New Year Cottages in Scotland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Alexander - Verified booking

  Quite frankly apalled by the state of the property.

  Central heating was not working & we were fobbed off with a single electric fan heater. 2 of the radiators were rusty & holed, with visible rust staining from previous leaks. Bathroom door handle was hanging off & not working properly, which meant we couldn't close the door for fear of being locked in. Cleanliness was very poor & food had been left from previous users. There was a strong smell of damp throughout the property, with mold visible on the underside of the bathroom sink and cistern. Property was generally tired & in need of upgrade or replacement, which came as a shock considering the 'top dollar' fee payed. The property was not as advertised on Sykes website, certainly regarding the operational central heating system, & we took the decision not to stay for the 2nd & 3rd nights mainly over health & safety concerns due to the damp. Have raised a complaint with Sykes, which is currently being dealt with. We have plenty of photos of the state of the property, which obviously won't get across the damp smell, but they paint a picture of a property not fit for purpose. I post this as a warning to anyone thinking of staying at this property. Unless a lot of work is carried out ASAP to address the identified issues, issues which have been previously identified by othet users if you look at previous reviews, then I would recommend not using this property if you value your health. To be fair to Sykes, they are trying to resolve the issue, but the property owner does not appear to want to accept responsibility for the issues identified. This experience ruined a weekend away for me & my wife, who were visiting my 87 year old mother in the area for the weekend. We spent the 2nd day looking for somewhere else to stay, which the property owner insists does not entitle me to request or receive a refund as we never checked out at the designated checkout time. I would suggest some property owners in the area are now charging top dollar due to being on the NC500 route, & relying on single night trade, therefore not having to present their property in a good state. Just my opinion, not fact. Anyway, I will be posting these observations & opinions on as many social media sites related to NC500 & Sykes in the hope that no one else is subjected to what we have been subjected to. Quite shocking in this day & age to be fair & begs the question if Sykes carry out sufficient due diligence on properties they advertise on their website. My 1st experience with booking via Sykes would suggest not.

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• James - Verified booking

  The problems we encountered were ones that could not be easily rectified.

  On arrival, we could not miss the heavily stained carpet in the double bedroom, stains on the wall and a see through blind in the bathroom. The television had been changed from dish to aerial and without any instructions we were unable to watch live television. On the Monday when the office opened I spoke to Sheenagh and pointed out several problems, such as the shower in he double bedroom falling to pieces, which to their credit Sheenagh and Steve attended to straight away. Other things really need addressing by the owners, the twin bedroom which our nephew and his wife slept in had a musty damp smell on arrival, we were told that this was due to a lack of underfloor ventilation due to it being a stone floor, worryingly, there was an electric fire and a dehumidifier already in the bedroom. Despite our best efforts, this musty smell was there the whole fortnight. The beds were good in both bedrooms, but the settee’s in the lounge were very uncomfortable and really need changing. We had several beetles appearing throughout the property during our stay. The location is not quite the cosy quiet place you would imagine a holiday let to be, we realised after the first weekend that using the front door of the cottage had to be done carefully as traffic from other cottages, estate vehicles, parcel vans etc, came within inches of our door and window at a speed I consider excessive. A speed limit with signs should be established. The twin bedroom has a security light outside which shined through the window keeping our family awake, so a blackout curtain had to be fashioned using a black blanket from our car. In the bathroom of the twin bedroom there was a heavily stained floor next to the toilet which appeared to be from a previous leak. Being a frequent client of Sykes, I have to say we were all pretty much disappointed with the property, and take no pleasure in posting negative feedback.

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• Jos Forester-Melville - Verified booking

  Our holiday at Taigh na Carr was exceptional from booking to leaving.

  Communication with the LHH team was tremendous during pandemic circumstances when everything was up in the air. They dealt with the swift transition of an Easter break, which became and impossibility due to national lockdown, to an autumnal break which brought with it rainbows and waterfalls in abundance! The cottage was pristine clean and cosy. Modern in every respect from the comfortable sofa and toasty log burner to the clean cut kitchen, cupboards and work surfaces. If you like architecture and attention to detail, Taigh na Carr has it all. The week was largely rainy but this didn't detract from the fact that from every angle, the view was breathtaking. From opening the curtains in the morning and viewing the golden eagle up the hill, to closing the shutters in the evening and not wanting to miss a moment of the pine marten and badger, we loved our time here. We needed to check up with the owners and the housekeeper on a couple of occasions and they were more than helpful. Really lovely people. We will definitely be returning to this wonderful holiday home with the best view ever. We're really grateful to LHH for keeping things ticking over so well for those holidaying in the Highlands. It has been a challenging year for travellers and businesses alike, and we'd like to point out that we have had nothing but great experiences with LHH over the ten years or more that we've been holidaying with them. Thank you for your support in negotiating dates with the owners to ensure we still had our holiday. You did your very best for us. We know it's been a tricky time for small businesses and especially those in the travel industry, but we'll stick by you always as no other company comes close. We hope others enjoy Taigh na Carr as much as our family did.

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• Rennie - Verified booking

  Taigh Na Carr is a stunning modern house in a beautiful location.

  It was a perfect base for us to explore the peninsula south of Loch Alsh and only a 40 minute drive from the Skye bridge. The road through Letterfearn terminates in a lovely walk around a wee bay full of seals which gives you a view of Eilean Donan Castle that most tourists don't get. Carry on and you will discover a ruined broch and a tough hill climb which rewards you with beautiful views up Loch Alsh all the way to the bridge. In this part of the world, you can always be unlucky with the weather (we were for most of the week we were there) but if you remember "there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing" you should be fine. And when it was really chucking it down, Taigh Na Carr was a well-appointed, relaxing base with all the creature comforts including a cracking fireplace with plenty of wood in the shed. The WiFi in the house is really not good and the TV is small so if you like to watch a movie at night, take your own film and playing device. The best thing we did was to organise a boat trip via Seaprobe Atlantis that picked us up on the salmon farm jetty 300 yards down the road and took us all the way to the Applecross Inn for dinner and back. Highly recommended (but not cheap!).

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• David - Verified booking

  What a lovely cottage and a beautiful location!

  The cottage was warm, comfortable and quiet and, to our delight, red squirrels live nearby. It was a real joy to watch them scampering up the drive most mornings! Our only small 'niggle' was the lack of water pressure for the shower which meant it wasn't as powerful as we'd have liked but it was sufficient to do the job and wouldn't deter us from staying here again. The location was excellent, close enough to a main road to get out and about quickly but it still felt 'off the beaten track' and a cosy retreat to return to after a days hiking / sightseeing. Some lovely walking is to be found in the woods behind the cottage - mostly well made forest tracks - and Comrie is accessible this way, avoiding the main road. Crieff is good to visit and for 'supermarket' shopping (Aldi / co-op) and also has a superb deli + cafe! Comrie is pretty but limited and not everything was open on the days we visited (out of main holiday season). The circular walk round Glen Lednock was lovely though (more squirrels!). All in all, a great base for a wonderful relaxing holiday in a beautiful part of the country. We hope to return soon.

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