Dumfries and Galloway Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  Penninghamme is a lovely place and Gardeners Cottage is lovely, but a few things made me unhappy. The Welcome Pack, a short dated pint of milk and a packet of short cake custard creams with a greasy mark on underside. There was tea and coffee, but this looked old. In the kitchen, a tray with foil, peeled the foil off to see it was poorly cleaned. A mug had a dirty mark on the inside. The back door was still in a coat primer on the outside. A bulb was failing in the extractor. The bread knife was missing. In the lounge, the dining chairs were uncomfortable and were more suitable in a Conservatory - this is a matter of taste I know. Both recliners had minor issues, one wobbled - looks like a leg was facing the wrong way and the other lent slightly to the right. In the bathroom we loved the mirror with its light and touch screen demisting. The toilet seat did not fit properly and was at a slight angle - it doesn't really match the suite. Anoying issue with the shower, that it would cut out for no reason, forncing the user to turn the water up. Pressure was great, even if the water went everywhere. The beds were soft and comfortable. All the windows bar one were painted over, meaning only one opened. Information for guests was basic, some of the Discover Scotland info was not for SW Scotland. We left our pre printed walks information for future guests. In the grounds there is a sign close to the Gardeners Cottage, that said private, with another mentioning about the ducks. Is it private to guests or not? as the path seems to run up the side of the forest in front of the cottage, somewhere I could have found Red Squirrel or Deer etc.? The speedbumps could have done with some better indication, maybe painted like public speedbumps are. There is the estate office on site, however we did not use this feature as we were out everyday exploring the history of the area. Even with a long list of "issues", I will return as I have plenty more to explore or maybe try to walk the Merrick when the footpath isn't a stream!

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• G Williamson - Verified booking

  Really loved our stay in Gardeners Cottage on the Penninghame Estate and would definitely recommended this place for a lovely chill out holiday. The estate is just off a road next to the River Cree. Lovely and quiet this cottage has a lovely homely feel and is tucked away at one end of the estate so nobody drives past your cottage to get to other parts of the estate. The whole place was lovely and clean and decor and furnishings were to a good standard, the kitchen was also very well appointed with many items seeming to be pretty new. The place was lovely and warm and welcoming on arrival with the heating on at a background level and there was always lashings of very hot water for baths showers etc with all utilities included in the price. There are 2 single bed rooms and a double bed room and while we only slept in the double bed this was lovely and comfortable and was a good length for anyone over 6 foot tall ! 2 pillows per person were provided, one a bit firmer than the other so you had a choice to suit you if you are fussy on your pillows ! There is an office on site if you have any problems and very friendly, helpful staff to sort stuff straight away. Negatives from the stay,well, dont expect fine dining in the local area for your evening meal if you don’t intend cooking, the nearest town, Newton Stewart manages a few pubs that serve very basic food, cheap prices but basic fare, but together with a couple of takeaways thats it for food. The security on the cottage was really my only concern from our stay with the locks on the doors and window being very minimal and basic and when we arrived 2 of the downstairs windows could be opened from the outside with no way of locking them on the inside ! When I reported this to the office the following day basic locks were fitted to these windows within a couple of hours.

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• Paul Walker - Verified booking

  Cottage was well equipped and appeared to have been recently upgraded. Bed was good quality and really comfortable. On arrival, it was a little bit chilly, but I expect given the time of year that there may not have been other guests in the cottage for a few days, so perhaps it was only being heated for our arrival. Cottage is perfectly located for the Galloway Forest Park and is situated in the Penninghame Estate that has some extensive grounds. Both the park and estate were perfect for us and our dog to have a safe and enjoyable stay. Only real grip would be the lack of outside light near the steps down to the car parking area. For safety reasons this needs to be addressed. Fortunately we always pack head torches for our walks. Overall, a great little cottage, with quality fixtures and finish. We would definitely consider this location for future visits to this area.

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• Rachel - Verified booking

  Wonderfully comfortable cottage in a beautiful setting.

  So much had been thought about to enhance our stay and make it feel special. Cake on arrival with tea, coffee, milk and eggs along with lovely thoughtful toiletries. Treats for the dogs along with a special area for them to toilet and play just beside the back door. So many places to walk to enjoy the beautiful area of Canonbie and Langholm (a few minutes drive away). The Cross Keys pub a 1k walk from the front door provided a warm welcome for us and our dogs along with good pub grub - really friendly staff and locals. First Bite cafe in Langholm provided the most wonderful breakfast and cakes and well worth a visit. Host was friendly and informative and even though they live in the adjoining house we barely knew they were there. Thank you for our stay we would certainly love to stay again in the future. Thank you Rachel, Laurie, Roxy and Betty

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• Martin - Verified booking

  The cottage was fine.

  A good location for accessing the town and its facilities on foot. It was reasonably clean throughout, though we did have to wash some of the cutlery and pans before using. There was no QR code or means to notify owner of arrival as suggested via email that there would be due to the current Covid situation. We found the bed reasonably comfortable and the TV in the bedroom came in useful when the main TV lost it's picture. We tried unsuccessfully several times to contact Sykes by phone to report the problem with the TV as we could not find owners details until 2 days later rifling through post and papers in a cupboard. When we did finally find the owners phone number he was very apologetic as the TV was new, and appreciative of being informed of the issue.

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