Villas In England

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Simon - Verified booking

  We book cottage holidays twice a year for over 20 years and this was the first time there was no Welcome Pack awaiting us, not even a pint of milk to make a brew after a long journey.

  Not asking for loads of produce but it does create a good first impression and nice welcome feeling. Castle Cottage was superficially clean but the whole place really needs a good deep clean. The rear patio area desperately needs some attention. It is not pleasant or relaxing to sit outside surrounded by 30cm high overgrown weeds, dead plants, broken terracotta pots, rusty bucket etc. We have pulled all the weeds up for you so I would suggest you now invest in a few new plants in pots to brighten the place up. If you have delegated the cleaning and general maintenance responsibilities to a third party then we have photos if you wish to see for yourself. Very little in the way of basic household supplies provided, not even bin liners for example. No wheely bin provided at this property and it feels very awkward and weird knocking on the door of neighbours cottage handing over our black rubbish bags to put in with their wheely bin as per book instructions. The Stanley range cooker is a complete Pain in the Ass!! I am well used to these style cookers as my parents have had one for 25 years. This Stanley oil fired cooker is the sole source of cooking, hot water and central heating system. This Stanley cooker is a very old model, it is not User Friendly, extremely inefficient and definitely not environmentally friendly. This old cooker switches itself off as a safety measure in order to avoid overheating, unfortunately it can do this without warning halfway through the cooking process on occassions when we had a chicken and lasagne in the oven. As per following trouble shooting book instructions in order to get the cooker going again you have to trick it back into action by opening up the hot water taps and draining the tank of hot water and so the Stanley fires itself up again in order to reheat a whole new tank of water again thus by adjusting the baffle positions diverting the resulting heat back into the oven and so restarting the cooking process. What a waste of time, money, natural resources, water, hot water plus oil fuel to heat a new set of water. I would suggest updating to a more efficient, environmentally friendly and user friendly cooking system and maybe a simple Combi Boiler for the heating and hot water systems. Also as per instructions the Central Heating control has to be switched to the On position which makes the whole cottage unbearable hot. Even in May we had all the windows open upstairs and downstairs and rear door to cope with the heat but the road outside is surprisingly very busy with traffic noise which spoils the peace and quiet previously provided by the double glazing. I dread to think how overbearing the internal temperatures would be in the summer months. Yes we ensured all the radiators were turned off in all rooms but with the Stanley constantly running it heats up this small compact 2 Up 2 Down terraced cottage. The unpredictable nature of this Stanley cooker meant that it was Hit and Miss whether there was any hot water for showers in the morning or on returning from a days walking. Very limited on street parking on first come basis shared with numerous other properties. This competitive situation isn’t helped by the fact that the permanent residents next door have up to 4 cars and work vans which account for most of the parking spaces. The alternative parking facilities are 5 and 10 minutes walk away. On the plus side it is a very nice cottage with great potential but is considerably neglected and in need of upgrading. The bathroom is great but needs a reliable source of hot water. There was plenty of firewood provided but we did not make use of the log burner due to the mild external temperatures and overbearing internal temperatures caused by the outdated Stanley cooker. The village White Horse pub is a real bonus, friendly welcoming Landlord and staff, excellent food and beers brewed on the premises. Clun village and the surrounding Shropshire/Welsh Borders are a true Hidden Gem. We would definitely return to Clun again but unfortunately would not return to Castle Cottage. This cottage was very disappointing, whilst it did not spoil our weeks holiday I can state it was certainly the most frustrating and least relaxing cottage break we have ever experienced. I would thoroughly recommend people to visit and stay in Clun but would advise to find alternative accommodation.

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• Nikkii - Verified booking

  Castle Cottage is a little tucked away treasure.

  The town of Clun has to be THE friendliest town we've ever been to! The cottage was clean throughout - this is always an important feature for us. Although we took our own bedding / towels - everything we needed was provided anyway. Even items for four legged family members! It felt like a home from home, truly. The instructions for the Stanley were clear and easy to use. The bed is a fantastic piece of art actually! Solidly made, very comfy. The cottage itself is tranquil, warm and the manner in which it has been carefully restored is just beautiful. Plenty of kindling & logs for the fire. Kept us nice & toasty on the cold week we had - albeit blue skies / crisp mornings - lovely. Castle Street is pretty busy, but double glazing worked a treat and this didnt affect us in any way. Parking on the road was easy. Clun took us by surprise never visiting before - it is absolutely beautiful. The views are just perfect. There is a Spar shop 5 minutes walk away, two pubs and cafe. The town has lots of little walks in every direction, great for our 12 year old JRT! Not too strenuous but views in every direction. We left the latest edition of thw Clun Chronicle in the basket in the kitchen - there is a lot going on in the town, which is great to know for those wanting to get involved! Ludlow - 30 mins - highly recommended. Bishops Castle, Craven Arms, Newtown & Knighton all close by, lovely views on the drive there. We would highly recommend Castle Cottage....it is everything you didnt realise you needed...and more. Thank you Becky & Jack for sharing this little treasure...we'll most certainly be back. Nikkii.

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• Ian - Verified booking

  I would not stay in this cottage again (despite how lovely it was) for one reason only.

  The cooking/heating/hot water facilities do not lend themselves to making this a relaxing place to stay. I messaged the owner on arrival about some missing wine glasse. She arranged to drop some replacements off and also gave us a bottle of wine. She was lovely and couldn't have been more helpful. I mentioned to her that I was planning on using the range the next day and she said that I could call her if I got stuck. I got stuck and called her as agreed. She was busy putting her daughter to bed but that is perfectly reasonable. When she called back and talked me through the instructions, she realised that to get the range to cook, I needed to turn the room thermostat up to 25 degrees and then turn all the radiators off so that we didn't overheat. I gave up the idea of cooking at this point. It is such a shame that an otherwise perfect cottage (and owner) should have such a ridiculous cooking arrangement. I'm sure other people have managed this, but I'm equallt sure that others would br put off renting again for the same reason. It didn't help that because of staff shortages, neither of the village pubs were offering food. Once again, I couldn't fault the owner and feel a bit guilty giving such negative feedback, but it is only about one issue.

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• Andy - Verified booking

  Fabulous bed, fabulous bath/shower and we loved Stanley the range cooker.

  He sorted our cooked breakfast every morning and a long soak in the tub every evening after our walk. We couldn't have had better weather and made full use of the courtyard. Table and 2 chairs were great ..... perhaps a little more tlc in this area and some plants would really make sitting out more inviting. On road parking but despite bank hols and half term, we got parked outside every day/evening. Clun is so friendly and everybody stops to chat to you. Top tip from a lady we met out dog walking .... she told us to go to the Castle Hotel at Bishops Castle as they are dog friendly and their beer garden is like sitting out in Tuscany. With the sun and blue sky, the flowers, carp pond and fountains, she was SO right!!! White Horse Inn in Clun served lovely food, dog friendly and plenty of gluten free choice for coeliac hubby. The Spar also has lots of goodies to rustle up something in the cottage. Great for us and our staffie .... so many walks from the door and she had so many treats when out and about, she didn't want to come home!!! We certainly will return ~ Andy x

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• Yvonne - Verified booking

  We stayed for a week in September.

  Castle Cottage is delivered solidly at 3 stars. We booked it as it was the most economical place we could find in the beautiful countryside of Shropshire. Beds and sofa were super comfy, whole place was cosy all week. Parking was very easy. The cottage is on a road which was only busy first thing in the morning and at going home time. Outside of these times it was fine and not noticeably busy throughout the weekend. The evenings and nights were totally, sublimely peaceful this end of the village, with millions of stars over the back yard and especially from the grounds of the ruined castle directly over the road (free access 24/7), accompanied by surround sound Owl hooting. We found the range very easy to use, there are easy to follow instructions for firing it up to cook and it provided acres of hot water. We happily cooked on it most evenings. This area has unlimited walking, road cycling and off road cycling for all ages and abilities, in the most wonderful, very accessible countryside

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