Dog Friendly Apartments in Derbyshire

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Thomas - Verified booking

  Me and my Partner booked a 5 Night stay at The Old Dog which we were very much looking forward too, as we were celebrating my Birthday within the Peak District.

  On arrival the Apartment was beautifully decorated and located in a scenic area. Upon closer inspection the Property wasn't overly clean, the floors looked as if they hadn't been hoovered and were covered in stains, light switches were dirty, there was sticky residue all over the TV and Kitchen worktops and overall the Property was dusty and not very clean. Within a few Hours of our stay after prepping raw Chicken for Dinner we noticed we had no running Hot Water coming through any of the Taps, so we messaged our Host (Ross) to inform him. Ross replied back within half an hour later telling us that we would need to run the water for a few minutes as the Tank was downstairs (which in fact turned out to be a lie, it was within our Apartment we was staying in), so we attempted to run the hot water for a good 15 minutes, no hot water was still coming through. I messaged Ross again to inform him the hot water was still not coming through. Ross then offered to come up that evening or the following day, but as there was no hot water I ideally wanted him to come up that evening to have a look and I did state the importance of the Hot Water as we were unable to wash our hands hygienically or wash up (as there was no dishwasher or other facilities available to wash up our pots and pans from Dinner). Ross didn't then respond for 2 Hours which at this point was 9:30pm and said he couldn't come until the following Afternoon and that we can boil a kettle and use the Electric Shower in the meantime to wash our hands. We were slightly disappointed as Ross didn't seem apologetic, nor to make the issue a priority and was quite happy to leave his guests 24 hours without working hot water. At this point we had contacted Sykes Cottages to inform them of the situation and to see if there was anything they could help with. Sykes were very apologetic and shocked with the response we had received from Ross and arranged to contact him, to which he did not answer. I believe they managed to speak to him at some point, as Ross made a diggy comment to us about us contacting Sykes, which we had every right in doing so as they were the 3rd Party who we booked our stay through and had paid. Ross then didn't come until 1pm the following day, when he arrived he said he has used the "boost" button on the immersion to see if that would get the hot water working and that he would come back again at 7/8pm to see if it had worked. When Ross attended we soon came to realise that the immersion tank was not downstairs as Ross had mentioned, it was in fact within the Apartment, so the water did not have "a long way to travel". So Ross lied to us. However, the "Boost" option didn't work! At this point we was reaching 30 hours without working hot water. My Partner is a fully qualified Electrician and has been for the last 15 Years, he even offered to take a look at the Immersion free of charge, where Ross straight up said "no". Ross then told us he had a final back up plan and said he could light the Fires downstairs in the Pub to get the old Back Boiler working. We was against this plan as it was 25 degrees weather and the Apartment was hot enough as it was, there was also no fans within the Apartment either. The Pub is also shut on a Monday and Tuesday and we didn't like the idea of the Fires being lit in an unmanned, locked Pub that we were currently living above, especially when no one else was living on site with access to the Pub and Ross and his Family do not live within the Village the Pub / Apartment is located in. So if a fire was to breakout there would be no one around to notice it breaking out or access the Pub to try and prevent the fire from spreading. However, Ross decided to go against our decision and light the Fires anyway. He lit the Fires and waited until he left to then text me to say he had lit the Fires regardless as he thought this was a "right option" than us having no hot water, and said he would get his Electrician to come out the following day and would give us an update in the Morning. We was very displeased that Ross went against us despite us saying we did NOT want the Fires lit and also the fact he didn't come upstairs and speak to us in person and informed us over text, which we felt was a cop out. On that Night the Property was unbearably Hot, at 11pm it was 17C outside, but the Apartment was 26C inside, we feel that the Fire being lit impacted this. On our first interactions with Ross we found him rude, ignorant, arrogant and unhelpful. It was the next Morning and lo and behold Ross did not message us. We left it until 12pm to give Ross a chance to message us, but he did not, so we sent him a text message asking for an update and asked him when we were to expect his Electrician to arrive. Surprise, Surprise Ross did not reply, we left it until 3pm and called Sykes to see if they could get us some answers for us as Ross was no longer responding. Within 15 minutes of our phone call to Sykes, Ross then respond to our text message. He sent us a not so pleasant message and informed us this his Electrician was unavailable and couldn't come until the next day (meaning it would've taken 4 days from when the issue was initially raised for an Electrician to attend). Ross made no further attempts to get another Electrician to attend, which we think is very poor. We finally got hot water from the Back Boiler around lunch time, meaning we was left with no hot water for a total of 48 Hours. The Electrician finally arrived on the Thursday (day 4) and advised the immersion would require replacing and would be need to be drained down and that it would be a 2 day Job. So nothing was going to be done about it during our stay. Ross still at this point did not apologise for the inconvenience. As we only had 2 more nights left we decided to stay and try to be out of the Property as much as we could and have as little interaction with Ross. There were many issues with our stay and the Property to be completely honest. The whole Property lacked equipment, there was no Hoover, no Mop, no Fan/Fans, no Washing Machine, no Airer or Laundry Line, all the Radiators were covered by Radiator Covers so you was unable to dry anything if you decided to wash anything it by hand, the Kitchen lacked equipment, we had to buy our own Washing up liquid as we were left a dribble on arrival, the Toilet was wobbly (not the seat, the actual toilet), the Wifi did not work half of the time and when it did work it didn't reach the Bedroom, there was no mention of where to put your rubbish if your bin was to get full, you was unable to use the Microwave as the Plates and Bowls had a gold foiled rim, so whenever you went to put the Plates or Bowls into the Microwave it would just spark. We only had 1 working pan too, as 1 out of the 4 pans that were provided were not induction so did not work on the induction Hob. We were only given 2 Body Towels (1 each) and as there was no washing machine we had no other option but to use the same Towel for the whole duration of our stay (5 Nights and 6 Days), we found this pretty gross, especially when the weather was extremely hot. We don't believe the Property is very well thought-out and that the Host really has the heart to be Renting out the Property. Me and my Partner go on staycation breaks every 6 Months and this has to be the worst experience and worse Host we have ever encountered. There was even one evening we decided to have Dinner at the Pub and Ross saw us, looked us up and down, blanked us and walked off when we approached the Bar, which we thought was very RUDE! Not that we expected this, but Ross did not even offer us a Drink on the house to make up for the inconvenience caused, let alone could even give us an apology. Overall we definitely will not be returning and in all honesty if the Apartment was not located where it was we would've left within the first 48 Hours. We would only recommend this Property if you are staying for a short period of time, as the Property is not well equipped for long durations, and that you have working Heating and Hot Water and do not have to deal with the unhelpful Host, Ross.

  Read more less >

• Ann - Verified booking

  The apartment is exactly as the photos show.

  It is on the third floor at the back of the building away from road noise and looking out onto the rock face, trees & foliage. The sun does shine this side of the building and we were envious of the apartments next door, both sides, as they had a small balcony with table & chairs & we would have loved to be able to open the doors & get outside as our apartment was very hot - 25C with both sash windows open all night - our dogs felt the heat as did we. When we arrived we expected to just turn the key and open the door as it is on an internal corridor. However we couldn't get in and luckily the cleaners were still in the corridor so they helped. Even so it took them a few minutes to open the door and they told us that they have problems too. Having watched the lady lift the handle / lower the handle before putting the key in and turning, I realised that the lock was not a simple lock, but the same as our double glazed front door. The door itself was not a simple hotel room type door. It is a very heavy fire door so you have to give it a good shove to open. The oven is a combination microwave oven with instructions. We did not find instructions for the induction hob (2 places). We have never used one before as we have a gas hob. All we got was a Lo sign until eventually my husband put a saucepan on the hob and magically it went on. The tv is a smart TV. I sent a message to the owner as we couldn't get normal tv channels - we have Sky tv at home and Netflix, but very rarely use the apps other than catch up. We eventually got used to it, but not a fan. There are lots of plates & bowls ( a dinner service of them), but fewer glasses and we would have liked much larger cups or mugs. The settee, which is of good quality material, is saggy / uncomfortable, but it is large enough for 2 to sit on. A broom and dustpan & brush is provided together with a dish-cloth, scourer sponge, tea-towel and washing up liquid. There is a nice big cupboard in the bedroom with shelving, where you can hang clothes, store bags and suitcases. I would have liked a full length mirror hung on the back of this cupboard door & a light weight battery operated sweeper (£69) to suck up bits from the hard floors daily. They also do not appear to recycle rubbish as everything goes in a large bin in the apartment. There were many people staying on & off, a large car park with an electric charger, children's play area and BBQ. There is a walk for dogs opposite the Cupola restaurant on the other side of the road. It is quite steep, but you can let the dogs off the lead. There is a lady receptionist in the lounge area from Thursday to Monday. The Cupola restaurant next door is also very nice. It is open every day until 8pm (pizzas only in the evening) and on the week end a fuller menu. We visited Eyam, plague village, up the road, Bakewell, Buxton, Ashbourne, Matlock Bath and Castleton - we have already been to Chatsworth House, which is very close. There are apartments for sale & if the journey was much shorter I would be tempted to buy because this is a quality development. We really enjoyed our stay.

  Read more less >

• Denise - Verified booking

  The perfect getaway.

  As with every stay there are pros and cons. I'll start with the cons - And now the pros - even before check in communication with the host were very personal and well thought through. We've driven through the location many times, so we knew where we were going. Key pick up was easy, the receptionist was friendly and helpful, and we found our room easily enough. From the moment we opened the door we knew we were in for a real treat. The apartment is furnished to a high standard, with wonderful little details like heat protector for straighteners and a welcome pack. The living space has a very modern feel but is also very comfortable and cosy. The kitchen is well equipped with high quality appliances and accessories, we had everything you could possibly need. The bedroom is again very modern but extremely comfortable, the bed is like sleeping on a cloud. We both slept really soundly. There is ample space for clothing and luggage. The shower room again is finished to a high standard with all matching accessories. Fantastic shower, very powerful and the towels were lovely and soft. The balcony just adds that finishing touch. We had lovely weather so sitting outside with our morning cuppa was the icing on the cake. Really enjoyed our stay we left feeling thoroughly refreshed. We cannot recommend or rate this place highly enough we shall be returning customers.

  Read more less >

• Hannah - Verified booking

  Perfect little weekend break.

  We will definitely be back. Mattress extremely comfortable, furnishings tasteful and atmosphere cosy. Warm and inviting aesthetic. Generally clean but it might pay to run the hoover under the sofa more regularly, our dogs were very curious about what was under there and having looked, I wished I hadn’t. Took the shine off a bit. The sofa might also benefit from a quick hoover. Apart from that, No. 46 is conveniently placed next to the elevator at the back of the building which made toilet trips with dogs very efficient! It’s nice to see the owner has actioned some of the suggestions made by previous reviewers (coasters provided and blinds sorted). My advice to guests with long locks is bring a hair dryer. I mistakenly left mine at home and couldn’t find one in the apartment. I improvised and used the one in the boot room meant for dogs (worked a treat!) but not the height of luxury. The building is fairly new and it shows, everything is still scuff-free and tidy. My only hope is that as the years go on, the quality is maintained. We do plan to come back and would hate to see it go downhill, specially as apartments are for sale and management by a variety of owners could lead to haphazard quality. Overall really pleased with the experience and grateful to have found somewhere dog-friendly that isn’t the pits.

  Read more less >

• Charles - Verified booking

  Thank you for letting us stay at the sunshine apartment.

  As a family with a toddler, the first thing we want to acknowledge is that the apartment was very baby friendly. We could happily let him toddle about in the apartment which was fantastic for him and great for us! The location is great. We explored lots of the local area and the parts we visited that we needed to drive to were not too far in the car. The owners have also provided a folder of local hikes which they have kindly laminated for ease of taking with you! I thought that was a really nice touch. The facilities were ample and comfortable. We felt it was a home away from home kind of feel which was lovely! The social club downstairs was quiet (but we didn’t stay over the weekend when it was fully disclosed that it would be noisy) - we would have liked to have popped into the social for a drink in the evening but it’s members only, not sure if this is something that can be negotiated for future guests as I think that it is a nice feel. Jeff who runs the club is also very welcoming, which was nice. The bathroom would benefit from a towel rack as there is limited places to dry you wet towels but that’s just a constructive thought. Some touch ups are needed on fixings (as we have already text you about). We would absolutely stay there again. Thanks so much!

  Read more less >