Dog Friendly Lodges & Log Cabins in Aberdeenshire

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Harriet - Verified booking

  The cottage is not really up to the standard that we would have expected for the cost.

  We've stayed at other National Trust cottages in Aberdeenshire and Angus which have been much better. We are familiar with living in rural Scotland in the winter having lived in Highland for years. The cottage was cold. There were instructions not to touch the heating dials offering us electric fires as an alternative , which we could not find. The shower had a very slow run off and had clearly not been attended to for a while. The dishwasher filter needed cleaning. The bedside light was faulty. We changed it round for the bedroom we weren't using. The lighting was terrible - in the kitchen with only a central ceiling light, we were always in our own shadows. The sitting room side lights were dim. There was no working outside light at the back door which, given the season, meant that we were juggling torches and keys after about 5 pm and before 7 am. The garden was not private and certainly not secure. The estate road beside which the cottage sits was very busy, so no secure garden meant additional hazards for the dog. The condensation in the cottage was noticeable with very wet windows. This gave the feel of damp which was thoroughly unpleasant. On the plus side, the grounds of Crathes Castle were, of course, quite beautiful and we enjoyed some delightful walks in the grounds. We came up to visit a variety of family and friends and would have left early had it not been for prior arrangements. We think you should readjust your descriptions of this cottage and its surroundings to reflect the reality of the situation. We wonder if anybody from Sykes has actually visited it. Although the national trust cottages are bound to be slightly quirky, charging as much as you do requires the quirks to be charming rather than annoying and likely to spoil the visit. In good faith. Harriet and Donald Mowat.

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• A - Verified booking

  The following are observations, not complaint’s.

  1) The front door is very draughty, making the small hallway very cold. The draught proofing is old and unfit for purpose. I would have thought a radiator ought to be fitted after draught proofing carried out, but well understand the upheaval that that would entail.Nevertheless coming in to warmth ought to make for better letting. 2) Heating stopping at 10pm on the coldest time of year, and at Hogmanay where our party stays up to see in the New Year is less than ideal.The sitting room door requires trimming to accommodate it’s new carpeting. 3) The bathroom would benefit from a glass with provision for toothbrushes. The shower doors do not close properly, and the shower itself is tepid - at best. Well appreciate scalding needs to be avoided, but I suggest NT of Scotland looks into this - there is no exaggeration for effect. 3) The bedroom with double bed does not latch, and it would make much more sense were the door swung the other way, opening against the wall ( right hand hung ) thus freeing up the whole room more efficiently. Would involve repositioning the light switch so your client may not want to, but I develop property and negotiating around the chest of drawers in a small room , in the dark, after a toilet visit would be altogether easier, in my opinion. The provision of wooden coat hangers c/w bar would be helpful, not the single type, the better to hang up male/ female trousers. There was one only wire hanger, and we are honest enough not to purloin !!

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• Robert - Verified booking

  Firstly we have to say that this is the fourth time that we have stayed at the East Lodge because we absolutely love Crathes Estate - However we do find that compared to other properties the Lodge very much lacks the ‘personal’ touch.

  The oven was filthy, it would do good to get the oven man in twice a year to give it a thorough clean, the bed linen does not fit the bed in the main bedroom, the bottom sheet is like a single sheet trying to fit over a double bed, there is still nowhere to keep toiletries in the bathroom even though the photographs show a unit and we have mentioned this the last three times - we actually take our own small table with us, the bin situation is beyond understanding with the bins now being down at the road. On the upside the table lamp in the lounge that we have mentioned is broken for the last three years has now been fixed and best of all WiFi has now been connected to the property. The property really is way overpriced to other similar properties in the area and NTS really does have to get their act together as walking into this property it is so obvious that it is an organisation that own it and it is not being checked on a personal level. Crathes Estate is outstanding but the quality of the property for the price charged does not reflect this.

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• Amanda - Verified booking

  This was a lovely little lodge.

  Whilst very expensive for what we got it was a lovely property in a gorgeous location. The lodge is small with only one small shower room. That said my hubby (& our two tiny dogs) found the living room comfy for chilling with our books of an evening. We did notice a few times the toilet didn’t stop running after flushing but a jiggle of the button stopped it. The bed was smaller than we are used to but comfy and so we slept well. I was pleased to find a hairdryer as you don’t always get one in cottages (though it would be nice to know in advance that it’s included to save bringing one). It’s a shame the garden area was not enclosed so we couldn’t let our dogs off lead but it was a lovely spot to sit out and have breakfast - picnic table most welcome for that. The best bit though was the location and the walks through the estate - the dogs loved it and even though we never managed to find our way back to the same path we started on we always found our way back to the lodge

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• Alison - Verified booking

  The accommodation was lovely.

  Comfortable and clean. I would say that it’s not really suitable for people with young children. The single bedroom is a long way from the main bedroom. You have to go past the front door are, through the lounge up a long hall, before you get there. That side of the house is also draughty and cold. The road up to the Castle that the house is on is busy day and night. Very busy and the cars fly up and down there. We even had lads racing up and down there one night at 11.30 for a good hour. If you had dogs or children, you wouldn’t want to let them go. It is pitch black outside at night. There was a torch provided but could have done with an outside light. Saying that, we had a lovely stay and the area was beautiful, fabulous places to visit and the locals were very friendly. The bins also weren’t collected, so they were all completely full when we got there. We had to take our rubbish to the local tip on several occasions.

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