Elmley National Nature Reserve

After hearing lots of positivity and reading lots of great reviews I booked in a treatment at Elmley. Sarah was very friendly and made me feel completely relaxed. She had amazing knowledge and was able to tailor my massage to my needs. I can honestly say this was the best massage I have experienced and I will definitely be back. I would recommend a treatment at Elmley to anyone.

Such a beautiful and meditative place to come even for only a few days. But it is the kind of place I would recommend people come for a sustained period if they are looking to escape and to wallow in a completely different type of landscape. Day one had constant hard cold winds off the North Sea / English Channel but we enjoyed a really thoughtful and intelligent and naturally intuitive tour guide who helped us “see”. And from short-eared owls on fence posts to swooping marsh harriers and fighting hares see we did. We stayed in small wooden huts that were simple but chic, well appointed and very much all one needed. Bedding and pillows excellent. Wood burner. Views over the marsh flats. Breakfast and supper brought to you. Sleep outstanding! And a super converted barn to chill in with fire and tea or excellent red wine

Second visit to Elmley and enjoyed it just as much second time round. First visit we stayed in The Roost and this time, Martha’s hut. Both had outdoor baths, which really made our trip! The cabins are stunning, comfortable, cosy and spotlessly clean. The reserve is so peaceful. The staff are lovely. If you’re looking for a relaxed break, place to chill with a book and glass of wine after a long walk, this is perfect. Breakfast and dinner are served to your cabin (you need to pre-book). It’s a wonderful, indulgent and relaxing stay in nature. We even brought our son with us both times. We weren’t sure how it would go this time as he’s 13 now! But he loved it! Even stayed off his phone for a few hours! Fire pit with marshmallows supplied for roasting was a win for him! Highly recommend and will go back.

We stayed at Emley a couple of weeks ago for a 30th birthday surprise and also had a Land Rover tour. From start to finish, our experience at Elmley was wonderful. Staff were happy to help before and during our stay. We are so glad we booked the tour and want to give a special thanks to Fiona. She is incredibly knowledgable and friendly and truly made our experience at Elmley that bit more special. We saw little owls, a long eared owl, bearded tits to name a few and who can forget the incredible bittern sighting! It’s likely that without Fiona, we wouldn’t have seen any of these species and she did it all whilst spreading so much joy. Thanks to all at Elmley

We stayed for one night in a large shepherd's hut and what an amazing experience it was. The reserve is beautiful, we really enjoyed exploring and observing the abundance of wildlife there. The hut itself was lovely and the view was the best we've ever had in any accomdation. We took advantage of the outdoor bath, which was so lovely on a cold winter's evening, and we woke up to beautiful orange skies, owls and a stunning sunrise. The staff were lovely and couldn't have done more for us. Such an amazing experience in the most beautiful place.

Elmley is amazing. Such a memorable special night. Where else can you have an outside bath with an owl flypast. The safari drive was amazing with so many birds to spot right from.your car. This is a nature Watcher and photographers paradise. The view from the cabin was great and we were treated to owl flypasts from both the short eared and the barn 🦉. The cabin was really luxurious with great attention.to detail.

We had a wonderful nights stay in the Little Owl shepherd's hut. Despite the freezing temperatures it was super cosy inside with the wood burning stove, thick duvet and hot water bottles. The variety of wildlife that we saw was incredible and we cannot wait to go back for another visit!

After my previous visit to Elmley Nature Reserve, where I left a 5 star and positive review, I am sad not to be able to do this again after my recent stay|I have been visiting the reserve for many years, when my late father lived in Kemsley, which we both enjoyed and after loosing my dad I like to visit the reserve and spend some quiet time with the wildlife remembering the special times we spent there together.|I stayed last year, for just one night, in the Isley lodge and it was so special. The lodge was lovely and guests having the reserve to themself of a night just made the extortionate stay of £562 for two nights, although expensive, worth it to me. Also having mobility problems and being able to sit in the car waiting for the wildlife to come out of an evening, when the reserve was quiet; especially as it was so hot this year and not a lot of wildlife around during the day, was fantastic last year and I got some lovely photos, which I was looking forward doing again this year |Firstly I had two horrendous night sleeps due to the boiler keep lightening up and then going off, which was so noisy, and every now and then would turn off with an almighty bang shaking the lodge. I assumed it was kicking in as the temperature in the lodge had gone down so I turned the thermostat down to 5 degrees thinking I had solved the problem, which wasn’t the case. I realised then that I should have got this addressed the first day but mentioned this to reception team on my departure so hoping this is addressed before the next guests go in.|As I mentioned, it was very hot the two days I visited and not a lot of wildlife around so went down to the hide to discover no water, just mud and lots of cows so no chance to photograph anything like I had done last year. With the spring/summer we have had I supposed this was to be expected but was a little annoyed when there were 3 reserve helpers in the hide, talking amoung themselves saying that it was the lowest they had ever seen the water. They went on to say that unfortunately the reserve is now all about profit; which I later learnt, and they won’t spend the money to fill the lagoon like they had in the past, so another photographic opportunity missed|Once the reserve had closed and it had cooled down, as I had done last year, I headed down to the start of the reserve to wait for the wildlife to appear and catch some good photos, which I hadn’t managed to do so far. Unknown to me, the reserve decided to hold a gathering for helpers of the reserve. I would wait for the wildlife, who either wouldn’t turn up due to the stream of cars coming through and if they did, as soon as another car came through the wildlife would scatter. At times I had cars sitting up my backside rushing me to go past, not adhering to the 15mph, or I was having to move to allow cars through I was frustrated and ended going back to the lodge with very few photos. As I had another night I was more hopeful that I would see and photograph the second night. However again when the reserve closed I headed down and was met again by a constant stream of cars, many exceeding the speed limit and even someone turning up in a Porsche that was so loud I could here them enter the reserve over a mile away, ideal on a nature reserve! and was worse than the previous night. I later discovered that the reserve had opened the evening to ‘Elmley Reserve Friends’ and also were holding a talk on the Curlew. Again another night with very little wildlife to photograph. If the reserve had been honest and made me aware of the evening events they had organised then I would have cancelled my visit bearing in mind this was the main reason for my visit |On my last morning, I went out early to try and get some wildlife and came across a stoat in the car park, which I had managed to photograph elsewhere on the reserve which I won’t say where to protect them. A lady who drove around in a Suzuki vehicle and lived/staying in the house by the car park, also saw it, she drove over to me and said that a stoat had got in with the curlew the day before and killed 4. She said she would get Simon, who is really good, to shoot them later that day when the reserve was closed. She admitted they also killed any foxes that come onto the reserve. Its sad to think that it is easier to shoot wildlife rather than spending money to make the cage safe. She said where it has been so warm the ground is cracking and the stoats got in this way. The easy solution to that is to spend some money and put flag stones down! She had pet coots and ducks and she was more concerned about the stoat attacking them, unfortunately this is circle of life and what gives the reserve the right to play god to what lives and what doesn’t. I have seen and photographed stoats on the reserve over the years and everything has lived happily together as I am sure they did before the land was bought. Stoats are a food source also for animals like herons and the many marsh harriers you have on the reserve and if these are obliterated they are taking food like voles, mice and rats, that is a food sauce taken away from other animals like owls. This is the first time I have visited and not seen one owl and is this because of the lack of food and the constant disturbance. I don’t know how Simon can one minute show people around the reserve and all the wildlife and the next minute is shooting the wildlife! |Overall unfortunately I did not have a good experience and have made my photography friends, who were also planning to visit, to how the reserve has changed and not for the positive. It saddens me to have to write such a negative review after such a negative experience