Guests say
Ivy Cottage offers a charming and peaceful retreat in a beautiful, quiet location close to both the beach and woodland walks. Guests appreciate its traditional character, well-equipped kitchen, and dog-friendly policy. The owner is frequently described as helpful and welcoming. While most visitors found the cottage clean and comfortable, some noted issues with damp, cleanliness, and maintenance. The cottage is well-suited for those seeking relaxation and a base to explore Arran, though access may be challenging for those with mobility concerns.
Several guests found the cottage clean on arrival, but one review highlighted significant issues with damp, mould, and cleanliness, particularly downstairs. Most guests were satisfied, but the negative review lowers the overall impression.
The location is widely praised for its tranquillity, proximity to the beach, woodland walks, and easy access to local amenities. Guests enjoyed the peaceful setting and found it an excellent base for exploring Arran.
Guests generally found the cottage comfortable, appreciating the cosy atmosphere, good beds, and effective heating. However, some mentioned narrow stairs and worn furniture, which may affect comfort for some visitors.
The cottage is described as well-equipped for self-catering, with a good kitchen and heating. Some guests noted maintenance issues such as a weak shower and worn furniture, but overall facilities met most guests' needs.
The owner is frequently described as helpful and accommodating, providing local information. However, there is mention of a lack of welcome information and no reference to gifts or special touches.
About this property
This lovely cottage, with beams and wood burner, still retains many of the original features and is within walking distance of the beach..
Ground Floor:
Living/dining room: TV, Freesat, DVD Player, CD Player, Woodburner
Kitchen: Electric Oven, Electric Hob, Microwave, Fridge/Freezer, Washer Dryer
Bedroom 1: Single (3ft) Bed
Shower Room: Cubicle Shower, Heated Towel Rail, Toilet
First Floor:
Bedroom 2: Double (4ft 6in) Bed
Bedroom 3: ¾ Double (4ft) Bed.
Electric heaters, bed linen, towels and Wi-Fi included. Initial logs for wood burner included. Cot and highchair. Small patio with garden furniture. Private parking for 1 car. No smoking.. Ivy Cottage, located ½ mile from Whiting Bay, is a great base for keen walkers, with Glenashdale Falls on your doorstep. The detached cottage is adjacent to the owners’ home and has been renovated in 2019 to give a modern home, yet retaining many of the original features. The thick stone walls, beams on the ceilings and original internal doors give this property a true cottage feel. The living room is open plan with the dining area and the stairs, bathroom and single bedroom leading directly from this cosy space. The wood burner stove is perfect for the cooler evenings after a long walk around the stunning falls. The upstairs bedrooms have sloping ceilings throughout, so do mind your head, but this adds to the cottage character. A small patio at the front of the cottage has seating for guests to relax in countryside surroundings and listen to the sound of the burn running beside the cottage.
Glenashdale Falls is a popular walk for guests and locals and offers the option of heading further along the forestry tracks to either Lamlash or Kildonan. The cottage is approximately ½ mile from Whiting Bay, mostly downhill, but coming back up to the cottage is more of an uphill climb. Whiting Bay offers a convenience store, post office, coffee shop, restaurant, bar, putting green, bowling green, beach, children’s play park and a golf club which is a few minutes’ drive from the cottage. Beach ½ mile. Shop, pub, and restaurant ½ mile.
Free WiFi
There are low ceilings, doors and/or beams within the property.
We highly recommend that you book your ferry as soon as possible as ferries get very busy. You can call Calmac on 0800 066 5000. For ferries that travel to Orkney are Northlink Ferries 08001114422 and Pentland Ferries 0800 688 8998.
Suitable for up to 1 pet
Reviews (7)
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Tim Boyle
Ivy Cottage is a lovely looking old cottage in a wonderful area. On arrival there was no welcome information available apart from an old bit of paper with very minamul info on it. It had clearly got wet in the past and had been left on the kitchen worktop undernearh some kitchen dish towls. This is the first guest house we have ever stayed at where there was no sort of welcome Info.Unfortunately the standard of cleanliness was not very good. I understand that this is a very old cottage and with that comes a level of difficulty to maintain which i understand, however the level of damp was unacceptable! There were clear arrears of black mould in every downstairs room.The shower was minimal and not very powerful. My wife and daughters were unable to wash their hair during the week we stayed as the shower was simply not powerful enough. Unfortunately the furniture needed some TLC downstairs too. Both leather couches were extremely warn and had a lot of dirt between the cushions which meant we couldn't really sit on them. To top it off the smell of stagnant drains became unbearable as the holiday went on. It started out smelling badly in the mornings but by the end of the week the smell was constant. It made it uncomfortable to sit downstairs.The upstairs bedrooms were lovely and the beds were good apart from my daught finding a toenail in her bed on the 1st night. Because Arran has so much to offer and is such a wonderful, beautiful place we were able to be in the house as little as possible. The walks from the house were simply stunning. Arran is a wonderful place that we will definitely be visiting again, we just won't be staying here. The house really needs a lot of TLC and it would be great.
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Helen Watters
Great location if you want to be close to beach but off the main drag. Fabulous combination of sea and forest.Cottage was good size, comfortable and had everything needed for time away.Sandy provided us with information about where to go etc. very accommodating and friendly.Dog friendly which is getting quite rare these days. Would definitely visit again.
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JOHN GIBSON
Had a nice relaxing break at Ivy Cottage. Good facilities and very clean on arrival.