Dog Friendly Kirkby Stephen Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Manasa - Verified booking

  Smardale hall was a unique and wonderful place for a holiday with the family.

  Our children called it the 'castle house' and the living room and the fireplace captivated them and us a lot. The beds were super comfortable and despite being old and huge, it felt pretty warm - particularly when we had the fire going. The kitchen was very well equipped and see managed to have dinner there most nights and even Diwali and a birthday celebration. We only met Steven the owner - once as he led us up to the place with his car at we got there in the night and couldn't see there we were going and again as we left. He was lovely and very hospitable. We loved waking up to sheep being rounded up in the pen and beautiful sunrises and sunsets through the many large windows. There is a local walk that is along the old train line that is really beautiful and friendly for all ages. If there are any cons, it would be that you need a car to get here and it's a B road at the end so be prepared for awkward backing up in case you encounter oncoming traffic. Good news is Sainsburys delivers groceries so you don't need to pack everything to go here. The bathrooms are in the turrets and are quite cold so pack some robes to keep you cozy as you get in and out of the shower. Finally, we tried the hot tub on one night but it was warm. We should have asked Steven to help get it hotter but we didn't. Mainly as our mobile phones didn't work there. However, the internet is super fast so you can keep in touch with the world if you want to and plan nearby adventures. Thank you for having us and hope to return in the future.

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• Helen - Verified booking

  This is a lovely property and great for kids as there is a lot of space inside and out.

  I heard my son telling someone he met at a play area that we were staying on a working farm and he was so excited by this, the goats scared him though lol. The house itself is large and spacious, agree with someone else, if you want brand new with whitewashed walls then this isn’t the place for you! This property is homely and because of the old style of the building the decor fits beautifully. Beds are comfortable, it’s very clean and the kitchen is amazing. The WiFi isn’t the greatest and one of us needed to work while there (self employed) and couldn’t connect the laptop to the WiFi, the owner came round and very kindly provided us with another WiFi and code which worked. The hot tub is lovely and placed where the views are beautiful; house one side which is great to Look at and fields the other. Kids were excited to see the steam train going past from afar, we had a little walk along the old railway line and we enjoyed playing hide and seek inside when it was raining. We took a couple of our own games to play but there are some there, the kids played with some dinosaurs they found. Overall, a gorgeous place that has been very well looked after and very clean.

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• Nicola - Verified booking

  The house is a fabulous 14th century property on a working farm.

  Extremely quirky but well equipped with plenty of crockery, cutlery, glasses and kitchen equipment for 8 people around a fabulous farmhouse kitchen table that easily fitted everyone. The hot tub and outside seating is across the yard in an area that gets the sun all day, so a really well chosen place to site them. As there were 6 mums on our annual 'away weekend' without the children, our only suggestion for improvement is the need for an extra shower. The en-suite bathroom (off one of the double bedrooms) has a shower, but the main bathroom has just a bath, so some consideration should perhaps be given to somehow incorporating a shower in the main bathroom else making the downstairs cloakroom into a shower room / wet room. Otherwise a wonderful, relaxing time was had by all. A great chat with the farmer about the farm, locality and his family connection with the area, before a 2.5 hour circular walk, a trip into Kirby Stevens, time in the hot tub and lots of fun and laughter - definitely just what the doctor ordered.

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• Claire - Verified booking

  Smardale Hall is a great location and place to stay.

  We had a fab week staying there and would recommend it. Loads of walks from the doorstep and a great location. Yes, there are damp patches on some of the walls but it's a really old building, and this had no impact on our stay at all. It was never cold, with the heating coming on automatically if temperatures dropped even slightly, and plenty of wood if a fire was required. The beds are really comfortable and the bedrooms had blackout blinds which makes a great difference. The host also phoned us on the morning of our arrival to let us know the hot tub had unfortunately broken but she was very apologetic and had organised a repair for the next day, informed us as soon as it was fixed and we were still able to use it for the majority of our stay.

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• Simon - Verified booking

  We had a lovely week at Smardale Hall.

  Our hosts were tremendously attentive – the fire was lit before we arrived, there was an endless supply of wood and coal and they were immediately on hand for any questions we had. The house is spacious with a lovely kitchen and drawing room and the bed was superbly warm and comfortable. The house is on a working farm and the hosts were more than happy to show us around and even included us in the sheep scanning. The local walks in the Nature Reserve are wonderful with beautiful countryside all around and the Lake District is an easy drive and only about an hour away. Highly recommended for a very quiet week’s getaway or just a weekend break.

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