Canopy & Stars Avis 

Unfortunately, my stay at one of Canopy & Star's properties (a boat on an estuary in South Devon) fell far short of what was advertised / anticipated and I would not return to this property and sadly be very unlikely to consider this company again (this was my first experience with one of their properties).

I received no contact from the owner before my stay and only heard from them after I made contact myself. On arrival, the property was noticeably dirty, with multiple cobwebs throughout the accommodation.

As a solo traveller, I was particularly concerned by a number of safety issues. The entrance door had no lock, which left me feeling vulnerable. There were also hazardous sections of flooring with an area of damaged floor that had simply been taped over, and a spikey wooden batten between rooms. Both presented potential trip or injury risks.

I was also concerned to find that the stove inside the accommodation was clearly labelled "for outdoor use only" and certainly gave off fumes when used. Despite this, there was no smoke alarm installed, and the carbon monoxide alarm appeared very old, with no visible date indicating whether it was still within its service life. These issues left me questioning whether appropriate safety checks had been carried out.

The facilities were poorly maintained. The first aid kit was dirty, the tea towel smelled unpleasant, and the kitchen equipment was limited (only one teaspoon, for example). Neither the clock nor the barometer worked. The mattress was also rather thin and not especially comfortable.

The compost toilet was particularly unpleasant. It was almost full of previous guests' waste when I arrived and was surrounded by hordes of flies. The handwashing sink in the toilet was broken and had been replaced with nothing more than a jar of cold water, which I did not consider an adequate or hygienic solution.

The listing described the location as tranquil, but that was not my experience. A barking dog could frequently be heard, and multiple party boats passed by throughout my stay, creating considerable noise. No deckchairs were provided, despite being advertised.

Access was also more difficult than suggested. The slope to the boat was slippery (especially after rain) with nothing to hold on to. During the high spring tides on two days of my stay, I was required to paddle through the water to reach the property. In addition, I was very unhappy to observe wastewater from the boat being discharged directly into the creek, which was both unpleasant and environmentally concerning.

Overall, the property felt poorly maintained, inadequately cleaned and, in several respects, unsafe. While the location itself has potential, significant improvements to cleanliness, maintenance, communication and safety standards are needed before I could recommend it, and therefore this company, to others.

Came across website and booked to a stay the same week. Booking process was clear and easy.
Communication from canopy and stars clear and quick no issues.
Our stay was as advertised and absolutely beautiful

always had excellent stays with them, and responsive bookings. Really beautfully curated selection of stays, and the hosts have always been lovely.

We had booked a three-night stay through Canopy & Stars for our 15th anniversary and were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, shortly before the stay, my wife’s health took a sudden and serious turn, and we had to attend hospital for multiple days. We asked whether it might be possible to move the booking to another date.

They told me they needed to be fair and consistent and keep to the booking terms for all guests, which I understand. That said, this is exactly the kind of situation where I would have hoped some discretion might be possible.

Canopy & Stars were polite and responded quickly, but ultimately there was no flexibility offered beyond cancelling the booking and hoping the dates could be resold. I do understand that booking terms exist and that small property owners need to be protected, but in the circumstances the response felt very process-driven and left us significantly out of pocket at an already distressing time.

The staff member I dealt with was courteous, and I appreciate that they may have been following policy. However, the overall experience has made me much less likely to book through Canopy & Stars again, as the lack of practical flexibility in a genuine emergency was very disappointing.

Had to cancel a booking we gave 5 weeks notice to be told we have lost all our money! The worst part about this is the booking from the owner stated full refund if cancelled 7 days prior to booking! When I questioned this they advised they are going with their terms not the owners. This was a gift for us that has been completely lost.

Stayed here in Feb, communication ahead of our stay was all really thorough. Place is really quirky and magical. We had the best weekend reading from the amazing book collection, going for walks (the host was really nice and dropped us off at the starting point), finished a puzzle and of course hung out in the tub and swam in the absolutely icy pond. We were so high on life! Really recommend

We chose to book with Canopy & Stars because we understood that all of the accommodation was of a really high standard and would be something special. This was our first time staying having looked at accommodation with them before but it is on the pricier side so we were waiting for a treat. How disappointed we were.
The cabin had cobwebs all over the walls, the light fixtures were thick with dust, the appliances were dirty. Whilst this was rather unpleasant the day to day items such as bedding seemed clean and the owners were on site and whilst the website does say to try and raise issues during your stay, who feels comfortable raising that with their host on the same site? I would love to know what exactly would have been done during in a 2 day stay, we would have had to leave whilst they cleaned? How awkward.
So we waited and emailed immediately upon departure. We did received a swift response and they raised it with the host but we were told that cobwebs can accumulate quickly in a countryside setting, as though we can't tell the difference between those and cobwebs literally dropping off the walls they are so thick. We weren't happy but the host said because we hadn't raised it during the stay they would not offer a refund, despite the point I had made about not feeling comfortable to do that. C&S offered a £50 gesture of goodwill voucher. Again we weren't happy but all the other reviews seemed positive for the place so I left my review and let it go.
However when I went on to check my review had been published, low and behold the review just before ours had then been published, raising the exact same issues! C&S let us book this place in full knowledge issues had been raised by the previous guest, and rather than take our concerns seriously as the second guest with issues, seemed to think it was ok the host did not offer a refund. I was shocked by this and emailed again to express my disappointment that we had basically been gaslit into thinking we were a random exception with too high standards. They even admitted in the response that they had been aware of this and the owner is addressing the issues, but still no further offer of a refund.
In reality a £50 gift card when you feel you have lost several hundred pounds on a 'special' booking just doesn't cut it and I am extremely unlikely to spend further money with this company. I will simply use it as a search tool perhaps and then find the place direct, vet direct reviews rather than C&S and book direct. A lot of the places do seem to be on other sites also. The vetting they think they do is just not up to standard.

We booked our anniversary stay through Canopy & Stars and the whole experience was excellent from start to finish. The booking process was simple, communication was clear, and the property information was accurate and detailed.

It’s reassuring to use a platform that curates unique places with care – you know you’re not just booking accommodation, you’re booking an experience. The Shellter treehouse we chose was even better than expected, and the thoughtful touches arranged through the host (flowers, fizz and local chocolates) showed how well Canopy & Stars work with their owners to make each stay feel personal.

What I valued most was the trust and quality guarantee that comes with their brand. Everything felt well considered, professional, and reliable, which gave us confidence to book something a little different. We will definitely use Canopy & Stars again and would recommend them to anyone looking for a memorable stay with character.

We recently came back from a trip we booked with canopy and stars.
We stayed at The Black Hut in Northumberland which was amazing and so beautiful. The hosts were fantastic.
Canopy and Stars were also so brilliant and helpful to us for finding this stay as we originally booked somewhere else first and there was a problem with the owner of the previous place and the staff at Canopy and Stars were so supportive and found us our brilliant new stay at The Black Hut and I'm so glad they did. The stay we had at The Black Hut was so wonderful and the views and cabin were just amazing and I would definitely recommend staying there with family or even a romantic couples getaway. We can't wait to go back.
Thank you to both Canopy and Stars and also Debbie and Mark at The Black Hut.

Booked a stay for our honeymoon in The Red Cabin Rolvenden, only to later received an email saying due to an error they have doubled booked.

Told they cannot honour our booking, total disappointment, offered other options that are either more expensive or not at all like what we've booked.

Now we have to wait 10 DAYS to get our money back until we can book somewhere else.

Booked to stay in Chalybeate Yurt 18/6/25 for 2 nights. This was our first experience of staying in a Yurt which we were very much looking forward to, however it was not the experience we expected, the Yurt was very old and tired inside, cobwebs on the cups, not very clean at all. The outside area was really overgrown not like the pictures depict at all. On going onto the Canopy and Stars website I have discovered that my review has been edited to sound like I had a pleasant experience which was not the case at all, surely this should not be allowed to happen.

Easy site to navigate and use, we found the perfect tree house to stay in

I'm surprised by some of the negative reviews here, my experience has been fantastic.

Canopy & Stars are a broker, effectively a shopfront for a number of independent properties. I found the photos and descriptions to be comprehensive and where inaccuracies were found, they were corrected.

A recent stay at Meads Cabin was quite simply idyllic.

I had an incredible experience with this company and felt compelled to leave a review. The level of service was exceptional from the outset, but I have to highlight Katie in particular — she was an absolute star.

Katie handled my issue with remarkable professionalism, empathy, and efficiency. She immediately took charge of the situation, resolved everything quickly, and made sure I felt completely looked after throughout. Her understanding and calm approach turned what could have been a stressful experience into a truly reassuring one.

I genuinely can’t recommend them highly enough. If you’re considering booking, don’t hesitate — their service is second to none.

Unethical, and concerning in its use of personal data.

I had a work trip in Devon that i was fortunate enough to bring my family along for the ride with me. I decided to try and suprise them by staying in a one of a kind location. This was a last minute idea (7 days exact). I thought i wouldnt be able to find a suitable place, but the team at Canopy & Stars jumped straight on the task. It was refreshing to speak to a friendly voice on the phone and within 5 minutes, they found me the perfect stay (Pickwell Manour). Thanks team.

After a really disappointing 2 nights (£300!) at a ‘glamping’ stay that was not fit for purpose, dangerous and cold, I’m really concerned that C&S vet their feedback and only allow glowing reports to be published on their website. This is highly dishonest.

The photos of our camping stay (Turner’s Wood, Spreyton) were completely different to how it looks now and were clearly taken several years ago. C&S obviously stays the once, creates a beautiful profile for a destination and then never bothers returning to check that the hosts are maintaining standards or offering what is listed in the blurb.

Have given 2 stars rather than 1 as we did eventually get some compensation (£70 voucher) but it’s near useless as we don’t trust the website enough to use it again.

C&S: you need to do yearly checks on your accommodations as this place was falling apart! Keep your website photos and descriptions reflecting the changing state of the stays. It’s not 2021 anymore and people will no longer pay £300 for a run down accommodation just to escape the house.

Horrible company. Booked 3 nights away for my mums 60th birthday. Listing was misleading and didn’t obviously state that all 4 beds were all in 1 room, once I noticed I asked to cancel as 4 adults in 1 room with a baby isn’t feasible. No understanding from them whatsoever, denied any form of refund, credit, or moving the dates despite it being a good few weeks before the booking as they have a very STRICT 10 WEEK CANCELLATION POLICY. Which leaves no room for anyone who books within 10 weeks (which we did) but also no room for genuine human error, or any unfortunate circumstances that may stop you from making your booking even with weeks notice.
They stated that they can’t help as 24% goes to charity? I offered to pay these fees and to cover admin but still refused. I just wanted to book another place more suited for our needs as a family.

In the end they cancelled the booking, refused a refund and said if anyone books those dates they might process one for us, but that we have to be the ones to keep checking it if gets booked!

Will never use again. Seems like they do this a lot based on the reviews.

We had a perfect two night stays at Woods Edge in Devon. The cabin was exactly as advertised, clean, comfortable and well designed with quirky décor & some lovely little extra's left for us. The cabin is fully secluded in your own field so we didn't see another person for the duration, which was amazing!!! Lots of wildlife to sit and listen to which was very peaceful and the hot tub and other facilities were easy to use and worked perfectly!!

I can't fault the booking process or support for ideas on where to stay from Canopy and Stars - thank you for a lovely stay, we will be back!!

I have a voucher and cant book anything as everywhere has a three or four night minimum. I think this is a gross and cynical tactic used by a greedy money making company. I would rather just not use the voucher than be forced to pay hundreds of pounds for a stay somewhere. Disgusting