Holiday Cottages in Northumberland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Joanna - Verified booking

  Could be lovely - but needs a lot of attention.

  The worst was the VERY dangerous electric towel rail – this is hot to burning levels – I burned my hand twice hanging up towels and when I caught my elbow on it while getting out of the bath and it immediately blistered and burned through layers of skin casing a nasty burn which is still painful 5 days on. There are no rails in the bath or wall and it is quite a high bath - so nothing to get hold of when getting in and out and I’m a fit adult. This would be really dangerous for children, anyone elderly or disabled – the rail is a real health and safety issue heating to the temperature of an iron and was not even labelled with a warning sign as dangerous as very hot. When we arrived at 4.30 (check in was from 4.00) the wooden floors and tiled entrance had recently been mopped and were very wet meaning that both humans and dogs were slipping a lot until they were eventually dried. We couldn't use the drive for parking as a large ATV was parked there for the duration of our stay so we had to park on the road – meaning we had to carry all the luggage and load dogs directly onto the road in the rain. Parking area was very overgrown so passenger had to get out into thorns. Dustbins are left out at the front of the cottage - adding to the general dilapidated appearance. The upstairs floor looked derelict – even worse state than downstairs. The photos must be old that were used in the advert as it didn’t live up to expectations. Random clutter left in corners and behind the washer – which had been poorly fitted so that the doors didn’t close. Needs a thorough update, decorate inside and out and a deep clean. Paint on windows cracked inside and out. Light switches, plug sockets, table mats, chopping board all needed cleaning. Curtains in sitting room and hall were grubby on the bottoms and dusty with cobwebs. Damp on bedroom wall. Fuse boxes all exposed – need boxing in. Only one loo roll for 4 nights and 3 dishwasher tablets seems rather mean. The garden is a jungle and not dog proof. Nettles and thorny roses everywhere, full of weeds and overgrown shrubs, junk and dying planters. Such a shame as it could be a lovely place to sit out. View from kitchen was onto a mass of nettles. So – whilst it was in a beautiful location with walks close by, I would not recommend it until plenty of TLC has been lavished on it. Photos available. Bit of a long list - but it wasn't cheap and we expected better.

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• Kevin - Verified booking

  Disappointed with description as cottage garden was enclosed and the photo of the garden was very carefully taken to indicate this was the garden for honeys cottage, in fact the garden was shared by 2 cottages both belonging to the same owner.

  This was not stated on the individual description of either cottage. On Skye’s page underneath the individual disruptions right at the bottom was the line some areas of the garden could be shared. The whole garden was shared with dogs all sharing the whole area. Luckily all the dogs were the same smaller size but could get into each others cottages as the doors were open as the weather was hot. Also privacy was an issue as the door to the other property and their patio table and chairs / barbecue was directly opposite the two full length glass doors to the bedroom with the bed 1 meter from the window. The wet room constantly flooded ,the owner sent his friend to address this and the trap was overflowing with hair and waste, but this continued to flood all the time. The heating was coming on at 2 or 3 am in the early morning and could not be altered again the friend kindly came to assist but could not solve the issue so we had to turn everything off and back on when hot water needed and the fan in the kitchen and the dishwasher did not work so we opened the window and washed up by hand. The cottage is lovely nicely furnished very basic with utensils and crockery but ok .Directly on the side of a busy main road and getting in and out of the drive is difficult and could be dangerous if not careful. The owner was informed by message about the folding issues heating etc but made no response but his friend Brett was kind and apologetic Sykes did listen but were somewhat dismissive of the our concerns pointing out the sentence that some of the garden could be shared. The other people staying in the other cottage also spoke to Sykes and were told they could use the garden and the 2 acre meadow as stated in their holiday description to exercise their dogs they could not as the grass was 2 ft high. Sykes did give us a refund of £50 ‘as we had to wash up as the dishwasher was not working’.

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• Mrs Dransfield - Verified booking

  The plus points first. Harbour Hideaway is in a fantastic location in Seahouses. Very handy for all the lovely local amenities. The convenient parking space is right outside the property. The decor is modern and the layout well thought out. For the size it is well equipped, the combined microwave is a larger model. We found the sofa bed to be comfortable and easy to convert from sofa to a bed. The views from the property are beautiful, with lovely walks along the coast. However, Harbour Hideaway is very small, once the sofa bed is made up, you can only just walk around it. The main space, not including the front door recess is app 2.3 metres, (less 40cm for the kitchen run, approx 1.9 metres) by 3.2 metres approx. There is a small recess for the front door. We found damp and high levels of humidity to be a problem and have provided the owner with photos. Thankfully we had lovely weather because it would be difficult drying wet coats, shoes and walking coats in such a confined space. There is very little storage space and we had to leave rucksacks, walking shoes and jackets in the car. All bedding and towels are provided but there were only two pillows, for two people. There is not room in the sofa bed storage for all the bedding, we had to leave a pillow out during the day. We stayed for five nights and found it a little challenging because of the lack of space and lack of storage.

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• Ian - Verified booking

  Honeysuckle cottage is ideally located for exploring North Northumberland and the owner has refurbished the former Coach House hotel to form self-contained flatlets of a high standard.

  As with any new-build there are some areas that only time and honest feedback will perfect, for example there is no shaver socket in the bathroom and the inventory is currently relatively minimal, however the owner's responsiveness to our request for a mop and hairdryer was exemplary and cleanliness was good on arrival. It is indisputable that the front bedroom is directly on the main road, and some may be disturbed by the associated traffic, fortunately we only used the room as additional wardrobe space! Whilst we were staying there were no issues streaming the to the smart TV and web-surfing but otherwise mobile telephone coverage is poor in the area. All in all, a very pleasant week in stunning countryside boosted by glorious autumn weather. Feeding back to Sykes Cottages in general; can we please ask that all property owners provide the EXACT grid reference of the property in the directions (OSGB or W3W) and that the pre-booking property description includes a detailed accessibility statement and fire risk assessment. Personally, I look for assistance rails in wet-rooms, appropriate fire / CO detectors, suitable escape lighting and exits that can be easily opened in an emergency.

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• Alice - Verified booking

  Stonecrop The location is great and the cottage has potential, but desperately needs attention.

  Off road parking was unavailable throughout my stay due to an all terrain vehicle which never moved - far from ideal when unpacking and packing the car. I felt compelled to do a high dust throughout to remove the thick cobwebs. There is a large damp patch spanning the full height of the wall in the corner of the bedroom - I opened windows and even bought a plug in air freshener in an attempt to combat the smell of damp in the bedroom which can also be found on the bedding, and now all my clothes. The garden is overgrown, to the extent I supervised my dogs as felt they might get lost, or trapped, in the mass of weeds, roots, plants and bushes. This is the first I have felt the need to include negative comments in all my years of renting holiday cottages - given this was not a cheap booking, I expected higher standards given the cost.

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