New Year Breaks In Scotland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Dave - Verified booking

  We had to cut our 2 week holiday short by some 5 days due to the pain caused to both my wife and myself by the bed.

  When we arrived, we found the bed mattress to be so firm it was like lying on a concrete block! In all our years of using Sykes as a company which we relied on to provide us with a good holiday, we have never had anything like this before. No matter how hard you pressed, there was very little give on the mattress, and we were unable to rest comfortably without either of us being in pain as if we had slept on the floor. in fact, I have slept on floors in tents while camping right through to comfortable ‘posh’ hotel beds with no discomfort such as this caused. Due to the amount the holiday had cost us, along with the distance travelled to get there, we had pinned our hopes on this being an excellent break, so we endeavoured to stay as long as possible. Imagine my horror of finding my wife in tears on the Tuesday morning and being unable to move due to the pain, and with her being scared to try and sleep there any more, I decided it would be better to bring her home. When we first arrived, there was a terrible musty damp smell throughout and along with the musty smell, that others have also commented on in their reviews, in the kitchen we also found a mouse carcass along with a cardboard Rodent Trap/Bait Box for Mouse Poison Control by the boiler. I appreciate the wildlife problems that can happen and understand the problems therein, but to leave a carcass in the kitchen where food is prepared is certainly not in health and safety considerations or something your guests should experience. As you know, mouse droppings etc are enough for councils to close down establishments where food is prepared. The trap in the kitchen was very dirty and covered in grime as if it had been there for a very long time. This total experience has really soured our impression of the Sykes holiday experience we have enjoyed for many years. Sykes say that they have not had any complaints so if you have had any poor experience at this lodge I would advise you to complain so that things may improve for other visitors.

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• James - Verified booking

  There was no broadband on our arrival.

  I tried reporting the issue on the numbers given for Brodie castle and the duty manager but both went to voicemail. This was around 4pm. The Sunday morning there was a knock on the door and a groundskeeper said but had been contacted and would look at the fault. We heard nothing until Tuesday morning when we got a call to arrange a convenient time for someone to enter the cottage. I explained that we had had to travel home for my wife’s mum’s funeral on th Tuesday and wouldn’t be back until Wednesday evening so with only two days of our holiday left we didn’t want to be tied waiting for repairs. So no broadband all week. Also there were no kitchen towels provided or oven gloves. And no instructions for the heating, the sheets of paper left with information for the cottage said instructions were in a folder in the kitchen but there was no folder. In addition the garden was dug up, whilst we were made aware of this a couple of days before we arrived it was disappointing that we couldn’t sit outside as it’s a key aspect of what we enjoy. Overall it was a very disappointing experience (particularly since we originally booked south lodge).

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• Donald - Verified booking

  Cormack Lodge was very comfortable ( apart from dining chairs!

  ), generally well equipped and furnished to a good standard for a holiday let. Your listing includes a DVD player which isn’t there any more. This was raised with NTS staff at Brodie Castle but nobody got back to us on this. As TV reception is suspect due, I think, to a bad aerial connection, a DVD player is all the more relevant. Some other issues / facts that should be highlighted are: - - lack of any comprehensive information pack relevant to the property (e.g. location of shops or services, local recycling regime and bin collection, simple collated instructions for equipment in property, etc.) - WiFi doesn’t work in lounge so ‘smart’ features on TV don’t work, so no iPlayer or red-button available. - lighting is very dull for reading by, in what is already a fairly dark, shady cottage. - no oven gloves in kitchen and only one thin dish towel for a two-week stay. It should be noted in the listing that there is no mobile phone reception in the property on BT mobile or EE. This was an issue for me because of inability to receive one particularly important incoming call on a medical issue.

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• Alan - Verified booking

  The photograph doesn’t do the property justice.

  We self cater about four times a year and have a hit list of requirements and these were extremely well met at Millview. The accessible garage was ideal for our bike storage plus the property has loads of storage space in the utility room for cycling/hiking equipment and lots of coat hooks essential for wet outdoor gear. The kitchen is well equipped including a hand towel (very few provide a towel in the kitchen) the lounge comfy with the added bonus of an open fire. Bedrooms fine with good bed linen and fluffy large towels in the bathroom and plenty hot water. The sitting area outside is very nice with the added bonus of a canopy over the area which provided welcome shade the week we visited 27 degrees! We enjoyed being able to cycle directly from the house to Loch Garten, Boat of Garten to Aviemore along cycle route 7. There are many more routes some of which we explored Speyside Way to Kincraig with a visit to The Old Post Office a lovely cafe then back via Loch Insh to Aviemore. A splendid property in a quiet area but all facilities are easily accessible.

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• Carol - Verified booking

  The cottage was clean and comfortable and we had a very enjoyable holiday.

  We would definitely return in the future. The location was excellent with a lake to walk round and the whole castle grounds on the other side of the road, which unfortunately was a very fast one and went right past the front door. The rubbish bin was outside the drive and was full to overflowing when we arrived and was not emptied all week. We had to leave our non recyclable in a bin bag which was tied up on the window sill inside the house as we were frightened that foxes/rats would tear it open if we left it outside. The only other thing that could have been better was that we followed the instructions on how to find the cottage and retrieve the key and then we had no idea where we were in relation to the castle, shops etc and there was no literature inside the cottage and no one to ask. We eventually worked it out but more information, especially on the location of food shops would have been useful.

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