Dog Friendly Cottages In Stirling

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Jessica - Verified booking

  Balmeanoch is a characterful but, very sadly, dirty cottage.

  Balmeanoch's setting is stunning. There are 360 degree glorious hill views from the windows. The cottage is remote and set on a wood and moorland hill side. It is reached by a long, steep rugged track which for us added to the appeal, but may not be a plus point for all. Shops and fuel are 20 minutes away which made the lack of freezer a disadvantage. The loch is immediately accessible at the bottom of the track, and a 3 mile narrow lane runs along the loch to civilisation. The exterior of the cottage is very pretty and appealing. Balmeanoch is amply supplied with efficient radiators and a limitless supply of logs for the woodburner. It is very warm and cosy. There was plenty of silky soft hot water at all times. 2 of the 3 bedrooms and the bathroom are spacious. The back garden is secure and a good size for a dog, or sitting outside. Welcome gifts of jam and biscuits were left for us. Unfortunately there is a big 'however'. The fact that the cottage interior is very dated and in need of decorating throughout was unimportant to us. In fact it added to the character and quirkiness. But the complete lack of proper cleaning and resultant level of dirt and debris definitely did matter. We hesitated to book Balmeanoch (a year before our dates) because of the consistently poor reviews re cleanliness. But the location was very tempting. I rang Sykes and was reassured it would be monitored and addressed. So we booked. But the negative comments re hygiene continued over the following months. 2 further phone calls to Sykes were not productive. The final call a few weeks before we went was antagonistic and hostile. We arrived at 2.45pm armed with cleaning kit. Sykes info stated access was from 3pm. But as we knew we'd be cleaning and the door was open, we made a start. All of the grime in the cottage has clearly built up layer on layer over years. It is not just 1 or 2 sets of guests worth. The fridge was dirty and needed cleaning before I could put the shopping away. Every surface in the cottage needed wiping before use. Not what you need after a 10 hour journey. At 3.05pm the person we assume was the owner (living very close by) appeared to put fire extinguishers in the house and said we were not allowed in until 4pm. I twice tried to say that Sykes had told us 3pm but this was ignored. Strangely the whites in the bathroom were absolutely clean. But the bathroom itself and all other rooms have a thick margin of general debris and grime around the edges of the carpets and on skirting boards and pipes. We were unable to do anything about this as the hoover only picks up light, loose debris sitting on top of the carpet pile. The carpets downstairs were embedded with dog hair. In the corners of all windows and ceilings were dense, ancient cobwebs containing long dead, desiccated large spiders and flies. We removed these. Kitchen cupboards were dirty inside and out. We cleaned sufficient shelves to store our food. Kitchen equipment is limited and some is not clean. Some crockery is chipped. As there is no dishwasher and items are clearly not checked, guests are at the mercy of previous guests! Eg wine glasses had dehydrated red wine at the bottom. The downstairs double has a poor quality, stained mattress and the wardrobe dimensions make it virtually unusable. However there is a good sized chest of drawers. Upstairs there are no wardrobes and limited drawer space. Difficult in winter when bulky clothes are needed. Upstairs mattresses were clean and more comfortable. Light switches, kitchen cupboard doors and other touch points are grey and greasy. None of this is acceptable at any time, but post covid it becomes a safety issue. The area is utterly fabulous and has so much to offer. Ben Vorlich start point is 10 minutes walk from the cottage. There are any number of beautiful walks of all lengths, and for any level. The Potting Shed is a café bistro in the grounds of The Roman Camp Hotel in Callander. It's an absolutely charming, tiny candlelit bistro serving a high standard of food at fair prices. The hosts at The Courie Inn, Killin are so friendly and helpful. The environment and food are super. There's an excellent outdoor equipment shop in Killin. We drove to Dunblane (40 minutes) and took the excellent train service to Edinburgh for the day. Well worth doing. In a day we managed Arthur's Seat, Dean Village and Camera Obscura (a must). Then back to the beautiful wilderness. It's an absolute shame that the cottage is not properly cleaned as it spoils an otherwise gem of a property. We have used Sykes for previous holidays but will not do so again as this is the 2nd Sykes property we have found where consistent reviews indicating a lack of cleanliness have not been acted on. There was an irony to the email from Sykes at the end of the week requesting we leave the property in a 'safe' state for cleaners, and 'as you found it, in a clean and tidy condition'. It was in neither a clean or safe condition when we found it.

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• Susy - Verified booking

  I don’t usually leave reviews but thought it would be useful this time for the both the owner and future guests as there are a few simple things that could be improved to make this cottage more comfortable and worth the weekly rental cost that we paid.

  The property is truly secluded which was exactly what we had hoped for from our holiday in this beautiful part is Scotland - the cottage did not disappoint on this aspect. It was so peaceful and the views were incredible. Regarding the cottage itself, we generally stay in accommodation that is basic but clean so we are used to having what we need and not much else, which is what we expected from this cottage before we got there. The lounge is lovely with a great log burner- the tv is very small which is fine for us as we don’t watch much but might annoy others who rely on it more. It has a DVD player built in which is useful. The Wi-Fi, as you would expect in a remote area is sporadic but works fine in the lounge. The phone signal is the same but there is a landline for emergencies. The upstairs bedrooms are comfortable enough - the stairs are narrow which may limit access for some guests. The other downstairs rooms though were not up to the standard I would have expected for a property that was nearly £1000 a week in August. Although the toilet and sink were generally clean, the floor tiles felt very grubby ( it’s tough for floor tiles to feel anything but grubby sadly) and the pipes around the sink were covered in a grimy dust. There was mould above the window as you couldn’t open it easily so the room wasn’t too well ventilated although it was a large bathroom. There were lots of little issues with cleanliness throughout - lots of cobwebs and spiders (which didn’t bother us as such but would suggest a good hoover around the walls and corners every now and again would help!). Lots of the furniture was really tired and not always fit for purpose - this doesn’t normally bother us as we have pretty simple needs on holiday. But, things like the bedside drawers being painted shut so you couldn’t open them, windows painted shut so they wouldn’t open, ripped curtains that felt like they had probably been up since 1980… The boiler didn’t work for the first four days and we left it probably too long to call the owner as we though maybe we weren’t using it at the right time for hot water. He did send his son up very quickly and he fiddled about with it to get it working which was great. However, I sense that the cottage needs a new boiler and is on its way out so this might be something that guests need to be aware of. All these elements (amongst many others) made the cottage feel extremely tired and a little grubby which was such a shame, as it is truly an idyllic place to be. I get so cross with people who leave lengthy reviews that seem negative and appear to be overly picky. In this case though, I feel it’s necessary to let people know what to expect from the cottage and for the owner to know that, although we loved the location, it would probably stop us rebooking at that price in the future. We’re very easily pleased on holiday (we camp a lot so are used to the bare necessities!) and that’s why we booked the cottage in the first place as it looked simple and quiet. However, for the price, I think it needs some serious updating.

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• David - Verified booking

  The cottage is nicely situated at the top of the hill and the track was not as bad as I thought it would be.

  The cottage looks nice from the outside with a garden table and chairs on the patio area overlooking the garden. However the inside is AWFUL and in need of a thorough professional clean and refurbishment. We spent nine hours travelling to the cottage and you can imagine our distress to find how unclean it was inside. If we had been nearer to home, we would have turned round and left there and then. We did not raise it with the owner or Sykes at the time as we felt they would not be able to resolve the matter and we did not want to become involved in an argument with them. We spent the first hour cleaning the kitchen floor with neat disinfectant and used a packet of antiseptic wipes to clean the surfaces which were covered in dirt and grime. The microwave was filthy inside and the toaster appeared never to have been cleaned inside or out. The walls were dirty and the pipe work covered in dust. There was mildew at the bottom of the walls and the door looked like it had not been wiped down for years. The cupboard under the sink where what cleaning products were kept was filthy and again had not been cleaned for a while. The sofa's in the lounge were dirty and black in places and smelt. We went to use a throw we found in the lounge only to find it full of holes which appeared to have been caused by rodent infestation. There were no instructions or tools available on how to use the log burner or anything to clean up the ashes when we used it. We had good weather but the TV signal was so poor we could only watch it 30% of the time. I suggest the owner may want to mention the TV signal is poor in their description of the property. The bathroom had a layer of dust and dirt on the pipes and had not been cleaned for a long time. We could not open the bathroom window to allow steam out or fresh air to get in which has resulted in mildew on the walls and ceiling. The light pull cord was black with dirt and who knows what germs. We used the downstairs bedroom and found a layer of dust under the bed.The carbon monoxide device emitted a flashing green light which was very off putting when trying to get to sleep at night. We were horrified with the state of the pillows when we took the slips off at the end of our stay. They were badly stained and I suspect have not been changed in years which I find somewhat perturbing in light of Covid. We have been staying in cottages for the past 30 years and without doubt, this was the poorest we have ever stayed in. If you don't mind roughing it and want 1 star (if that) accommodation then this property will suffice but if you want three star and above, I would suggest you look elsewhere.

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• Kate - Verified booking

  Very disappointed with the cottage, sharing our stay with the mouse infestation ruined our holiday!

  !! On the first night they ate through our food, we trapped 9 during our stay, and there was still more in the property when we left, they live in the kitchen, they are a health hazard!!! The mice leave dropping over all work surfaces in the kitchen, live under microwave and kitchen cupboards. This property needs a tiny up and clean, there is far to much clutter within the property which does not need to be in a holiday cottage, and the cleaning needs working on, dust should not be present on bookcases, bed heads etc The windows need sorting, they should be able to be opened, having only 3 windows on the ground floor which can be opened is appalling. Ventilation is very poor, with the windows not opening, the property needs to have extractor fans in toilet & bathroom, and really could do with a cooker hood. With the location of the property from local amenities, this property would really benefit from having a full size freezer to help with food storage and lasting during your stay, there is space in the property for one. When discussion our issues with Sykes themselves, the feedback we received later follow discussion between themselves & the property owner, implied that as we had said we were bring a pet, (which sadly could join us in the end) the use of poison to treat the infestation could not be used, feeling like we were been blamed for the lack of rodent control, but also them admitting that they knew there was an issue but were doing nothing about it!!! Following this feedback we still have no confidence in Sykes and the property owners in addressing the issue and resolving it for future guests. If your looking for a peaceful, rural location this property is just that, on its own, only house on track which is a decent distance from the main road, so no road noise either. Only traffic was the local farmer checking on his land & livestock.

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• Adam - Verified booking

  We had a really lovely stay at Fois House, which is actually quite a bit bigger than some of the images suggest.

  The property was very well equipped and perfectly clean. The location was beautiful, with plenty of walks around and a pub just down the road (although it was mostly closed while we were there). Lots of bird life (owners had filled the feeders) and the garden was secure enough to let dogs out without worry. Downstairs shower room really handy, especially if you have dogs. Showers were also very powerful. Beds very comfy. Overall I would definitely recommend Fois house to anyone and would like to stay again. Only a couple of small downsides. First was the lack of WiFi or cell reception (our fault, the owner does notify of this on the listing). We're all for disconnecting but it's actually quite hard to plan walks, days out etc without using the internet (I use OS MAPS app, for example). Also, on rainy days, of which there are a lot in Scotland, it's helpful to have internet for entertainment purposes (Netflix et al) – and the property didn't have a huge selection of books or DVDs (we actually bought some from a charity shop in Callander to add to their stocks!). They did have some good board games though. I believe owners are working to rectify WiFi issue. Generally we found there was not enough hot water in the tank for four adults to have showers consecutively, so two of us usually had showers in the evenings, which is fine. Finally, when we arrived the house was extremely cold, but once we had the fire going and heating up it was ok. Can't fault their eco credentials on these last two points though, and owners used eco-friendly cleaning materials which was great.

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