Dog Friendly Cottages Yorkshire

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Kathleen - Verified booking

  On arrival, cottage found to be neglected.

  Crockery, cutlery, glasses all dirty and smell of bad drains in kitchen. Fridge door shelf broken, no veg. basket or shelf. Freezer inaccessible due to cleaning tools being piled against it. Also, remains of a plastic bag which had/did contain something, frozen into bottom of freezer. Ice cube trays filthy. Insufficient cooking utensils - no small pans!! Broken toilet seat in downstairs loo - unsafe! Toilet brush upstairs broken AND DIRTY! Rug in twin bedroom had to be lifted - trip hazard - and then discovered it was dirty, not having been vacuumed for ages. Blind fixings falling out of the wall. Extractor in bathroom, although switched on, not working. Also, drawer units in bathroom had to be cleaned. Not only did we have to deal with these shortcomings in the cottage itself, but we then had to experience outrageous invasions of our privacy. The first issue was to contend with men hanging around at the door to our cottage (in Gun Gutter alley), vaping! This happened on 2 separate occasions. My daughter had been startled one night, when she went out to put rubbish in the bins. She found 2 boys lurking in the darkness, vaping! She challenged the boys, and was met with aggressive responses, and one of them ran away after she caught him peeping into our kitchen window where I was working. We immediately reported this to the local pub, and it seems that someone there had directed their staff to use our sheltered area for vaping/smoking. We still had a second incident, when on another evening, another man was found there and when challenged he agreed that this shouldn't be happening and said he'd speak with the landlord. We had no further problem but not a nice feeling for 2 ladies on their own! The FINAL unacceptable happening and the most shocking I feel - on Friday 15th, on returning from our morning walk, ready to get on with breakfast, we found an ESTATE AGENT waiting at our door. She was waiting for VIEWERS TO ARRIVE, to view the property which we later discovered had been on the market for sale since June this year!!! We had to vacate the cottage whilst 3 people were shown round. A TOTAL INVASION OF OUR PRIVACY. Our personal belongings were on display, and we felt quite violated! We were told the viewers had come a long way, were expected almost immediately, so we had no option other than to go out and find somewhere for coffee. It was too late to cancel the viewing. We were sitting outside at a local eatery for almost an hour. On returning to the cottage, people were still milling around and did eventually leave us to get on with our breakfast, albeit rather shocked by what had happened. Things got better, more shocking!!!!! Later in the day, just after lunchtime, there came a knock at the door. My daughter answered and a woman marched in, saying that she had bought the house that morning, she'd had her offer accepted and she wanted to show her friend around! As she chatted to my daughter, her friend started opening doors and looking into the other rooms, and then she said she was 'just going upstairs, for a nosey'!!!! Yet another violation,. another complete invasion of our privacy - we felt so unable to control or question the situation. We did feel the new 'owner' and her 'friend' were possibly a little inebriate, maybe celebrating the new purchase. BUT, how were we allowed to book cottage in July when it had already gone on the market for sale, and why were we subjected to these invasions of privacy by estate agents, viewers, and then the new owner???? According to the estate agent,the owner had already told Sykes to make no more bookings when the property first went on the market back in June, which might explain just why the place seemed so 'run-down'? Who knows. Overall - Far from the relaxing. peaceful break we had planned.

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• Philip - Verified booking

  The oven was filthy.

  The property was not clean. The hoover was useless. The property was not watertight. Rain water dripped through a light fitting. No one answered or replied when we rang the Sykes' out of hours emergency number. The storm guard on the front door was too tight and impossible to lift. This created both an obstacle and a safety hazard. We cut short our holiday as a result. When we did speak to Sykes' customer care on Friday the person could not see the messages we had left on our account and photos. The Sykes' customer care person promised a response regarding our money back. No response. Sykes take the money but let out unsafe properties. Sykes take the money but have no one available to speak to out of hours. Very poor service. I have been a loyal customer of Sykes. I won't use them again as when things go wrong they don't want to know. The property was not clean. The hoover was useless. The property was not watertight. Rain water dripped through a light fitting. No one answered or replied when we rang the Sykes' out of hours emergency number. The storm guard on the front door was too tight and impossible to lift. This created both an obstacle and a safety hazard. We cut short our holiday as a result. When we did speak to Sykes' customer care on Friday the person could not see the messages we had left on our account and photos. The Sykes' customer care person promised a response regarding our money back. No response. Sykes take the money but let out unsafe properties. Sykes take the money but have no one available to speak to out of hours. Very poor service. I have been a loyal customer of Sykes. I won't use them again as when things go wrong they don't want to know. The property was not clean. The hoover was useless. The property was not watertight. Rain water dripped through a light fitting. No one answered or replied when we rang the Sykes' out of hours emergency number. The storm guard on the front door was too tight and impossible to lift. This created both an obstacle and a safety hazard. We cut short our holiday as a result. When we did speak to Sykes' customer care on Friday the person could not see the messages we had left on our account and photos. The Sykes' customer care person promised a response regarding our money back. No response. Sykes take the money but let out unsafe properties. Sykes take the money but have no one available to speak to out of hours. Very poor service. I have been a loyal customer of Sykes. I won't use them again as when things go wrong they don't want to know.

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• Sandra - Verified booking

  Easiest way to provide feedback is to ask yourself the question "would I return to this property?

  " I have no hesitation in replying "yes!" I visited this property in January for the sole purpose of locking myself away to study. So I will stay in 'academic mode'. POSITIVES: the owner was very easily accessible and very helpful, eg. the back door could not be opened on arrival. By the Monday someone arrived to fix the problem. The property was clean and tidy throughout, homely with all necessary facilities provided*. Before booking I had specifically asked if a reliable wifi connection was available for my studies. This was most certainly the case (other properties have previously given pre-booking assurances which on arrival have failed to meet the promises given), so I would add that the owner is not only friendly but honest and very reliable. The location was perfect for a feeling of isolation whilst also being very close to excellent walks and nearby facilities (Barnard Castle, Reeth, Wensleydale for the yearly pilgrimage to the Cheese Factory!). The views from the cottage were stunning. CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK: *I don't feel the following is the fault of the owner but perhaps lies with whoever carries out the housekeeping; there was only 1 bin bag provided for the kitchen bin to last an entire week (I had to steal a small one from the bathroom bin); the starter pack for the fire was inadequate - no initial logs provided, only enough kindling for 2 fires - this wasn't a problem for me as I took my own logs and kindling. (A note for anyone staying in/near Reeth - good sized/reasonably priced bags of logs or kindling used to be available at the garage in Reeth. This garage has now closed and the nearest other supply is Reeth Post Office which is more expensive and smaller bags). The back door wasn't broken - the housekeeper had left the wrong key in the door! The bedroom window was broken and could not be opened (I believe someone else has stated this) - perhaps not an issue in winter but it did mean I couldn't air the room. All of this is just nit-picking with the exception of the dog poo on the back lawn. I will definately be making a return visit in the future. I have been visiting Swaledale since 2007 and stayed in several cottages in the area. I certainly have no hesitations in recommending this property. It's a real gem.

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• J F - Verified booking

  Very convenient spot for a holiday on the edge of Egton village (home to two lovely pubs and a train station) - good walks from house to nearby villages such as Grosmont (steam train, village shop, cafes, gallery).

  The cottage itself is very spacious and comfortable - made even more cosy by an easy to use log burning stove in the sitting room and an ample supply of seasoned logs. Charming and helpful hosts live in the adjacent manor house and supplied us with some great DVDs. It was really peaceful - no road noise which is very important for me and you could hear owls calling in the morning. Also beautiful starry skies as there's no light pollution there. Couple of downsides - no washing machine (unless we just couldn't find it) and it was a VERY muddy week with a lot of rain. The kitchen is large but could have been better equipped it was adequate but if you are going to be cooking up a storm every night (that was not us) then you might want to check what's available at the house in case you need to bring anything to supplement what's provided. Having said that the kitchen actually had sharp knives which is very welcome in a holiday let. If you are someone who likes a very well lit place the cottage looks out on the back to woodland so its dappled light and at the front is in a courtyard with a building in front so its not as well lit as some places I've stayed in - this being more noticeable of course in autumn/winter. There is an area at the front with a table, chairs and BBQ which will be lovely in spring/summer and early autumn but there isn't a garden sort of area you can sit in. Having said all this the pluses definitely outweigh the negatives in particular being able to walk out of the front door straight onto footpaths was just perfect and having excellent heating/ endless hot water, a really comfortable sitting room and lovely large bathroom. The local pubs are very good and its a short drive to Whitby (loved the abbey), Robin Hoods Bay (fabulous beach). We also went to Staithes, Richmond and Saltburn (good farmers market and beautiful beach).

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• Neill & Sandy Potts (December 2016) - Verified booking

  We wanted a quiet, cosy and charming place for Christmas and we weren't disappointed.

  We were made very welcome and the cottage easily accommodated our three families in comfort. There's a beautiful log burner in the main living room but to be honest you could just live with the central heating which was more than adequate for the Cottage. Beds were comfortable and the bathroom had amble hot water for much needed showers after a brisk walk in the country. Egton village is well served by both the National Railways and also the North Yorkshire moors railway. If you fancy a walking holiday just hop on a train then hop off at the next stop and walk back ... perfect. Whitby, Pickering and of course Gothland are within easy reach by car or by train. Egton also has a good choice of village pubs (turn right at the top of the cottage and one pub is 50 meters up the road ... what more can you ask for?). The other pubs, further up the hill and in the village, offer a handsome choice of pub meals to a high standard as well as a good selection of local beers !! Watch out for the owners dog ... once you start making a fuss and start stroking it ... it'll sit there for hours lapping up every bit of affection you can give it. The perfect addition to a country house. The Cottage is well situated geographically and offers an uncluttered escape to country with warmth and comfort. Book soon ... we're planning our next visit already. We couldn't fault it. Enjoy.

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