About John Bray Cornish Holidays

John Bray Cornish Holidays offers a stunning collection of luxury self-catering holiday homes, exclusively along North Cornwall’s picturesque coastline. Locations range from Rock and Daymer Bay, to the Camel Estuary, Padstow, Polzeath, Port Isaac and beyond. 

We have a wide range of properties to suit everyone, from the most fantastic new luxury houses and contemporary coastal apartments, to traditional cottages and elegant, spacious clifftop homes for big family groups. Most of our properties have spectacular sea views, many are pet friendly and all are within easy reach of the coast. We welcome short breaks and last minute bookings, giving you the freedom to visit whenever the opportunity arises.  

With over 50 years’ experience, we pride ourselves on our personal service, which is why generations of our customers return to us year after year. With two offices; one in Rock and one in Port Isaac, our knowledgeable, local team are always on hand to resolve any queries. We also have a dedicated maintenance team on hand to help with any issues should they arise, so that you can get on with the all-important business of relaxing and enjoying your holiday. 

Our History 

Rock Estates (Cornwall) Limited was founded in 1971 by John Bray and Hugh Knock. Originally the local postmaster and postman, John Bray was a familiar face to local Rock residents on his rounds. John was asked to be a trusted key holder for some houses in the village, which the owners allowed friends to use for their holidays. The result of which lead to the establishment of a holiday letting agency, which was then expanded into an estate agency. From 1978, John Bray was in sole control of the business, which started trading as John Bray and Partners and John Bray Cornish Holidays. 

John always recalled that the first holiday cottage was very basic and the straw mattress did not go down well! This less than auspicious start, taught him a valuable lesson - delivering excellent customer service is vital. This is still at the heart of the business today. 

In 2019 the estate agency was placed into a separate LLP and John Bray Cornish Holidays was acquired shortly after, by national company Sykes Holiday Cottages. This opened even more doors to the John Bray Cornish Holidays team and the agency’s holiday home owners, in terms of resource and marketing capabilities. We now benefit from an annual marketing budget of over £35m, and have a wide breadth of expertise at our fingertips… from legal specialists to data analysts.   

Our Impact Mission 

As part of the B Corp accredited Sykes Holiday Cottages Family,John Bray Cornish Holidaysis committed to creating lasting holiday memories with a positive social and environmental impact.  

To get the latest updates on our Impact activities, head to our Impact section on the blog. 

Our Services 

Self-catering holidays in North Cornwall 

We have been providing self-catering holidays for our guests in Rock, Daymer, Polzeath, Padstow and Port Isaac in North Cornwall for over 50 years. We currently market and manage around 250 holiday homes in this extremely special part of North Cornwall. 

To view our full collection of properties, click here. 

Property Management 

We offer a fully comprehensive management and lettings service for holiday home owners, covering all styles of property. As well as having a dedicated Owner Account Management and Property Management team located in our Rock and Port Isaac offices, we also have a list of trusted tradespeople we work closely alongside – if we can’t resolve a problem we know someone who can! 

This local expertise, combined with Sykes Cottages’ multi-million-pound marketing budget, provides the ‘best of both worlds’ option… a superb, locally based hassle-free management service, as well as fantastic year-round bookings and income.  

To find out how we could support you with marketing and managing your North Cornwall holiday home, visit our Let Your Cottage page.