Dog Friendly Barnard Castle Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Philip - Verified booking

  Disappointing Stay.

  Having read previous reviews we thought as we had not visited Barnard Castle that Church Cottage would be an ideal place to stay to celebrate my wife’s 65th birthday. However, I cannot understand how many positive reviews could be given as our experience is completely different. Upon our arrival on a cold January day, we found that the cottage was extremely cold, and the heating turned off plus there was a terrible smell coming from the kitchen. Investigating we found that the smell was coming from both the fridge that had not been thoroughly cleaned and a broken freezer that had just been left with offensive discoloured fluid inside. On contacting the owner, he did come round immediately and said that he had put the heating on for just 30 minutes that day as some people like properties to be cold on arrival but on a cold winter’s day in an old property I said it was not acceptable and the heating was turned off not on a timer. He did clean the fridge also stated that he was aware that the freezer had broken but why he had not replaced it was baffling as the cottage had not been occupied before we arrived. He did arrange for a replacement freezer which came the following day but unfortunately that was too late for us as my wife who is a coeliac had prepared several meals for the week which were frozen and had started to defrost before the replacement came and some had to be thrown away. I managed to turn the heating on, but it took 2 days to get the cottage up to a comfortable and acceptable temperature. We also found that whilst on the surface the cottage looked clean, we found that upon closer inspection there were issues, mould on the bath sealant, around the window and on the non-slip bathmat. All the window frames in the cottage also had not been cleaned for what looked like a long time as there was a build-up of dirt and fluff on every surface. In addition, we found the oven and grill pan was not particularly clean and the baking/oven sheets unusable. We were unable to find any cleaning products to do basic cleaning up for any spills that we made and why none were provided was mystifying and we had to purchase our own. We were not enjoying our stay and did not feel that we could celebrate my wife’s birthday properly so decided to leave early and advise the owner of our reasons. What I need to understand is how Sykes managed to give this property a 4-tick rating and whether they do any follow up review rating as things change within a property as it appears they don’t and without it gives customers a potentially misleading rating as my rating for this property would be between 1-2 ticks.

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• Zoe - Verified booking

  I’m going to start with the positives of which there are many.

  Great location, really close to the centre of Barnard Castle yet felt really tucked away & quiet. (Though do bring ear buds if you’re a light sleeper as the church bells ring every 30 mins through the night). The cottage kitchen is really well equipped - it has everything you could possibly need. Comfortable beds & sofas & the cottage feels really spacious yet cosy. However, when we stayed in September, it obviously hadn’t had a good deep clean for a very long time. The kitchen table felt sticky & the kitchen cupboards doors & radiators really needed a good scrub to remove tea stains & general kitchen grease & grime. There was thick dust on the fire surrounds & on top of the dressing table mirrors in both bedrooms & on the plug sockets & skirting boards behind the beds & sofas. In the bathroom, around the taps, bath & shower screen was absolutely filthy & I had to clean this before we could use it. There are lots of fake flowers & plants throughout the cottage which were also thick with dust. I did message the owners on departure & offered to send them pictures but they said they would go round & organise the cleaners to come in to do a deep clean. I really do hope so as this really spoilt it for us & it’s a real shame as the cottage itself is beautiful.

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• Koray - Verified booking

  River View Cottage was fairly easy to find and park right outside the front door. Its standout feature is the view of the River Tees from the rear of the property and the balcony that's accessible from both the bedrooms, this also faces the river. The main living area of the lounge, dining room and kitchen are all one big open plan room. It was all very well furnished and equipped. The main bedroom is a good size and is well furnished. It could do with a brighter bulb in the main light fitting, though. The second bedroom is quite a bit smaller but very well lit. Personally, I would swap the chest of drawers with a combined wardrobe and drawers unit. The beds and bedding were all comfortable. We didn't make use of the garden due to weather conditions. This property really could do with a condensing type tumble dryer being installed. Its location was excellent with regard to walking into the town centre and accessing local walking paths. Overall, we were warm and comfortable here.

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• Danny - Verified booking

  The place needs a very deep clean. We reported this right away to the host and all they offered was for a cleaner to call round. Which wasn't very practical considering we only spent 2 nights there, we were out walking most of the main day so nobody around to meet a cleaner. Be aware there are excessive fees to say here. Also be aware that they initially state they hold your £250 damage deposit for 3-5 days, then I was informed it would be 7, now it's 14 days. I find this very troubling since I had to contact the host 3 days after check out to make sure everything was OK with the cottage and I will be receiving my deposit back. (minus an admin fee) They do give an option to pay £25 for a damage waiver however I feel this is nothing more than a cash grab scheme. The stay does have potential to be very nice and it's very disappointing that I've had to write my first bad review of a place, but until the host company is to address and take responsibility of the issues it remains.

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• Jennifer - Verified booking

  The cottage itself was lovely. Very comfortable and clean, as shown in the listing. Unfortunately my experience was spoiled by the policies of the agent, Host and Stay . Immediately after booking the property and paying I was contacted to either pay a non refundable insurance policy of £25, or pay a damage waiver of £250 ( of which only £240 would be refunded due to a £10 “ administration fee”). I was very disappointed by this, it should be made clear at the time of booking. I also felt rather hounded on the day of check out to be repeatedly texted and reminded of the check out time . As a large family staying in multiple Air Bnbs around Barnard castle, I was the only one to have a negative experience. My family all had no problems dropping their baggage off prior to check in time but unfortunately this was not possible at this cottage . I would not recommend booking with this agency, but the actual property is lovely.

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