Big House Wedding Venues

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Elizabeth - Verified booking

  A great spot for exploring the surrounding area with easy access to A69 for visits to Carlisle , Newcastle and everything in between.

  We visited Housesteads fort , The Sill, Twice Brewed pub and brewery, Lambley Viaduct and just pottered around the area whilst visiting family in the area. Be aware that most of the Hadrians Wall site car parks operate ANPR cameras and you pay when you leave . This wasn't always obvious especially at some of the smaller places. The cottage is at the edge of the village with a short walk into the village which has a Coop, Sainsburys, Boots, several pubs, 2 chippies and a selection of small shops. There is a steep hill from the cottage towards the village but you can walk along the lane behind the cottage and rejoin the main road higher up for a slightly longer walk but gentler incline! The kitchen was well equipped but was missing a frying pan (essential for holiday fry ups). The bathroom is downstairs which wasn't an issue for us but some people may not like it. It has a very powerful shower over the bath but could do with a bathmat as we had to use one of the towels on the floor. The stairs have quite narrow treads but that is the nature of an old cottage. 2 good sized bedrooms with plenty of space to hang clothes. We found the larger bed to be very soft and the double to be very hard but overall we slept OK. There is parking for 2 cars but it is quite a tight turn through the gate so an estate or larger car my find it a bit difficult. We found it easier to drive down the lane at the back of the cottage, turn round at the end and then pull forward through the gate onto the parking area. Overall, we enjoyed our stay but felt that the place could do with a bit of a refresh and some new mattresses as this would definitely make it a place to come back to.

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• Barbara - Verified booking

  I booked Hollie cottage for 3 nights for a compassionate visit to a relative who was in palliative care in Haltwhistle, as it had 2 adult double beds.

  We were moved next door 24 hours before arrival to hunter cottage because Hollie was having a new roof. This property had 1 double bed and second bedroom had child’s bunk beds which were so low above my head I couldn’t even sit up. We were awoken at 8am on the first morning by the most horrific drilling which shook the whole cottage. My brother went out and spoke to the roofers who were taking down the chimney on Hollie cottage. They were not even aware that the cottage was being rented, and they had advised the owner not to rent it until works were complete. On top of this there was rubble pouring down the chimney covering the lounge floor. The lady who does the housekeeping came in while we were out and cleared this up. Then we discovered that because of the scaffolding out side there was no signal for the television. So no telly.!! The housekeeper offered to move us next door on Saturday and we could stay a few more days but we were leaving on Sunday morning as we had work commitments in Essex on Monday. When I contacted the owner on Sunday she informed me that the building works were out of her control as they were running 2 weeks late and also that there was a radio in the cottage, which there wasn’t. Well sorry but that’s not my concern or problem. I paid for a cottage with all facilities and I did not get what I paid for. The cottage was extremely shabby and nothing worked properly. Would not recommend this cottage to anyone. . Owner was not at all sorry and never offered any compensation. My family and myself have booked with Sykes before and have always been satisfied but never again with these cottages.

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• Chris - Verified booking

  Parking is awkward with no possibility of parking at the house other than briefly to load/unload.

  The closest parking is on street about 50m away. In busy summer season parking could be very difficult. The house is potentially nice but needs maintenance / upgrades. The large top floor bed is 2 single foam mattresses joined together. 1 is extremely soft. The top floor bathroom basin was blocked (the owner, when contacted about this, said there was nothing they could do about it to make this basin useable) and there was a strong drains smell often in this room making it mostly unusable. It would have been nice if a couple of bags of logs was provided for the log burner stove. Dining arrangements are poor. The table is tiny and there is very little space around it. The kitchen sink leaked so badly that water ran out of the cupboard beneath onto the kitchen floor. The boiler in a cupboard in one of the bedrooms is so noisy that it was impossible to sleep in there. The lounge radiator gave out very little heat meaning the room was always much colder than the rest of the house. Location is good just on the edge of Hawes a few minutes walk from the town centre.

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• Karen - Verified booking

  A thoroughly enjoyable week in Hollie Cottage which is lovely warm & spacious house which met our needs.

  The kitchen had ample crockery, cutlery & utensils. The garden was enclosed enough to keep our dogs in & it was good to be able to park within the property rather than on the road. The location is perfect for Haltwhistle Burn which is a delightful walk from the property & the town centre is about 10mins (mostly uphill) walk which had supermarkets & take-aways (try Oceans for the biggest fish & chips ever!). You are also only a short drive to good walking sections of Hadrian's Wall or the old railway line which is now The South Tyne Trail. After booking we realised that WiFi wasn't listed for the property. We found out there was WiFi but it is shared with 2 other properties which was fine when we were the only ones using it, but not good when our neighbours were in. Our only issue all week was the oven, it has previously been noted that the front has been scrubbed so you can't read the settings but the bigger problem was that it doesn't heat above 150c so this really does need replacing. Overall a great week in a very comfortable cottage.

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• Karen - Verified booking

  The house was very spacious and clean.

  The fudge and cookies were a lovely surprise and were soon devoured!! Bed was comfortable and agree with a previous comment, would benefit from some drawers. Two things stopped me from giving it 5 stars... Upon arrival, we found a key in the key safe, which was for the yale lock on front door, had been snapped in half and just left. We could still lock the door by using the mortice lock but, had the yale catch dropped, would have been stuck. Secondly, although there was a small enclosed garden, there was no direct access from the house. You have to leave the house, walk around the side and enter the garden via a gate. This is not made clear in the description and was very inconvenient when our dog wanted to go out, especially thru the night. There is a torch on the lower level but did not work due to flat batteries!! These things are small but did have a negative impact on our holiday. Would definitely recommend the cottage but not to those taking a dog.

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