Dog Friendly Barnard Castle Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Susan - Verified booking

  Burns Cottage is good place for a break with friends but could easily be a great place.

  Our party consisted of 9 people and there was lots of space, a large living area, dining room and kitchen with a second kitchen that was very useful. There are two separate smaller lounges that was really good when people wanted their own space for a while. The property has obviously evolved over the years with parts added on and finding your way around at first was interesting. Everywhere was clean (though some cobwebs in the corners), the beds were comfortable and having the two hot tubs was great. Some areas that could be improved: An instruction folder with wifi code, cooker etc.instructions would been really good instead of having to guess. Had to go the hotel for the code. Knowing where the heating thermostat was would have been useful. Bath plugs. 1 bath plug for three bath tubs! We reported this to hotel, we were told it had been ‘noted’ but no further plugs appeared. Wifi. Poor signal, only really usable in the central areas, not the bedrooms. TVs. There are lots of TVs but only the one in main lounge actually worked. We didn’t go to watch TV but it would have been useful for the housebound couple that were with us, who stayed in while the rest went for a walk or a trip into Barnard Castle. There were different problems, one needed a PIN number that was not available. Others needed batteries for the remotes and others that could be used did not connect to the wifi to use the built-in Netflix etc. as the signal was too weak. Although they had an arial attached no channels could be found with a search. Kitchen implements. No corkscrew or scissors to open packets etc. Although there were ample pint and wine glasses very few smaller glasses for gin and tonics etc. We used egg cups for shots! Better instructions for the sauna. Although instructions were provided they were misleading. We didn’t figure it out for the first 24 hours despite having two engineers in the party. Bathrooms. Despite having a lot of bathrooms, shower rooms and toilets most were on one side of the building. Our bedroom was one of two in an area where each had a double bed and a spiral staircase to an upstairs loft area that each contained two single beds. Great for families but only one one shower room nearby that would potentially be used by 8 people. We could have gone to the hotel repeatedly to try get these issues sorted but having failed to get bath plugs didn’t think it worthwhile. However it didn’t spoil the trip. Most of the issues would have been sorted if the staff had gone in and checked everything from time to time!

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• Dan - Verified booking

  This property is an amazing first class find, the property is in really good condition and has everything you need for your stay.

  It was kept very warm during our Christmas stay, and had such lovely and unexpected touches with a Christmas tree and welcome gift. It is in a good location for exploring both the yorkshire dales and north pennies, with lots to do even during the winter. There are a few hikes and view points walkable from the door step also. The hosts were always reachable, friendly and helpful. The drive to the property is about 1 mile from the main road and well maintained. There are a few other cottages that are part of the same complex but its well laid out so you don't feel your privacy is affected. The bridge across to Cotherstone is easy to find from the caravan park and has two pubs. All the wood and fire materials we needed were provided. We did experience issues with the wifi due to the remote location, and mobile phone signal was also very limited inside the property, so I would not recommend planning to work from the property or expect BBC Iplayer/Netflix etc to work. I would note that whilst the freezer space was ample, the fridge space was only a couple of shelfs, which would be more than enough if you are picking up food every couple of days, but due to Christmas we stocked up and were struggling a little for space. We also found the log fueled hot tub very hard to get to the right temperature, we often found we made it too hot or only just warm, however, we were in external temperatures of 1 degrees so it is unlikely to be an issue in the warmer months. Worth considering it may take up to 4hrs to warm in cold temperatures. The only possible improvement we noted is there weren't any arrival/depature instructions, and felt a little more about how to do things in the property and nearby recommendations could have been provided in the welcome letter. More towels could also have been made available at the property as think they would be needed if more than two of you.

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• Gavin - Verified booking

  Honest feedback?

  Needs some TLC. It's a nice little cottage but general maintenance and dated features let it down. The owner couldn't have been nicer. Fired up the hot tub for us Friday and Saturday night. Was accommodating when asked if we could have a slightly later check out (no one due in after us). Choccies and a bottle of fizz on arrival was lovely touch too. However, there are a lot of things which MUST improve here for me to recommend. These are as follows: Bathroom door which doesn't shut nevermind lock, very dated and tired kitchen needs updated (without a carpet on the floor please - no right in a kitchen especially when pets are allowed). TV in the living room is very old and too small for the size of the room. If you intend to stay in, that needs to be far better. Under floor heating just seemed to stop working in one of the en-suites half way through stay. One of the mirror light bulbs was out. Things like that are annoying and should always be checked between rentals. It's small but screams a lack of attention to detail. Also, if you're there for a short stay, you don't want to have to run back and forth to the owner about things like that. The hot tub has a leak which after a while means the water level drops below the top jets rendering bubbles a no-go. Little feature shelves have been created in the bedrooms but clearly haven't been finished. Bare screws, no lighting, no ornaments or plants in them. It just looks like an idea got started and then left... It devalues the overall experience. To the owners: You have a lovely little place here but it's just a bit unloved and half-baked. With some attention it will be great

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• Joanna - Verified booking

  A very mixed review for our stay last weekend.

  The house itself is lovely and was comfortable and clean. A few damp patches in the second double room that needed tending too but we appreciated the age of the building. Unfortunately we all came back from the weekend unwell, my son has such a bad rash I've had to take him to the doctor's who confirmed Pseudomonas Folliculitis and that it came from the poorly sanitised hot tub he said the bacteria comes from poor sanitation and upkeep of the water. We complained to the owners whilst we were there about the smell coming from the tub and that the water was extremely dirty after only one use. The owner suggested that it was my makeup that had caused the filter to clog up and that he hadn't seen anything like it before as the filter was completely blocked and refilled the tub but it was too late. My son had already started to get spots, there is no way we could have made the water that unsanitary in one use that it caused such an infection. I also had no makeup on while using the tub. My son is so unwell as a result that he's had to be treated with two different types of antibiotics and steroid cream as it's really painful and inflamed and he's had a raging temperature all week - the rest of us are seeing how we get on but all have spots where our swimwear was all apart from my mother who didn't go in. This is definitely a health and safety matter and very concerning. He could potentially have scars all over his torso now as the infection is so bad! We complained to Sykes days ago and have had no response so leaving our review here so that others are aware of the dangers of unclean hot tubs.

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• Sally - Verified booking

  I have to say firstly that Burns Cottage is a very nice property but it is clear that is owned by a hotel rather than a family business who care for their accommodation.

  We arrived at 3:15pm (check in time was from 3pm) when we presented ourselves at the reception of the Morritt hotel for the keys collection we were told in no uncertain terms that we were early and the house was not ready. I pointed out that we were in fact late,! With no apology forthcoming we then had to wait a further hour & a half before asking again if the property was ready as we had frozen products in our cars & needed to get it into the freezer. Reluctantly they said we could enter the property it was now quarter to 5. When we entered the house it was clear that it hadn't been cleaned, with piles of towels in the lounge which we distributed to the various bathrooms etc. We had requested a highchair & cot neither of these were in the property so another trip back to the hotel to request these were bought to us. Neither of the two hot tubs were ready, one full but stone cold with the other with about 6 inches of water in it. On the hot tubs, on our return home the whole party of 15 came down with Hot tub folkiculitus skin infection which a number of the group had to have a course of antibiotics. This skin infection is caused by poorly maintained hot tubs. We have used Sykes many times in the past with no issues but I am surprised this property is on your list as it is no where near your usual standard. I could go on about the short comings of this property and its owners but won't bore you any longer. I certainly would not recommend this property to anyone. Thanks

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