Ayrshire Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Andrew - Verified booking

  There is no disputing that this is a unique cottage in a great location and it was a joy to stay.

  We had a fantastic week exploring the Ayrshire coastal path, traffic free cycle ways and Arran. However, there were some fundamentals which could be improved. The heating was barely adequate. Any warmth provided from the under floor heating was cancelled out by the draughts through the single glazed west facing windows and the gap under the kitchen door. A draught excluder against the door and secondary double glazing would help retain the heat. The gas fire in the lounge did generate some warmth but this did not extend to the bedrooms. The extra blankets provided proved to be essential. We generally consider ourselves to be fairly hardy, dressing appropriately in cooler weather and keeping our heating low at home, but the cottage was definitely chilly. Parking – we followed the instructions to park across the yard, so it was rather frustrating to find other vehicles parked outside the property with full views into our lounge and ground floor bedroom. It would have been preferable to have our car parked there so strangers could park further away. No visitor information was provided or a guest book from which we could glean any helpful advice. The internet was weak so it was difficult to access information. There weren’t any reference books etc. which may have been helpful. The shower drain needed unblocking. The water spread over the floor and the squeegee brush provided was fairly ineffective. This is probably a maintenance issue. The cutlery and crockery were in some instances in short supply. The cottage sleeps 4 yet only 2 desert spoons were provided. Larger cereal bowls and more mugs/beakers would be useful, along with some microwave dishes with lids. The instructions in the cottage requested that the dishwasher should only be used when full, but there wasn’t enough basic equipment supplied in order to do this, and we ran out of mugs etc. before it was full, so we mainly washed by hand. The ceiling drying rack was useful and clothes washed in the daytime, dried overnight.

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• Evelyn - Verified booking

  Very well appointed and clean kitchen.

  ....Living and dining area 1 dining room chair requires fixing..very shaky. Overhead light very poor. Standard Lamp 1 bulb missing..no replacement left....Torches not working ..no rechargeable batteries as advertised.....Seating too low for disabled person ..a raiser could be fitted at very low cost...Sliding door between Dining and hall requires attention. Had to replace overhead light in hall bulb left...Bathroom Perfect. Bedroom 1 clean and tidy..bedroom 2 large and easy for wheelchair...however all mattresses require replacing as all were sagging in the centre so not a lot of sleep. Found myself sitting on the base and almost fell on the floor making this dangerous. The linen on all beds were Pristine this was great. I had asked for the double bed to have made into two singles this was not done. No linen left that we could do this ourselves. If all the little tweeks were done I would have no hesitation on recommending this cottage to anybody. It seems a great pity that the complaints let this cottage in such lovely surroundings down. And at the price I would have expected better and also being a member of the trust I felt very let down. Remember it is being advertised as a disabled cottage and this is from a disabled point of view. Evelyn Conn.

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• Allan - Verified booking

  The cottage is superb, the grounds are stunning but can someone please sort out the underfloor heating.

  Initially it wasn’t working so no hot water or heating but NTS staff reacted exceptionally well and had plumber in within a couple of hours, well done. Once fixed, the heating just kept heating and as I looked at thermostats they were all set to 25 or 26 degrees, our dogs thought they were on a hot plate. I reduced all to much lower temperature but after a while they all reset back to the higher temperature. Perhaps the thermostats could be made so that in order to alter temperature the NTS staff are required, I realise that is extreme but very evident that someone has been randomly attempting to adjust the temperatures and messing up the controls. Aside from that a great visit as always and really it isn’t the problems that cause issues, they only become an issue if they cannot be addressed and I have to commend the staff with how they dealt with us, even providing mobile electric radiators to warm the cottage until the heating could take over. Also a tv in the bedroom would be fantastic as being wheelchair bound I sometimes like to stretch out on top of the bed to ease pain and a tv would help pass the time more easily as I do this. Will definitely be back.

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• Helen - Verified booking

  We had a really great week in the cottage, location was fabulous.

  Cottage itself was clean,warm and nicely furnished, the kitchen was well.equipped and had everything we needed. The bathroom was a little clinical and could have done with a little decorative touch to make it a bit less hospital bathroom and more comfy cottage but that's minor really. Beds were soft but comfy A mat by front door would be good too . I really liked that the property was carpeted and not hard floors in the living area and hall so I hope you don't change that . Some sort of draught excluder on the outside door from the kitchen could be provided as in the stormy weather it was blowing a hoolie under the door and also rain coming in under the door to form quite a puddle on the kitchen floor We enjoyed the tea room and the walks on the estate , all in all a very special place and we will definitely be booking again. One touch I did really miss having stayed in many holiday cottages is there was no visitors book,they are really good to read previous visitors experiences and recommendations of places to visit ,shop and eat and also any quirks of the property that other visitors would find useful.

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• Keith - Verified booking

  For the most part the cottage was very clean with some noticeable exceptions.

  We have enjoyed several NT properties in England, they have all been warm welcoming and full of character. This cottage offered none of these. The biggest problem is the underfloor heating does not warm the cottage sufficiently, the bathroom radiator made it the only really warm room. A dull week in July still needed to use the electric fire. The kitchen felt like a cold dark cave as what sunshine we had could not penetrate through the ivy growing on the window, in fact most of the views of the sea was obscured by ivy & trees. The cottage was every shade of grey & beige with nothing like pictures or ornaments to give local character. The state of the art coffee maker, but no washing up gloves kitchen rolls anti bac or dish cloths. Instruction manuals but no guest book or information on the area (I left some brochures for the next guests), which were given to me at the Burns museum by their very helpful staff. This cottage is in a wonderful location, and with some small changes could be a much better experience.

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