the property well fitted out and comfortable, but just a touch cool. The problem really lay in the lack of sleep, particularly the first two nights. The bed was indeed large - super king size but the bed covers were for a smaller bed. We alternated between sweating under the duvet and shivering as the covers were not large enough. Then there was the traffic noise from the road outside, perhaps 6 feet from the bedhead that woke us just after 6am each morning. This is not holiday standard! My emailed complaint to your office lead to text messages from the owner whereby bed covers to suit a super king bed were provided. That solved one problem but not the traffic noise. The owner explained that as it was a Grade 2 listed building he could not do anything such as double glazing to deal with this issue. So there you have it, we spent a week in a unique holiday building situated in the middle of a working class village being woken just after 6 each morning. But at least we had suitable bedding for the last 5 nights. Overall experience - VERY DISAPPOINTING.

An ideal spot for exploring the forest of dean and dean valley railway.

The Rain Forest Chapel was very comfortable and had a relaxing peacefull atmosphere at the end of the day. The local pub The New Inn was very friendly and inviting. We were able to eat out fish and chips from the chip shop opposite in the outside seating area of the pub so we could enjoy the lovely evening sunshine after a day on the railway. Also parking was not a problem, plenty of road space.

We had a comfortable and pleasant stay at Rainforest Chapel.

Situated in The Forest of Dean, with good walking. The chapel itself gave good space and light and was clean and well equipped. The village where it is located is very ordinary, having a convenience store, an Indian restaurant, pub and fish and chip shop. You are however located close enough to places of interest (Monmouth, Ross on Wye, Gloucester etc.)

We loved the location for the beautiful forest walks and attractions such as Puzzlewood, Clearwell caves and Symonds Yat were an easy drive to get to.

We also used the Lidl in Cinderford. The indian restaurant and chip shop was very good and very close to the chapel. We really enjoyed staying in the chapel. It had great facilities, a huge range of toys and games to entertain the children. The kitchen was lovely and the peninsula was great to sit at and watch telly at the end of the day. We missed not having salt and pepper and a pizza wheel but the property was very well equipped otherwise. The chapel is a real pleasure to stay at, a beautiful space beautifully decorated.

Great location and brilliant walks for the dog.

The chapel was well equipped with everything we needed.

The Rainforest Chapel is quirky and incredibly comfortable - a lovely venue from which to explore the stunning Forest of Dean and beautiful attractions in the surrounding area.

Would highly recommend.

Well equipped and clean property - would recommend but wouldn't go again as we would want to 'do' a different area