Christmas Cottages in Scotland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  We enjoyed our week in Barscobe House. It has a lovely prospect looking over the countryside, set in a well kept estate, and a large secluded garden with a mowed lawn. There are walks starting from the house e.g. the Holy Linn waterfall, and up into the hills. It was reunion for three generations of a family, coming together from Edinburgh, Yorkshire, London and Maine USA. It was helpful having the caretaker and housekeeper staying on the estate to help with queries. We also used a local agent, who had good local knowledge. The kitchen is very well equipped: it is difficult to know what one is going to find in a holiday let, but this property has the sense of a much loved family house, well designed for catering. There were many baking trays, cake, bun and loaf tins, a blender, food processor, hand mixer, ice maker… A real old fashioned larder, 2 fridges (one with a freezer section) and a chest freezer. Ample cutlery and crockery etc. Good recycling arrangements (glass to the nearby village, or local supermarkets). Two washing machines, a tumble dryer, an old style wooden ceiling pulley for clothes (in a separate scullery). Two dishwashers. Some of the chairs and furnishing are wabi-sabi, but we found this made it comfy, and matches the house. Beds comfortable, nice cotton bedding, plumbing good, very toasty hot press to dry/air clothes. We already knew that Castle Douglas is a foodie town, and it didn’t disappoint: three butchers (we used Grierson’s, excellent), bakers, a greengrocer, and we ended the week ordering a very good fish supper from Moore’s (with a rigid insulated box and a foil-lined bag, they stayed hot enough on the 25 minute drive). The nearby village of Balmaclellan has a friendly community shop for messages like fresh milk. There are mobile fish van shops in the region too. We were lucky with the weather, but the house has a snooker table (pool too? Not my strong suit!) and lots of indoor space should the weather break - we did consider playing “Sardines”, but actually spent a lot of time exploring local attractions for outdoorsy types (some of my family has an affinity for cold water, and swam enthusiastically in Loch Ken), with the coast not too far away. We were sad (in a way) not to need the fires, that’d be cosy indeed. The “dark sky” area meant that on clear nights we could see the Perseid “falling stars”. The wifi dropped out occasionally but this wasn’t a problem for us. The caretaker was on hand on the one occasion the router needed rebooting. We understand that infrastructure improvements are coming soon. It is an interesting old building (early 20th century) that must be challenging to keep from disrepair. The windows alone are a daunting task. The hefty security deposit is unusual in these days, but I see why it is imposed, and it was repaid within the week. The entry time of 5 pm is the latest we’ve ever been offered (due to cleaning schedule, I think), but we built that into our arrival time. We had one electric car in our party: the provision at the house is currently via a standard indoor socket using one’s own trickle feed cable: rather slow, and the surcharge seemed arbitrary (not metered, rather high) - but we did opt to use it as the fast chargers in Castle Douglas were in use/out of order: the infrastructure will presumably eventually catch up (and I don’t just mean at this property). Highly recommended.

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• David - Verified booking

  The property is clean and comfortable with most stunning views.

  A great find and we all had a lovely time there despite the weather! (This can be published against the property) This following info is for the owner ….. We were three couples who all loved the house and thought it was comfortable and new with good accessories and equipment. Stunning views The outside needs to be slightly more finished around the house but all in all fabulous. Couple of things to point out if you want feedback. The towel rail in the bedroom at the back does not work The gutters are overflowing so they need attention before they damage the property. We had so much rain that we watched this a lot! Would be nice if there were mirrors in the two single bedded rooms If there had been eight of us the seating in the lounge is a little tight but luckily we were only six! I know there are two other chairs in the kitchen but they aren’t that comfy. We would have enjoyed the hot tub more despite the weather had it been a few degrees hotter but lovely surprise to have it there. Not sure it was mentioned in the details. Please don’t take this as criticism as we were more than happy and satisfied but just thought these few things would be a nice addition. Scotland is amazing and we had a great time. Thank you

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• Glyn - Verified booking

  The description of the property on the website is accurate so we got what we hoped for.

  The cottage is spacious, really well equipped with good quality fixtures and fittings. The views from the sun room and the garden area over the road are spectacular whatever the weather. The review asks for our Sykes experience but that's not the same thing as our experience of the cottage. The latter was all positive and we appreciated the efforts of the owners to provide us with a great holiday base. There doesn't seem to be anywhere else to record that Sykes sends too many emails - too many requests for reviews of a holiday yet to be taken, too many suggestions for new bookings when the current one hadn't happened. I asked for one piece of assistance before the holiday and got what I needed because the query was referred to the owners. Sykes were fine and if you have a property that suits me I might use you again but I will be blocking your too frequent emails. I don't have a problem with my comments being published but I do not want anything I have said to appear to be detrimental to the cottage owners - they did everything required to meet our expectations.

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  Shinnel House is een prachtige locatie. Middenin de natuur, en omringd met een enorme tuin waar je heerlijk in kan wandelen en spelen (de kinderen genoten ervan om steentjes in de rivier te gooien of dammen te bouwen in het beekje dat midden door de tuin stroomt). Er zijn altijd een boel vogels te zien vanuit de keuken en er is een prachtige kamer met een groot raam vanwaar je heerlijk op een regenachtige dag kan lezen en naar buiten kijken, of je ochtendyoga kan doen alsof je middenin de natuur bent. Wij hebben erg genoten in ieder geval. Het huis is van binnen ook heerlijk ruim en gezellig ingericht. Er zijn ook genoeg boeken aanwezig om je niet te hoeven vervelen. Wij raden Shinnel House van harte aan als plek om Schotland te ontdekken en op de dagen dat je niet op stap bent heerlijk van het huisje en haar omgeving te genieten.

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• Jeff - Verified booking

  One of my party has mobility issues so we immediately became aware of the rugs in the sitting room on the (badly) painted floor which was very slippy.

  Similarly in the bathrooms, the rugs on laminate flooring are hazardous. The patio and decking areas have been neglected and are mossy and slippy. The seating in the sitting room was uncomfortable and badly laid out. The kettle had limescale and was really heavy. Some complained that the beds were uncomfortable, the toilet paper provided was extremely thin and cheap, the dishbrush needs renewed and a pedal operated bin would be a great improvement in the kitchen. There are several O.S. maps provided, but the local Glencoe on is missing. The sign outside the property had fallen off, I tried to repair it but it fell off again. Overall, the property is clean and tidy, it's in a fantastic location and we had an amazing time, but hopefully these issues can be easily addressed for future occupants

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