About John Bray Cornish Holidays

John Bray Cornish Holidays offers some of the best located self catering cottages and holiday homes in North Cornwall’s loveliest locations including Rock and Daymer Bay, on the Camel Estuary, and Polzeath and Port Isaac on the Atlantic coast.

All our properties can be found within just a 5-mile radius in this unique area of outstanding natural beauty. Just click on your favourite holiday rental in Rock, Daymer Bay, Polzeath or Port Isaac to view availability. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, just call us – our friendly and knowledgeable team will be happy to help you.

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 basic second homes, as well as larger cliff top houses for big family groups. Most of our holiday homes have spectacular sea views, many are pet friendly and all are within one mile of the coast. We welcome short breaks out of peak season and offer late availability bookings for when that moment to get away strikes!

With approaching 50 years in the business 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 and a team of over twenty staff, we are only ever 5 minutes away from any of our rental properties and always on hand to resolve any queries.

Above all we are here to help you have the best holiday possible. Whether it’s advice on selecting a suitable holiday cottage, tips on the best places to eat or ideas for things to do with the kids, we are more than happy to use our insider knowledge to help. We also have a dedicated maintenance team on hand to resolve 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 remaining within Rock Estates (Cornwall) Limited, merged into the Pure Cottages group of holiday brands, that includes the top holiday companies in the Lake District, Lakelovers & Heart of the Lakes, and Character Cottages in the Cotswolds.

Our Services

Self-Catering Holidays In North Cornwall

We have been providing self-catering holidays for our guests in Rock, Daymer, Polzeath and Port Isaac in North Cornwall for almost 50 years. We offer almost 400 holiday homes for rent and manage over six and a half thousand holiday weeks a year, all in this unique area. Importantly we live here, so we understand the wonderful things this extremely special part of North Cornwall has to offer, we love the area and want you to enjoy it as much as we do.

Property Management

We offer a fully comprehensive management and lettings service for second home owners covering a broad age and style of property. We are a managing agency not just a 'booking agency', which means we look after your cottage or house for you.

Our permanent staff includes chartered surveyors, building technicians, qualified tradesmen as well as marketing and letting administration teams. Not only are we able to market and let almost 400 holiday homes, we also key-hold inspect close to a hundred houses for clients who do not wish to let. With two offices only five minutes from every house and cottage in our portfolio, we can quickly ensure any problems are resolved during any holiday rental or any owners stay. We look after all the houses twelve months of the year.

JOHN BRAY ARE EXPERTS IN THEIR PATCH.

Our Impact Mission

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

Our impact on people and the planet is as important to us as shareholder profit.

As part of our Impact mission, we aim to:

- Reduce our carbon emissions by at least 50% by 2030… and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050.

- Work with at least 20 biodiversity projects in FY23 across the regions we operate in through volunteering and sponsorship of initiatives.

- Become a single use plastic free business and achieve Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Business accreditation by the end of 2024.

- Inspire and enable 100% of our team to volunteer every year, supporting charities, community projects and social enterprises.

- Enable 100 disadvantaged families to go on holiday in FY23 and work to increase this number every year.

- Positively impact at least 10 community and charity initiatives every year, strengthening existing relationships while building new ones.

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