Dog Friendly Holiday Cottages

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Debbie - Verified booking

  Honest opinion on a arrival we was the first family to arrive and the property was absolutely freezing.

  Having a 10 month baby after recovering from being unwell was our priority to get this on to find the first thermostat we came across being located on the first floor does not work. I had to call the owner to ask how we got the heating on because of this which he explained, what he did not explain is that the heating system does not work correctly! We had to go around turning radiators on and bleeding air( for those that had thermostatic valves) to get heat into the place. Heating very hit and miss, some communal radiators never heated up at all for the week we was there, some radiators would only work when others was turned off! A brief look around before unloading our car and our first thoughts was " oh my god " and we happen to use the entrance off the ramp rather than the main entrance at the time to be greeted by a room of bunkbeds with mattresses being stored on the floor underneath the beds! Bearing in mind the property had been cleaned!!! The property was filthy, and at this point we was only downstairs having a look around. Our 10 month old son was desperate to get down on the floor but it was not clean enough, the lounge area rug I could not honestly say when it was last vacuumed and the owners response to this was for him to roll it up and remove it! the Sofas haven't been vacuumed or moped under for some time or surfaces wet wiped and black cob webs visible all over the place including the kitchen! Utility room located in the basement was dirty, the dryer still having towels and somebody's clothing inside which we had to remove before use. One of the two washing machines leak to the point it flooded the room and an area of the games room. The kitchen - disgusting! Oven - filthy, worktops, floors, cutlery, mugs, glasses, bowls plates etc. By this point majority of our party had arrived and nobody had unloaded their vehicles. We decided that the property just wasn't clean enough for our stay so a member of the group called the owner to express our concerns and that it needed to be cleaned that evening. The owner agreed to come back, on his arrival wasn't pleased to be there and his face and actions showed this and excuses started to come out aiming it at the cleaning company he uses for the cleaning services and that they are on a probationary period etc which if this is the case he is responsible to check their works before the next planned stay in the property. He asked what the issues was and then started to do the bare essential cleaning of downstairs with his daughter but by this point we had done the majority. Myself personally had to vacuum the downstairs areas due to the state of the floors with there still being food on the floor from a previous party before I could let my 10 month old baby on the floor yet still was not comfortable with this throughout the stay. All cutlery, plates, mugs and glasses had to be dishwashed before use and even then we had to make an area of cupboard save to store the clean items. IN BETWEEN ALL OF THIS MY WIFE WAS SWORE AT INFRONT OF MY THREE CHILDREN AND MEMBERS OF OUR PARTY because my wife had questioned him about something and rightly so. The more you looked around the list went on.... been various leaks in the past or what we thought was the past until we started to use our bathrooms! This did not finish here.... bedding was like it hadn't been changed on certain beds to objects that was found within the beds, myself and my wife's bed plus the childrens the mattresses was stained heavily and did not have a mattress protector on and we had to ask for this and others had requested to be told there was non available. All beds was stripped and remade, however they was hunting around for lack of replacements.... they ask for beds not to be stripped on departure.... why ? Everywhere we are asked to strip the linen. Bathrooms, shower cubicles hadn't been cleaned since the last stay... Still shampoo and conditioner on the tiles, shower tray dirty, plug areas DISGUSTING. Loose or broken toilet seats, sinks not draining and backfilling to over flowing heights, towels that was included in our stay seemed clean but stained. Bedroom blinds not working due to broken mechanism, wardrobe hanging frames broken and snapped, plug socket hanging out the wall in one bedroom. Lamps that was provided I think one or two worked out of the four taking into account we had young children. Our bedroom door closure closed that fast it made a hell of a bang every time we entered or left the room whilst trying to settle a 10 month old baby.... this was eventually replaced 4 days into our stay. We appreciate we arrived on a bank holiday so getting cleaners, maintenance people out was going to be difficult but the place on arrival should be clean and fit for purpose when your spending well over £3000 and you have a maintenance chap in three days of it working through the list of problems just to get you by on a day to day basis. We had a leak in a bedroom above the kitchen and had water pouring through the ceiling into the fire alarm system causing the system to detect a fault.... reported and was told " obviously do not use that shower " and silence the buzzer.... that's fine but when the alarm itself is silenced that's not acceptable and puts the household at risk but nobody seemed interested. Overall owner not very helpful or doesn't seem bothered about the property. We had to keep smiling and not let the property spoil our yearly tradition. Hawker family

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• Michel - Verified booking

  I’m writing to express my deep disappointment and frustration with my recent stay at The Bluebell for my 60th birthday celebration.

  I had carefully selected your venue as it seemed perfect for hosting my 33 guests. From the moment I booked, everything appeared to be well-organized, and I even paid extra for the privilege of an early arrival and late check-out. Unfortunately, my experience was far from what I expected, and it caused significant stress during an event that should have been a joyous occasion. Upon arrival, we found the property cold, with no way to turn on the heaters. Despite making numerous calls and sending several texts, it took far too long to resolve this basic issue. Additionally, the entire place was in desperate need of a deep clean. We were shocked to find that cleaning supplies were unavailable, forcing us to go out and purchase our own mops and products to clean the property ourselves. Some of the rooms were in unacceptable condition: Toilets had been used and not flushed. Floors were dirty, and cobwebs were all over the walls. The outside bin area was littered with black bags, which I refused to clean up. Several rooms had stained bedding, including one with a blood stain that we had to change ourselves. Worse, from rooms 1 to 4, none of the electrical sockets worked, and despite numerous attempts to contact you, this was never resolved. Room 12 had stained bedding with some sort of black ink. It’s unbelievable that your housekeeper admitted to knowing about the stained sheets but put them on the beds regardless. The condition of the property was unacceptable and created a significant amount of stress. I did not receive the value I expected for the money I spent. My guests, while understanding, were understandably disturbed by the poor conditions, and this situation nearly ruined an event I had spent a year planning. Your housekeeper excused her inaction by saying she was on holiday, and your lack of response was equally frustrating. We have videos and photos documenting all the issues mentioned, and I am appalled that such basic standards of cleanliness and hospitality were not met.

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• Ruth - Verified booking

  We hired the Blue Bell for 38 all female family and friends for a surprise weekend for my daughter’s 40th birthday.

  It was absolutely perfect! We decorated the large function room and hired a DJ and Supreme Photo Booths - both excellent. There is a brilliant bar area where all our guests stored the drinks they’d bought with them. The kitchen facilities were great with loads of fridge and freezer storage space and 2 double ovens where we prepared and served a cooked breakfast on Saturday morning and chicken and chips in the afternoon after enjoying a televised dog racing game in the afternoon in the snug area next to the dining area. On Friday evening we ordered fish and chips from Nafferton Fisheries in Driffield - they gave us a fabulous service - great communication before the event and delivering their hot and tasty food on time. For our party on Saturday evening we’d ordered a load of platters from Morrisons which is only a short drive away. The Blue Bell is in a lovely small village and many of the ladies enjoyed a long walk on Saturday morning including the grounds of Burton Agnes Hall. Communication with the owners and housekeeper prior to arrival and during our stay was excellent - they couldn’t have been more helpful. Several guests enjoyed using the hot tub in the lovely grounds at the rear of the property. There were no complaints from any guests who all said they had had a fabulous weekend. The property was warm and comfortable and had everything we needed for a marvelous celebratory time. It was excellent value for money and our guests said they could not believe how we had managed to put the weekend on for the price that they had paid. I would have no hesitation in recommending this venue. Do not expect luxury but if you want a large, clean, comfortable and functional large space to hold your event and sleep your guests at the right price - this is for you.

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• Patrick - Verified booking

  The property was ideal for our family gathering, plenty of space, well equipped kitchen, ample dining area, great games rooms where the kids could enjoy themselves without disturbing the grown-ups!

  We have to say however that we were disappointed with the level of cleanliness when we arrived, some floor areas didn't appear to have been properly swept or vacuumed and there were bits of rubbish here and there: particularly in the present climate of infection avoidance and increased awareness of hygiene measures, we expected to find a much higher standard of cleanliness than we did; a good deep clean wouldn't go amiss. There are a few matters that could do with attention: a lack of bedside lights and also non-slip bath or shower mats, particularly in rooms likely to be used by people with disabilities or mobility problems: bedroom 2 (ground floor twin) was too warm for comfortable sleep and there was no means of ventilation (the windows were fastened or painted shut) except by propping the door open and the door closer was set too strong so the door closes too fiercely: in the ensuite of the basement family room the toilet cistern filled with hot water instead of cold, which indicates a plumbing issue: in the ground floor double the flow control in the shower didn't appear to be working properly. Also, could the lock on the side entrance door not be programmed with the front door opening code? This would be helpful paricularly again for those with mobility issues, to avoid the need for another person having to go round and through the house to open the door from the inside. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, it's a lovely area, plenty to do for all ages. We would certainly consider this property again, particularly if the problems we've mentioned were resolved!

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• Clare - Verified booking

  A group of 40+ stayed for a week at Mountain View to celebrate my husband’s 50th birthday.

  We had a fabulous week. The house worked perfectly for our group which included families with young children, teenagers, couples and dogs. The beds were extremely comfortable and the showers were great. There are so many options for sleeping with extra beds in most rooms but it is worth noting that the only way to get to the small dorm room and 2 of the double bedrooms is through the large dorm room. This was not a problem for our group as we allocated all these rooms to the children but is worth considering. We had Mrs Buffet cater for us for one night and I would definitely recommend her as the food was great. The kitchen is quite small but very well equipped with loads of crockery, glassware and cutlery. The children (and adults) loved the games room, we had some great games of poker and darts! The house is a little ‘tired’ in places but this actually suited us as you feel like you can completely relax without being worried about the children spilling or breaking things. The beach was a perfect place to exercise the dogs and children, especially as there is no garden at the house. We enjoyed visiting Conwy and had a lot of fun at Bounce Below which is less than an hour away. I would highly recommend this property if you have a large group with a mixture of ages, I would definitely consider returning in the future especially as there is lots to explore in the local area.

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