Dog Friendly Castle Douglas Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  We enjoyed our week in Barscobe House. It has a lovely prospect looking over the countryside, set in a well kept estate, and a large secluded garden with a mowed lawn. There are walks starting from the house e.g. the Holy Linn waterfall, and up into the hills. It was reunion for three generations of a family, coming together from Edinburgh, Yorkshire, London and Maine USA. It was helpful having the caretaker and housekeeper staying on the estate to help with queries. We also used a local agent, who had good local knowledge. The kitchen is very well equipped: it is difficult to know what one is going to find in a holiday let, but this property has the sense of a much loved family house, well designed for catering. There were many baking trays, cake, bun and loaf tins, a blender, food processor, hand mixer, ice maker… A real old fashioned larder, 2 fridges (one with a freezer section) and a chest freezer. Ample cutlery and crockery etc. Good recycling arrangements (glass to the nearby village, or local supermarkets). Two washing machines, a tumble dryer, an old style wooden ceiling pulley for clothes (in a separate scullery). Two dishwashers. Some of the chairs and furnishing are wabi-sabi, but we found this made it comfy, and matches the house. Beds comfortable, nice cotton bedding, plumbing good, very toasty hot press to dry/air clothes. We already knew that Castle Douglas is a foodie town, and it didn’t disappoint: three butchers (we used Grierson’s, excellent), bakers, a greengrocer, and we ended the week ordering a very good fish supper from Moore’s (with a rigid insulated box and a foil-lined bag, they stayed hot enough on the 25 minute drive). The nearby village of Balmaclellan has a friendly community shop for messages like fresh milk. There are mobile fish van shops in the region too. We were lucky with the weather, but the house has a snooker table (pool too? Not my strong suit!) and lots of indoor space should the weather break - we did consider playing “Sardines”, but actually spent a lot of time exploring local attractions for outdoorsy types (some of my family has an affinity for cold water, and swam enthusiastically in Loch Ken), with the coast not too far away. We were sad (in a way) not to need the fires, that’d be cosy indeed. The “dark sky” area meant that on clear nights we could see the Perseid “falling stars”. The wifi dropped out occasionally but this wasn’t a problem for us. The caretaker was on hand on the one occasion the router needed rebooting. We understand that infrastructure improvements are coming soon. It is an interesting old building (early 20th century) that must be challenging to keep from disrepair. The windows alone are a daunting task. The hefty security deposit is unusual in these days, but I see why it is imposed, and it was repaid within the week. The entry time of 5 pm is the latest we’ve ever been offered (due to cleaning schedule, I think), but we built that into our arrival time. We had one electric car in our party: the provision at the house is currently via a standard indoor socket using one’s own trickle feed cable: rather slow, and the surcharge seemed arbitrary (not metered, rather high) - but we did opt to use it as the fast chargers in Castle Douglas were in use/out of order: the infrastructure will presumably eventually catch up (and I don’t just mean at this property). Highly recommended.

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• Laura Slaven - Verified booking

  We had a truly wonderful stay at Airds of Kells House. The location is fantastic - perfect for exploring all that Dumfries and Galloway has to offer, as well as being surrounded by countryside views. My kids had such fun running wild in the grounds. We even saw deer on arrival (though they didn't return during our stay). The pheasants kept us all amused with their crazy running, though they were a little overwhelming for the dogs when outside (on leads). The house itself is really well equipped, with an abundance of crockery and tableware in the kitchen. We cooked the most delicious Easter roast in the rayburn. The bedrooms are also well appointed, we loved finding a torch in each for nighttime (or possible powercuts, but this didn't happen) - a nice touch. The beds and pillows are comfortable, with good quality linen and towels provided, and so much space for everyone. Additionally, the bathrooms are lovely, with plenty of hot water to go round. It's obvious the house is well loved and it is decorated to a high standard. If I had one minor comment, it would be that the rugs in the kitchen could do with non-slip backing, as we went skidding on them a few times! The only room we didn't use was the dining room (except to hide eggs for the Easter egg hunt), as the dining space in the kitchen was more than adequate for the 6 of us. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend this property :)

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  This accommodation has been very well organised and everything required is readily available in the farmhouse BUT three factors diminish its enjoyment : 1. incredibly hard mattresses on the beds, so unforgiving that I had to use a walking stick to get around for the rest of the holiday [and I don't usually need a stick !]. 2. the seating in the living room is generous but not particularly comfortable suffering the common problem of being too deep from front to back of the seating surface. 3. a perennial problem that we have suffered over the last 30 years : excessively dim lighting in the living area. The assumption seems to be that all guests will spend their evenings watching the TV, playing on an iPad or fiddling with their 'phones. We found the level of lighting so low that it became difficult and unpleasant to try to read a book or newspaper. Such a shame about these important details because we feel the owners have got the place fitted out about 85% right ! Hope all this helps ! With more accommodating mattresses, we would certainly visit again.

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  A beautiful house we were very privileged to stay here for 7 nights and did not want to leave. Large house with spacious rooms all round including the outdoor space, we all immediately felt at home and were extremely comfortable. Home from home, the kitchen is fully stocked with all the utensils needed to rustle up dinners for our family of 7. The beds were so comfy, not a complaint from anyone. The location itself is set within a very quiet area off the main road from the village of Corsock( approx 1 mile or so). The road itself to the cottage is single track with passing places however is in a poor state of repair in many sections, your car may take a bit of a beating with the many pot holes. As the crow flies the location is not far from the towns of Dalbeattie or Castle Douglass, however around 20 to 30 minutes drive your pace is dictated depending on which road you choose and have to negotiate. Overall, a real gem. Definitely be back.

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• Julie - Verified booking

  Beautiful house.

  As I'm from an interior back ground there was a few things. Missing from bedrooms more storage tv in rooms a console unit with mirror and chair in the main bedroom upstairs for doing your hair and makeup. Sorting out the curtains mainly upstairs they need lined .shortened and make in to eyelets. Nasty mark in top bedroom carpet looked like a pooh stain needs attention. Back garden has holes were our big dog kept escaping we had to up chairs around to make it safe. Couldn't find ironing board. Could do with a bigger fridge and freezer. Parking outside the house was like winning the lottery .mainly people going to the ship for food would park in front of the house and think nothing of it. Was very impressed with the good bedding and mattresses and towels.and shower products used. Sofas were nice apart from horrible nylon covers over them. For the price there is a few things that need to be done to be 5 star rating.

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