Dog Friendly Cottages In Scotland

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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• Dorothy - Verified booking

  Unfortunately as a group of 6, we all felt the same that the our experience at Kinnaird House fell a long way short of what we expected for the price we paid.

  Firstly, however I would like to thank the incredibly accommodating Victoria for cleaning the property early to enable us to drop off our bags before walking. She was great at replying to our enquiry promptly and reassuring us that we could leave our Bags early to enable us to start our walk. Also for cleaning the flat the best they could. The issues we had with Kinnaird House were the following - Access- there were no instructions that the property was accessed at the side through a small courtyard. Clear signage would make this easier. It was not clear which keypad was for the flat and a few had to be trialled. The key for the flat was difficult to use and needs to be fixed or replaced. It took us a while to manage to unlock the door. Decor - dull and uninviting, clearly needs updating. Some of the doors were so badly damaged they have been repairs with black tape. Some carpeting is stained and looks unclean. Looking out of the kitchen window the gutters are cascading with weeds and the whole house has a feeling of being neglected. We felt the dining room looked like a funeral directors as it was so dull, bland and uninviting. The blinds in one of the downstairs bedrooms did not keep the early morning light out, so resulted in wakening with the sun. Showers - one of the main issues were the poor showers. The upstairs shower kept running out of water mid wash with soap or shampoo! The sink also ran out of water mid tooth brushing. The downstairs electric shower switched from scolding hot to freezing cold in 5 second intervals so could not be used. I contacted the owner directly about this due to health & safety concern. Comfort - the sofa was old but ok and the beds were fine as was the bedding which was clean. In summary as a group of walkers we stayed in 7 different accommodations throughout our long distance walk and Kinnaird house was by far the most expensive but also the most disappointing stay. It cost us over £84/ person per night. As a comparison we stayed in the Norland B&B, Lossiemouth for £50 each, beautiful decor, fantastic sea views, all rooms en-suite with good showers and a full Scottish & continental breakfast in the morning. I hope this feedback is useful for encouraging the owner to make the required improvements or to reduce the cost and change the description to reflect the accommodation on offer. It annoys me that tourists visiting may think that this is the level of accommodation we provide in Scotland. In our view the accommodation felt more of a bunk house, which is ok if that is what you are expecting and the price reflects that. We would not recommend Kinnaird House to any friends or family unless there were significant improvements.

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  Lovely large house, great location, close to shops, park etc. The house was very well equipped and stocked all our essentials ie toilet rolls, washing up liquid, even tin foil, cling film and sandwich bags. There were 10 of us split over a 2 week stay at Braidwood, 5 children & 5 adults. The house had plenty of large rooms to accommodate us all. The children really enjoyed the garden and the park out the back gate. We all walked round the park by the loch, the kids enjoyed playing on the playground. Made our way back with a walk up Queens Street. I enjoyed sitting in the garden at night & early morning, while everyone was in bed, having a cup of tea and a cigarette, it was so peaceful and the different birds certainly kept me entertained, the robin especially came to greet me every morning. 2022 was my 25th year of staying in Scotland for my annual summer holiday, my late mother's people were all Dalbeattie folk born & bred. I lost my mum 8 years ago, also losing my eldest brother 4 weeks after mum's passing. They are laid to rest in and around their favourite places, Sandyhills, Rockcliffe etc. They are all together at Sweetheart Abbey alongside my aunt (mum's sister) and her son (my cousin) My Summer holiday are sort of like a pilgrimage to visit my loved ones resting place and a promise I made too my mum on her last visit to Sweetheart Abbey, that every year I would visit with flowers. I also visit the Haugh of Urr were some of mum's family are laid to rest. I hope that one day I will get to stay at Braidwood again, I'm opting for a much quieter holiday next year without all the grand kids. As always booking through Discover Scotland my holiday is always 100% satisfactory. Great Property in a Great Location...Thank You for an amazing holiday on behalf of myself and family members who stayed with us. See You All Next Year

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• Linda - Verified booking

  The service from Sykes was excellent and East Firwood Lodge was a stunning house in a fabulous location.

  The beds and bedding were extremely comfortable and the shower room and bathroom were high spec. as was the kitchen. There were, however, a few minor improvements which would have enhanced our stay, some of which had been mentioned by previous visitors: * there was only one set of knives and forks for 8 people ( we bought spares at a local charity shop) * the double ovens were excellent but we missed having a microwave for general defrosting and quick reheating * only 4 toilet rolls were provided for 7 of us * we had a few glitches with the central heating going off and it wasn’t straightforward to work it * the views from this beautiful lodge are magnificent and the woodland garden was gorgeous and very well maintained with quick access from the rear to woodland walks into town are further along the island. Many of the original features in the Lodge made it a very special place to stay * the house is very dog friendly and “lived-in” enough for us not to worry about our dog being there * access for a disabled member of our party was good and the downstairs of the house was easy for to negotiate * we would be happy to book this place again and will recommend it to friends- great for a large group of people to get together but also have their own space. Thankyou for a lovely break.

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• Arjen - Verified booking

  We immediately fell in love with the beautiful Victorian house, which was even more beautiful than the photos had showed us.

  It had lots of space was so cozy and comfortable, with lovely sofas in the living room, where we could enjoy the fantastic view over the water and the mountains that disappeared in mystic grey or appeared in beautiful pastel shades depending on the weather. The wonderful beds with crisp bedding, the comfortable down duvets and the generous pile of towels gave us a luxurious hotel feeling. We made extensive use of the very well-equipped kitchen and on rainy days we lit the wood stove there, wood was for sale in the Coop. In the kitchen we were only missing extra dishcloths and tea towels and some matching glasses. The wine glasses did not fit well in the dishwasher, they were better washed by hand, we noticed when one glass came out broken. The garden must be lovely when the weather is nice, and through the gate at the back you walk via a beautiful forest path to the village. The island is so lovely, and there are beautiful walks to take. The house is a 15 minute walk from the ferry and shops in Rothesay. A car is not really necessary. We highly recommend this house for an unforgettable holiday.

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