Dog Friendly Cottages In Alnmouth

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Eileen - Verified booking

  This was our third stay in Mariner’s House , which we like very much for its location , views and good access to the beach and village amenities.

  We have always been happy with the standard of cleanliness on arrival and find the open plan living area comfortable and relaxing. Overall, we found the house to be well-equipped. However, we feel that the aspects of the bedroom and bathroom arrangements could be improved and updated . 1. The only shower in the house is over the bath , with a fixed screen , making access (for all but the young and fit ) not entirely safe or comfortable. The shower controls are stiff and awkward to use and there is a build up of mould & discolouration around the bath seal. As the house is premium-priced, we would suggest that a walk-in shower is a facility that could reasonably be expected . In this bathroom the toilet flush is not always efficient either. 2. The house offers facilities for an infant and this was our first time to visit with 4 adults and a baby ( requiring use of the small bedroom ) . This room includes 2 single beds with heavy metal frames , which together use almost all the available space in the room and so a travel cot can’t easily be fitted into the room without moving one of the beds against a cupboard door . The beds are extremely heavy and awkward to move . We would suggest that replacing these older beds with a lighter divan bed with a pull-out bed underneath would give this small room the flexibility to more easily accommodate a cot or to continue to accommodate 2 people ( where a cot isn’t required) 3. Laundry drying facilities were inadequate- the tumble dryer was not effective and seemed to circulate humid air so that clothes remained damp even after 30+ minutes . We requested a clothes horse/ airer to more easily ( and economically) dry baby clothes overnight as one wasn’t provided , however this wasn’t delivered promptly ( see 4 below) . We were surprised to be advised by the office staff to dry clothes on the radiators - as the temperature was above 20 degrees , use of the heating system for this purpose would have been wasteful and uncomfortable. 4. We have not found the office response to in-stay issues to be timely or efficient e.g it took two days and 4 telephone calls for our request for an inexpensive and easily -obtained clothes airer to be met . In a one-week stay we would expect a quicker resolution to a simple request. We also found the front door handle/ locking mechanism to be extremely stiff requiring considerable force in order to turn the key . We didn’t report this or the toilet flushing issue during our stay because of our poor experience of the office’s resolution of issues without repeat calls to them (We had a similar experience of slow resolution to an issue with the TV on our previous stay)

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• Jennie - Verified booking

  Location is great, and looks lovely but needs a massive deep clean.

  The dust on the flowers and under the beds was really bad. Mould in the bathrooms also a serious concern especially as we had a toddler with us. Around the bath and even on the taps. Tumble dryer clearly not been cleaned or serviced in a long time and left black marks over our clothes due to dirt etc in the rim. Some of our clothes are now stained as we can get it out even with stain remover. Washing machine works fine but doesn’t spin the clothes dry well so tumble dryer has to work overtime and takes a really long time, sometimes all day just to dry socks and a few t shirts. We asked for a clean mid stay but we had to chase as the poor cleaner wasn’t told. Not her fault at all so please no criticism to her. One of the windows in the lounge doesn’t lock which isn’t great for security. Stale food found behind the bedside table. Beds in double room so uncomfortable with the bars as the mattress sinks below them and they dig in when you try to get in or out. Double bed in en-suite room very creaky and uncomfortable. We asked for a new bath mat as existing one doesn’t stick well and has bits missing and a new one was supposed to be delivered but didn’t arrive. Very difficult to safely get in and out of that bath and the toddler slipped many many times, as did 2 adults. Lovely bruise on my thigh to show for it! All in all, a lot of window dressing but really really needs a deep clean. And new batteries for the clocks… all 3 tell a different time! Wouldn’t stay again. We’ve previously stayed in flat 2 with same great location, but dated but much cleaner and more comfortable. We won’t be returning. At 2-3k for a 2 week stay we expect the place to at least be clean. Great location doesn’t make up for a dirty place. Standards shouldn’t drop just because of location. We shared this during our call mid stay and revived a half hearted apology which I do not consider to be sufficient. She advised we include details in our review which is why I am doing it now. A deep clean not practical during our stay so I appreciate it couldn’t be fixed immediately but a poor apology is not really good enough considering the fees we have paid. I have photos if needed.

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• Dr Almond - Verified booking

  Pinfold Retreat is an ideally located small cottage in the village of Alnmouth, which must have one of the best beaches in England. It is well equipped: washing machine, dishwasher & smart tv are all available. The beds are comfortable, the linen of good quality & a plentiful supply of good sized towels are provided. Overall, there is a good level of cleanliness. However, the sitting room seating could not be more uncomfortable. It is nothing like the armchair, settee and footstool photographed on the website. There is a wooden chair & a small 2 seater wooden bench that are low off the ground (the height of a 2 pint milk bottle) and low backed with thin seat cushions. It is impossible to relax on them and many people will struggle getting down & up from them. A permit referred to in the arrival instructions turns out not to exist or be required. There is no welcome information pack and I had to enquire about the WiFi code & absent parking permit. Luckily, a pleasant and helpful person was available when I rang the support number. Parking is outside the cottage and the space to turn the car around is limited (the lane is a narrow dead end) but there is no passing traffic and the parking most welcome - parking is at a premium in Alnmouth. It is a cottage that has great potential to be a cosy retreat, but for me totally spoilt by such uncomfortable sitting room furniture.

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• Victoria - Verified booking

  1. I’ve left on the side a range of things that are chipped or broken (not by us) but are dangerous around kids (sharp edges).

  2. An already dirty bath mat. 3. We had to replace the batteries in the heating box as it was showing RED and we didn’t want to risk the heating going off and onto holiday mode 4. We were left one bin bag, I do find that very stingy. 5. There was no foil. 6. There always used to be washing liquid but that was not there either this year. 7. Airbnb's tend to leave a nice welcome package, one place even left crisps, oil, chocolate etc. You left a stingy set of UHT milk, coffee and some hotel biscuits. 8. 4 rolls of toilet paper that weren’t even full rolls. 9. No fire kindle or fire lighters 10. Someone has taken the outside bin so we couldn’t put the rubbish out. 11. One dog friendly place we stayed in even left toys and treats for the dogs. Again, a nice touch. One white cereal bowl was dropped and smashed I’m afraid. It’s an expensive week away in Feb so with the nice touches missing, the somewhat patronizing suggestion of putting the dishwasher on the night before when we already miss most of a day with a 10am out and a 4pm entry (with zero flexibility on the timings), striping beds etc means it is losing in its comparison to many Airbnb's that we have stayed in. For that money I’d suggest a better welcome pack, no patronizing suggestions on the welcome email, be more dog friendly (bowls, treats etc) and be more flexible on the arrival time if requested.

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• Stephen - Verified booking

  The house was lovely and as described.

  However, there were a number of issues. We could not check in until 4pm by which time it was dark - we drove past the property 3 times before we found it. You could easily put a clearer sign outside and some lighting. Having failed to find it I phoned both numbers given at exactly 5pm but nobody answered. Not helpful! The property was unpleasantly cold on arrival and did not heat up until late in the evening. The hot water was only tepid. We eventually reported this and it was fixed quickly after we raised the issue. The property looked well cleaned but there was a used pair of underpants under one of the beds in the twin room and twice I found a slug in the bathroom of the double room. Most comments in the visitors book mentioned a welcome pack - we didn’t even get a carton of milk and did not feel welcomed. The owner only lived next door and said he hadn’t realised we were arriving on the day we did. In fact he rang the agents to say no one had arrived despite the fact our car was parked outside and we had arrived the previous evening. We had a lovely week in Alnmouth and the house was actually great - it was just not a very welcoming start.

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