Dog Friendly Bed And Breakfasts In Barnstaple

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Helena - Verified booking

  The house is on a slope, in the middle of the forest and in the middle of nowhere.

  Next to it is an empty old hotel. There is no mobile phone, only WiFi and a landline phone that was blocked for outgoing calls, only emergency calls were possible. Making calls via WiFi is only possible if the provider allows it. This was possible for me, but not for my wife. This means that if your provider doesn't allow this, you will be completely isolated in the apartment. It is important to note that emergency calls CANNOT be made via WiFi! A high outside staircase leads to the apartment, which, thanks to the waterfalls, is always damp to wet and therefore very slippery. Now in the fall, when the leaves are on the stairs, they are as slippery as soap. Our repeated requests to clean the stairs and ensure sure-footedness were ignored by the owner. The request for a broom so we could sweep the stairs ourselves was also ignored. At first glance the apartment seems good, the view is beautiful, the furniture is solid and not worn out, it looks comfortable, but at second glance the deficiencies become apparent. In both bathrooms there is a strong smell of mold. There are no mixer taps, just two taps for cold and warm water. Either you wash with cold or hot water. The shower head is permanently installed, there is no flexible shower hose. The bathtub also has two separate taps. This is all very old-fashioned and impractical. In the room with the washer-dryer and therefore in the hallway there is a strong smell of oil that is used to operate the heating. There are no fly screens on the windows, which is downright irresponsible given the huge number of mosquitoes, black flies, all other kinds of flies, wasps and hornets, especially since there is a wasp's nest under the roof right by the window in the master bedroom. We had a fly invasion one afternoon and around 40 flies in the apartment. The mattress protector was missing on the mattress in the master bedroom, you could see all the ugly, brown and yellow stains on the mattress through the thin sheet, which suggests that the mattress is very old and has never been cleaned or had a mattress protector. In addition, the mattresses were very uncomfortable. We washed the bed linen in between and then saw that the pillows and blankets also had stains. Large pots, pans and pan/pot covers were missing in the kitchen. We had to buy a large pot with a lid and a wok/large pan ourselves and left them in the apartment. The wardrobe in the master bedroom is tiny, but at least it has doors, in the second bedroom it is just a small open wardrobe, this means that all of your clothing will definitely collect dust. There are not enough clothes hangers overall. There is no wardrobe in the hallway or at least a few hooks for street clothes. Also there's no shoe rack. The owner has put a box for street shoes outside the door and obviously believes that you should keep your shoes there. Since the entrance to the apartment is at the back of the house and therefore on a constantly damp to dripping wet slope (waterfalls!), the street shoes in this box remain damp, or will definitely be so if they weren't already damp. In the morning you can put on your damp, clammy, completely cool shoes. There are no hooks for towels and/or bathrobes in either bathroom. Not even in the two bedrooms. There are also no towel hooks in the kitchen. The apartment is dog-friendly, which is very nice, but has very light (!) carpeted floors throughout. The dog owners should clean the dogs outside with the hose and cold water provided before the dogs go into the apartment, because the carpet in the hallway is also white and there is only a dark doormat. You can't really go for a walk with your dog anywhere, there's no garden or a meadow nearby but only narrow, busy road right next to the house that you can walk along, but since it leads directly to the slope on one side and to the steep precipice on the other, the walks are no pleasure. For a nice walk you have to drive a bit before you can safely walk with the dog. In the evening/night the street is completely unlit, it is then extremely dark and it is downright life-threatening to walk along the street. Since the house is really lonely, in the middle of nowhere, you don't feel very safe, especially since the other two apartments in the house were not visible most of the time. We stayed in the apartment for almost three weeks and would never book it again.

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• Mr Pattison - Verified booking

  The property is located in an idyllic part of north Devon just outside Barnstaple with a Tesco Superstore and other amenities a short 10 minute drive away. It is also ideally situated to take advantage of a number of north Devon’s attractions. We really loved our holiday, made extra special by our hosts (Simon & Adrianne) who were very friendly and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble and being close to hand in the neighbouring property made life so much easier. We are so grateful to both Simon and Adrianne for making our stay so pleasurable. There is ample car parking across from the property (we had two cars but there is clearly space for several vehicles). The property was clean and well maintained, making for a pleasant seven day stay. It is a sizeable property capable of providing ample accommodation for eight people. The weather was fabulous enabling us to take full advantage of the very large and spacious secluded garden which was well fenced enabling our 2 dogs to have free roam of the property without fear of escape or injury. The hosts made us feel most welcome and provided tea, coffee, milk etc., The kitchen was well appointed with a good selection of utensils. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and have no hesitation in recommending the hosts, property and location to anyone looking for a relaxing, comfortable holiday in an idyllic location. If the property was closer to our home (we live a 5 hour drive away) we would love to frequent the property several times a year but I guess we will have to console ourselves with an annual holiday (perhaps a longer stay next time). We very much look forward to revisiting the property, Simon and Adrianne next year and hope the weather is as glorious!

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• Julie - Verified booking

  Lovely house and garden, as described but pleasantly larger than expected inside for the 4 of us.

  Especially enjoyed the pavilion to sit out in the evenings - a good addition to the facilities. Welcome gifts of tea, coffee, sugar, biscuits, milk, dog treats and bottle of wine were appreciated. Only slight negatives would be rather uncomfortable beds and overly-soft sofas although we understand this is personal preference. Location good: Heaton Punchardon is a small village not too far down narrow Devon lanes with an historic church and thatched houses. Pub (The Williams Arms) possibly walkable but very steep hill on the way back! Large portions :) Braunton also has essential shops, Squires chippy and there are plenty of petrol stations nearby. Barnstaple great for a day in town and its excellent local-history museum and medieval bridge. Saunton Sands very busy on a weekend and carpark rubbly. Woolacombe a good seaside location with brilliant beach and plenty of cafes (main carpark pricey at £12 so be aware). Both dog-friendly. Proper cider from Indicknowle farm towards Ilfracombe was a highlight of our stay on such a hot week. Dog had a great time too, especially the local walk (see route in info folder in property) and all the rabbits in the big garden. Overall, would recommend Pillars for a week in North Devon and would book through Helpful Holidays/Sykes again.

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• Adele - Verified booking

  Pillars is an exceptional holiday property, gorgeous House and fabulous gardens in incredible setting with views over open countryside.

  All needs are catered for, from the interior fixtures and fittings, to the most comfortable beds and bedding I’ve ever found in any holiday rental. Added extras such as flowers left and the most sumptuous artisan treats left for us on arrival all made us feel incredibly welcome, including our dogs, who loved the size and safety of the vast gardens to run and play in. The information left for us said that the gardens were not dog proof, but we had no issues at all - fences all around, that only the most determined escapees would get out through - but why would they want to?? Our boys loved it. Obviously, as this was the first time away from home since lockdown, we were a little concerned, but the House was spotless and additional sanitiser left for us to use during our stay. We were reassured to be told that the property had been fully sanitised before our stay, and we duly scanned in using the NHS track and trace app. We had originally booked to stay in April but had to postpone to the end of September- and we were so glad we were able to rebook Pillars with no problems at all. Vicky, the caretaker, was lovely upon first contact, and was so helpful when we wanted to take some of the delicious treats back for friends

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• Sarah - Verified booking

  We had a fantastic long weekend at Priory House.

  The house is beautiful & the facilities amazing! The bedrooms are really comfortable as are the lounge areas. Once we got the sound system working it was brilliant to have to create atmosphere for our weekend. The games room was a brilliant even for an all adult party! We had some good completion going on our final night. The only slight negatives we found were the size of the oven for the size of the house. It would benefit from 2 ovens particularly when the property can sleep up to 20 with the cottage. We were also expecting a hot tub but after 4 hours of tending to it we only managed luke warm. That said I did realise the paper work described it as a wood fired Dutch bath (no mention of hot) it would also benefit from steps up to it. We did use the small step ladder in the utility but I’m not sure if that was what we were supposed to do? Finally Phil the Estate Manager communicated brilliantly both prior to our stay and during our stay. He was really responsive to any questions we had and nothing was to much trouble! Thank you…I hope we will be back

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