New Year Breaks 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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• Nicola - Verified booking

  The cottage is in a great location with pubs, restaurants, cafes & shops close by.

  The cottage itself is warm, comfortable & very well equipped. We cooked every day and the kitchen didn’t lack of anything. The shower was great & the water nice & hot although not the easiest to get in & out of if you have mobility issues & the towels were tiny! I would suggest bringing a bath sheet! The beds & pillows were comfortable although please note the main bed is a double not a king size as stated. The furniture is the living room was nice & comfortable but there was only 2 of us. The sofa is a 2 seater & then there is a chair so four adults would struggle to relax & watch tv but it wasn’t an issue for us. I think the cottage could benefit from a welcome pack. There was no information about recycling & heating. No instructions on using the oven. No emergency numbers for doctors or a dentist or the cottage owner/cleaner should something go wrong. We managed perfectly fine as we visit Scotland a lot so have an understanding of the recycling but it would have also been helpful to advise that there was a glass recycling bank right at the side of the house! We discovered this purely by accident. The only other thing to mention is that the only bathroom is upstairs so if you have mobility issues the stairs are quite steep when you need to use the facilities. Overall we enjoyed our stay. The price of the cottage offered great value for money.

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• Deborah - Verified booking

  All in all a very disappointing property.

  I have stayed on this park before in a much nicer lodge. It felt very un-welcoming and neglected. Toilet seat loose in shower room - had just been left perched on the toilet bowl, toilet door doesn’t close in main bedroom, radiator in main bedroom toilet not working, double mattress very uncomfortable (also reported on previous reviews), 3 bulbs out (reported in May 23 on a previous review), outside light has energy bulb which provides no light at all, back of tv remote control stuck on with a grotty fabric plaster, no doormat at patio door (we needed to use that entrance as it was easier for my Mum to use the steps with the railings) cigarette ends left in ashtray on patio and also many on floor near side door, cobwebs, contact lense on floor of bedroom & also another stuck to chest of drawers, tea/coffee/sugar jars with dirty contents, chipped plates & mugs, information booklet 6 years out of date. This property requires some TLC and a better cleaner.

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• Alan - Verified booking

  The Paddock is a lovely bungalow close to beautiful and stunning countryside.

  Kirkgowan is a small and quite village with one small (friendly) shop. Sykes description of the property describes the nearest pub, The Craighlaw Arms Hotel, a 200-year old coaching inn, as been .3 of a mile from The Paddock. This is not correct. The Craighlaw has been closed for a year! The nearest pub/cafeis at least 8 miles away. We picked The Paddock over another property, which was situated 'in the country', because on holiday we like to have a 'local' for an occassional meal out, and to socialise, without the need to use a car. We have tried to raise the above with Sykes but their site is not user friendly when it comes to submitting complaints. The Paddock itself is a fine property. But we believe Sykes description of properties etc should provide a true representation. The Paddock has only been available to rent this year. The Craighlaw has been closed as a pub since last year: so it appears Sykes knew before they listed the property.

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• Jade - Verified booking

  Lovely layout beautiful lodge.

  Loved the games and DVDs to use. Shower was amazing. Lots of storage. Lots of information left of things to do in the area. Which was very helpful. When we got there unfortunately down the side of the toilet looked like urine.. the 2 single beds were good for comfort but the double was extremely uncomfortable. The radiator in the toilet ensuite didnt work and the window in the let in a big draft so was very cold and because the ensuite door doesn't fit we couldn't shut it to keep the bedroom warm. We had to prop it shut with a towel. Also the kitchen sink plug doesn't work the whole plug and surrounding comes right out out the sink. Luckily we found a bowl in the boiler cupboard so we could was up. We would of liked to have hoovered but the Hoover in the boiler cupboard had half missing and the one in the main bedroom cupboard had no wheels and the pipe wasn't attached . So we brushed the carpet as best we could.

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