Dog Friendly Stanhope Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Deborah - Verified booking

  I wrote to Sykes Cottages and the property owner reporting the concerns I had about the property regarding the level of dampness in the cave area.

  My complaint to Sykes is below, which was also copied direct to the owner. "Whilst we understand the cottage is part of the castle, the tunnel area is very damp and smells mouldy. There are three air fresheners in place in the tunnel to try to hide the bad smell which is overwhelming. There is a dehumidifier in what should have been the wardrobe space and the whole cupboard smelled mouldy. Therefore you had nowhere to put your clothes. I have respiratory problems having had pneumonia in the past. The dampness would be leading to spores in the air affecting my health. Each day I had to empty the dehumidifier which was full demonstrating how damp the place is. We did speak to the owner and he admitted there was no airflow in the tunnel area. He said he had tried to drill this previously but failed to get all of the way through. This needs to be fixed or people to be warned. The lack of airflow has exacerbated the issue. People should be pre warned that the place is damp. This should be in the property description. This is a health hazard. Particularly if you have any respiratory problems. We ultimately decided to leave after only 3 nights as I could not put my health at more risk. The place needs air flow to make this safe. This trip was for our honeymoon. If the advert had stated that there was a problem with air flow and damp in the old part of the cottage then we would have gone elsewhere". As noted above I would not have booked the cottage had I been aware of the dampness issues as I was hospitalised when I previously had pneumonia. This break was for our honeymoon. So even more disappointing. I have been in discussion with the property owner about reimbursement as we left the property early. He had agreed to make a refund on 11 September and despite having chased this up no refund has been made. I think it is important that other potential guests are aware of the issue up front and in the listing it needs to say that the cave area is damp. Having looked on line to see if anyone else reported any issues I have now found two similar complaints on Trip Advisor made in March 2024 and August 2024 about the level of dampness in the property. This is a health issue and Sykes Cottages have never responded to the complaint I made either, which I also feel is inadequate. I will be chasing the owner for a full refund, but felt that sufficient time has passed that it was important for me to put the review on line. I will also be putting the same review on Trip Advisor so others are alerted to the issue.

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• Judith - Verified booking

  Firstly the good points.

  The accommodation is well positioned within the town with everything on the doorstep. It was generally clean and tidy when we arrived (but see below). The large garden was great for our grandchildren who joined us during our stay. The bad points: outside – steep steps down to the house would benefit from some proper lighting. The barbecue was rusty and not very clean, we didn’t feel inclined to use it. The log burner was rusty, full of ashes and burned through at the base – again it wasn’t really usable. We tried for several days to get the hot tub to heat up (instructions in the house were basically a brochure for a range of different tubs so not specific to the one installed at Knights Corner and not very clear). Finally contacted the owner who replied to say “press the heat button”. We’d already done this without success (it’s actually labelled “warm”). Two very helpful maintenance guys from the castle turned up the following day and tried several times to get it to work They came back three times during the day and said they thought there was a problem with it before it finally started to heat up and tried twice to contact the owner without success. We were finally able to use it once the evening before we left. Inside – house and wardrobes smelt musty when we arrived; we had to buy a plug in air freshener. TV remotes needed cleaning; the oven wasn’t cleaned properly and there was a burnt fat smell when we first turned it on. The extractor hood for the cooker wasn’t working – in an open plan property this is a must – and from other reviews we’ve seen this has been a problem since last year. Only half of the toaster worked and the kitchen itself wasn’t particularly well equipped (for example, there was one shallow serving dish for a property accommodating six people). The bathroom toilet leaked and the plug in the bathroom sink didn’t work. Five days after we returned home, having heard nothing regarding return of our damage deposit, I contacted the owner who immediately sent back photos of damage we had allegedly caused. I wasn’t aware of any damage and would have expected to be contacted much sooner if there was any issue, not much later in response to my request for the deposit to be returned. In short, for a property costing as much as this one to rent, there are too many negatives and I would not recommend it. For anyone considering a Stanhope Castle breaks please look at the more recent reviews which are available on many different websites.

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• Aman - Verified booking

  When we got to Cosy Cave, the first thing that we noticed was that the garden is not enclosed, what looked like a fence dividing the 3rd property in the photos of Cosy Cave were now a set of planters.

  The grass area is not really accessible as there are no stairs or ramp to get to it. But thankfully as the property sharing the courtyard/garden (of which we were unaware of before booking) was vacant for our stay we were able to make some use of the courtyard. When entering Cosy Cave it presented well, was clean overall but there were a few things that could do with a clean (kettle was extremely limescaled and bed sheets had a couple of small patches of dried blood on them). Getting into the evening, it was getting rather cold so I searched for a heating controller but could not find anything, I changed the heaters from 0s to 5s but no luck in warming the property up. I emailed stanhope castle and they sent someone round really quickly to give us the heating controller. The issue with the controller was that in Cosy Cave it is very hard for it to get a signal to actually turn the heat on or up. We tried searching online and found that someone else also had heating issues here as the heating controller is kept in the property above Cosy Cave. Again we were lucky no one was booked in upstairs! There is a dehumidifier in Cosy Cave that is next to the TV room. After 1 night this gets full and needs emptying other wise will not be running. Whilst it is off you can really feel a difference in your chest when sitting in the TV room. The damp/moisture is a real problem in that room. We also found that our clothes from our suitcase felt damp as we kept our suitcase in the walk through section to the tv room. What also doesn't help is that the heater in that room does not warm up much at all (even when on 5). If those 2 issues were fixed it would make that room so much more enjoyable because the TV is great and the surround sound was amazing. The bathroom was really nice and clean. The pressure in the shower was great! The hot tub was really nice! We did notice however there were some bits at the bottom of the hot tub, not sure if these fell in from the cover or if it wasnt thoroughly cleaned. The cover is a bit worse for wear but with use that happens. We did clean the cover and the gazeebo as it was covered in spider webs etc. If we had known that the courtyard/garden is shared, not really enclosed and that the grass area is not really accessible then we would not have booked Cosy Cave. With the moisture issue in the TV room it feels unsafe for us to stay the full length of our stay so will be leaving on Thursday.

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• Ian - Verified booking

  This is a lovely modern apartment and the six of us had a wonderful week here.

  It was comfy, clean and in a great location, plus the huge garden and hot tub were used every evening. We certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend this apartment to anyone looking for a base in this area of the country. The kitchen is well equipped and the additional extras such as satellite TV, Bluetooth speakers, and a chimnea all helped make it a memorable stay. There are a couple of minor improvements which would have made us appreciate the stay even more. Whilst there was a lovely welcome pack provided with a bottle of fizz (thank you!), we ran out of washing-up liquid/loo roll/ washing powder/kitchen roll within a few days. It would have been nice if the owners could have ensured there was enough of all of these items to last a week and save us the expense of replacing them all. Also some instructions on how to work the hot tub would have been welcome too. We managed to sort an issue with the filter program not running by finding tutorial videos on YouTube, but it would have been nice if full user instructions had been provided. Finally, it's now 2 weeks since we left and we've yet to have the housekeeping bond returned to us which is a bit disappointing. Overall though these are just minor issues and didn't distract from a great holiday in a great place. We wouldn't hesitate recommending this place to anyone looking for a chilling break

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• Neil - Verified booking

  We’ve had a relaxing week.

  The kitchen was well-stocked with cutlery, utensils and the essentials. Furnishings and bathroom are lovely- certainly quirky. Outdoor area was nice and we enjoyed breakfast and long days outside in the sun. Saying you had a lawn was a bit of a stretch. A ‘welcome’ basket would have been nice. Other Sykes cottages have left us dog treats, home-baked cakes, butter, biscuits etc. That was missing here. We’d have liked the hot tub a couple of degrees warmer. The bed could be bigger. Wo-if was unreliable. Tab needs more stable connection to channels. We stayed in probably the most expensive week of the year and it cost £931. Although we had a nice time, the accommodation needs some TLC and attention to be worth this much. Around the £700 mark would be a fairer price. Also lacking was a better thought out indoor eating area. The place where we hung our clothes was covered in spiders’ webs and spiders. Yes it’s a property from the 13th century but a bit of TLC is needed. The two arm chairs could be replace with a lovely comfy two-seater. These were not as comfortable as they looked and actually the premise of a cinema room was stretching it a bit far! In essence- a quirky property. Not 5* and excellent - more 4* and good with improvements needed.

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