Half Term Breaks In The United Kingdom

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Alexander - Verified booking

  We spent a happy week in North Stables between 9 and 16 September.

  The flat was clean and well-presented. The sitting room and bedrooms were well-decorated and comfortable. The NTS staff were exceedingly friendly and helpful. We had an excellent tour of The House of Dun given by Colin who was a terrific guide. The surrounding area is beautiful and there is much to see and do. However, while most of the flat was highly acceptable, the kitchen left a great deal to be desired and needs to be re-designed. The flat accommodates four people but there was an inadequate amount of cutlery. Serving a starter and a main dish involved washing knives and forks between courses. It seems, judging by the irregular number of glasses, that breakages are not replaced. There were only two eggcups. One of the frying pans has buckled and did not work well on the rings of the antiquated cooker. The fridge/freezer was far too small and inadequate for two, never mind four, people. It was also poorly positioned especially for older and infirm people. The kitchen was full of cupboards, most of which were empty. A proper re-design, removing most of these unnecessary cupboards, could result in the dining table being accommodated, more suitably, in the kitchen rather than the sitting room. Surely some more cleaning materials could be left. On arrival, we found two dishwasher tablets and two tea towels, one rubbish bag and no cleaning cloths. In the bathroom there was one roll of toilet paper. There was a time when a welcome tray would have been left but all I could see was a bowl with sachets of instant coffee and tea bags. NTS holiday properties are not inexpensive. My recent experiences suggest that they no longer present particularly good value and compare unfavourably with other properties in the “heritage” area of holiday lettings. We enjoyed our trip but certain aspects of the presentation and equipping of the property left us feeling disappointed and gave us the impression that not enough attention is being paid by the NTS to important, smaller details which make so much of a difference.

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  There were many positives about staying in Bruce apartment. It was clean and comfortable (especially the bed). The welcome pack containing home made bread, eggs, scones, homemade jam and other goodies was great. The facilities were good although a few more dishes in the kitchen would be useful, eg teapot, cafetiere and a larger number of items of cutlery/crockery so that it wasn't necessary to put on a half filled dishwasher after every meal so that there was enough cutlery/crockery for next meal. There had been storms which blew down trees the weekend before we arrived causing damage and there was no internet. As I had planned to work from "home" one of the days the estate manager kindly provided access to another property with internet access, which was much appreciated. However, not having internet access generally was a limitation, particularly for the younger members of the group. The other issue that became obvious over time was that a number of the radiators were not heating up so the apartment wasn't cosy, and as our stay fell over Christmas period there were limited options for resolving this. We did like the apartment and would still consider a propert at Penninghame but our stay would have been more comfortable had the heating been working adequately and internet had been working.

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• Andrew - Verified booking

  Very clean and tidy.

  Beds very comfortable. Linen and towels goid quality. Ensure was very small, dormer bedrooms headroom above beds restrictive.Tv in living room not central on wall and a little too high. 1 x sofa too low and not the most comfortable. Lights too bright in living room. Needs dimmer and perhaps more table lights. Mirror too low in front bedroom. Underfloor heating not easy to control the room temperatures, but that coukd gave been us. Dining room brochures on the wall rack makes the room look untidy. A little difficult parking on the drive. Outside light seemed to have a mind of its own. Could do with a front light to illuminate the parking area. Kitchen very narrow to work in. No coffee supplied. Milk, tea and cake were very welcome. Rear garden hedges could do with cutting back, couldn't see a light to illuminate the garden. No grassed area , just a bare patch of ground. Location for Ringwood not bad, around 20 minutes walk into the town with lots of eateries and fair selection of shops. Good bus service from Ringwood. Bournemouth only £2 each way.Overall , we did have a lovely stay and slept well in the beds. Some minor improvements would make beau annexe much better. Would recommend this holiday home, but beware of the headroom restrictions in the bedrooms I'd say.

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• Sarah - Verified booking

  In a great location.

  Dog walking near by. Cake, sugar and milk left for our arrival. Tiny kitchen. Not enough space to put any provisions anywhere. Could be more kitchen utensils, e.g there was no colander, or non stick turner for frying eggs. Had to clean the cutlery tray and the drawer, as was a little dirty. Everywhere else appeared clean. Washing machine would have made more sense than a dishwasher. A coffee table is needed in the lounge. TV in lounge not in a great position. Bedroom ceilings slope on one side, so had to try not to bang our heads. No where to put clothes if you wanted to unpack your cases. Probably suit young family rather than 4 adults. Would have been nice to have an information booklet listing local amenities/phone numbers e.g, nearest shops, dog walks, doctors, vets etc, however there was a brief note on the entrance wall, welcoming us, and and if we needed anything to call a couple of phone numbers, and the owners were next door. When we first arrived, the owner next door pulled into his drive but didn't even acknowledge us, which felt a bit unfriendly. There were no intructions of what to do at the end of our stay e.g strip beds, or not, etc. However, we still made the most of our week and enjoyed our stay.

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• Chris - Verified booking

  We enjoyed our stay at North Stables very much.

  The flat was comfortable, clean and to a high standard. Very quiet and peaceful when the house closes. The staff that we had contact with during our stay were very helpful and friendly. The complimentary House of Dun guided tour is a must and the grounds/gardens are good to walk around. A few things that could be improved: 1. The washing machine is not working and appears, from previous reviews, to have not been working correctly since February. This should have been fixed by now. 2. The Wi Fi signal is very bad and keeps cutting out. 3. The boiler intermittently cuts out mainly when having a shower resulting in a cold wake up! It has to be reset by pressing the button on the boiler. 4. Several doors are difficult to open/close due to them catching on the carpet. 5. Two of the duvets appear to have a plastic covering under the cover and these can be very hot to sleep under. 6. Front door handle nearly off and needs refixing. 7. It would be nice to have had a starter supply of washing up liquid and hand soap. The above in no way spoiled our enjoyment of the property though and we would have no hesitation in returning.

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