Villas In Moray

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Saskia - Verified booking

  Dookers Hoose is a characterful and charming seaside retreat and was the perfect location for our family holiday.

  The house feels very welcoming and has a creative ambiance with artwork by the owner and family decorating the walls, a mix of vintage and modern furniture, books, games and window ledges decorated with seashore finds. This feels more of a home than just a holiday let, situated in Cullen Sea Town with its soft colourful walls, pantiles and tiny gardens at every turn. We loved being able to hear the sea from the house. We enjoyed cooking in the stylish and well-appointed kitchen and were very pleased to find so much space for storing supplies as well as an efficient washing machine. The layout of the ground floor makes it a very sociable space and on cooler evenings, we enjoyed the electric ‘wood burning’ stove which created a cosy atmosphere. We brought some solar powered fairy lights with us for added twinkle. The internet was consistently reliable and we did not for one moment miss having a TV. The little table in the front room was a perfect spot for drawing, painting and writing. We brought bikes, body boards and wetsuits and were delighted to have access to the garage for storage as well as clothes lines which made drying wet kit easy. In front of the garage and opposite the front of the house across a narrow, quiet side road is the small outdoor garden space with a picnic table. This was a lovely sunny spot to sit with morning coffee and a book watching the world go by. Just across the shore road lies the sea wall with steps down to a lovely stretch of sandy beach which is perfect for safe swimming and provides access to long walks along the shore. The steps on the sea side of the wall are a great place to sit with a drink and enjoy the huge skies and stunning sunsets. On your return from a swim, you can enter the little back yard through a gate and access the conveniently placed bathroom with shower. There are lovely coastal walks (or runs) from the house and we saw dolphins on several occasions from paths scented with bracken and wild thyme. The surrounding countryside is beautiful by bike and car, and there are many interesting places to visit. Supplies can be found in Cullen itself where there is a reasonably stocked Co-op and we noticed a deli opening soon. There is an amazing fresh fish shop in nearby Buckie and you may catch your own sea trout from the pier if the seals don’t get there first! If you prefer not to cook your own, the fish and chips in Cullen are consistently good. Any queries during our stay were answered quickly and the visitor’s book is brimming with information on local eateries and places of interest logged by the owners and visitors over the years. A lovely stay and we were sad to leave.

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• Nicholas - Verified booking

  Quaint little cottage that heated up nicely after a chilly start!

  Beds are super comfortable, in fact more comfortable than the one at home!! The shower over p-shaped bath was fantastic…really good pressure and bathroom and separate loo were clean. Wood burner was great and heated the living room beautifully. The aga in the kitchen boosted that more and was also great. The central heating was spot on. The conservatory was like an ice block the whole week, but, we were there in Mid January but I can imagine we’d have sat in there most of the time if it was warmer. Garden is secure and we had no issues with our two dogs who are very inquisitive. Kitchen was well equipped and clean, although as I mentioned to the owners, the knives were/are very blunt but they have said they will get that sorted. The separate room off the kitchen with a washing machine and tumble dryer was great, although check your load after a few minutes as the water pressure can ‘error’ the machine as it has not got enough water, turn it off and turn it on again and then it’s fine. We took a bedside lamp from each bedroom and took them downstairs, one to the lounge and one to the dining room as the main lights were too bright for us, this then gave the perfect lighting for us. Downsides for us was the road was pretty busy with trucks (for the distillery) and cars generally, not to the point of arghhh but much busier than expected. The drive is tight for bigger vehicles, we found the ‘easiest’ way to get up was reversing but that was tricky at points due to traffic. If you take your dogs or you’re a smoker please ensure you walk the grounds before you leave to pick up your dog mess…we picked up loads of old poops that were obviously not our boys and so many cigarette butts outside the conservatory. Sad that there are some that have no respect! Would we stay here again, probably not, but that is choice not because of anything to do with the cottage.

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• Jenny - Verified booking

  We had a nice stay at larch grove.

  The house was lovely and warm which was good after a very long journey ( we come from Dorset). We had everything we needed and we got our white Christmas which was the whole point of the trip. Now to the down sides, the house is advertised as dog friendly which meant you could take your fur babies. It’s not until you pay in full you get information on your holiday. Your dogs can join you BUT they are not allowed on the furniture, they can not go upstairs and if you want to go out without your dogs they have to be left outside in the dog kennel. We have a pug and a chug who are used to having cuddles in the evenings, they also sleep with us in our room. It caused them to be stressed so one of us had to sleep downstairs with them, had we got the information straight away we wouldn’t have booked the cottage.The bathroom is lovely but the bath is not the easiest to get into, the sides are high and with it being a key shaped bath it’s hard to manoeuvre as there is a massive shower screen which I actually smacked into the basin a few whilst trying to get in and out. I also have some cracking bruises as I’m only 5ft 1 because I found it difficult to get in/out because of the high sides and the shower screen. My last gripe was that it’s easy to miss, we actually drove up and down the road 3 times before we found the cottage, it was easily missed in the dark and it is very tight drive way. You could easily turn a car round in the parking spot but anything bigger you end up doing an Austin powers (if u know the films u will know what I mean) turn. Luckily my husband is a very good driver cause if I had to do it there probably wouldn’t be a fence there any longer.

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• Fiona - Verified booking

  The cottage was lovely and warm and cozy, we didn't feel the need to light the woodburner even though it was - 2 some nights.

  The gardens were really nice and had lots of birds visiting the feeders including great spotted woodpeckers and pheasants. The kitchen had everything you would need and it was nice to have a half and half fridge freezer. The bathroom was lovely and the shower powerful and hot, but you need to hold the shower head down first to get the pressure up but then it was fine... My only disappointment with the bathroom was the keyhole bath as being a slightly larger lady I could only just fit in the bath at the narrow end.... The bed in the king-size room definitely needs a new mattress as when you lie on it you meet in the middle and when one of us turned over we nearly bounced the other one out of the bed so after one night we had to move to the double bed which was comfortable but a bit snug... The only other gripe I have is that when you book somewhere that says its dog friendly and then when you get there find rules stating that they can't go on the furniture or upstairs which for some people might be an issue if their dogs have separation anxiety... On the whole it was a pleasant stay and was a good base to explore the cairngorms.

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  The property was very comfortable for the 2 of us and although there is a wardrobe in the master bedroom, the 2 upstairs rooms share wardrobe space on the landing and the downstairs twin only has coat hooks on the wall. We enjoyed being able to walk in all directions from the property and especially the short walk into Aberlour. Unfortunately we got a call just a week before departure to inform us that the property was double booked. The alternatives offered were unacceptable to us and we had an anxious 2 days before being told that the other party had agreed to move. This issue and the distress and anxiety it caused was not even acknowledged by the owner which makes me think we aren't the first to suffer this. Be Warned! the property is marketed on several websites and the bookings obviously aren't managed satisfactorily.

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