School Holidays 2017 Cottages In Staffordshire

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Marianne - Verified booking

  This is a nice big house with plenty of parking front and/or back, very clean, and the large garden is definitely dog-escape-proof, which was a definite plus for us with our 2 Red Setters.

  The large kitchen-diner has a wall-mounted tv, there's a fridge-freezer, and the oven/gas-rings and washing-machine were easy to operate, although instructions for the 700w m'wave and the 2 tv's would be useful. The very large tv lounge was cosy for relaxing in the evenings. Upstairs, the wc/shower-room is nearest to the 2 twins, the wc/bathroom with shower over is nearest to the 2 doubles, where the c.h. boiler can be a bit audible at times. The very friendly, helpful and obliging owners Lisa and Dave have left a folder of useful notes for local amenities, dustbin-day, vets, doctors etc, also local restaurants (we recommend The Black Lion in Butterton) and other amenities, and although the house itself is in a "black hole" for mobiles, the wifi works absolutely fine. Leek, Ashbourne, and Ilam Park (NT) are all within 12-15 miles, while Alton Towers is about 20 miles away. There's a nearby Wild Animal park, which we didn't manage to visit this time round. We can also recommend Hartington Village Store, about 15 mins drive away, where the cafe further on through the shop offers the most unbelievable cakes (Sticky Toffee Pudding and Stem Ginger cake...) - so Dieters Beware! All in all, we are pleased to say that this is a good base for exploring the southern end of the Peak district.

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• Julie - Verified booking

  Overall the property offered the perfect space for 8 of us and a dog.

  Ample parking and lovely outdoor area - the kids loved playing in the nearby river. The location of the property, for the activities and the places we wanted to visit, was ideal. A plus would be a pub in suitable walking distance for the kids, but we survived! There are a couple of areas i'd recommend which would have made the stay slightly better. Firstly, the mattresses in some rooms were very soft. This didn't suit all our party but having an extra fold out bed came in handy. We had to ask for some bedding for this, which Jane provided. Secondly, having just one shower for 8 of us became a logistical challenge. If both bathrooms had showers it would be much better. Finally, there was no welcome book. This would be really helpful to understand key points about the property and location - heating, contact numbers, local eateries, when to put the recycling out (we followed suit with the neighbours as the bin was full halfway through our week -- not all from us!). Some leaflets on places to visit were available. Forgot to mentioned, we had to buy bin bags as only one was provided and a whisk! Saying this didn't majority impact our stay and to be welcomed with a big biscuit selection and Haribo pleased the kids. Thanks Jane for a pleasant visit.

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  The two soas were v uncomfortable and difficult to get up from. There was no fire glove and for a four night stay, only two fire lighters left. The pillows on the bed were lumpy and uncomfortable despite us changing them over and trying new positions every night ! The toiletries were quite sparse I thought. The bathroom fittings were all cheap. The shower was cheap - flimsy wire tray on the wall which wasn’t straight. The actual shower wouldn’t go hot enough as it was probably regulated not to go past a certain temperature- shouldn’t we be able to adjust to our own preference ? None of the windows fully opened - again they all appeared to be limited. There was no kitchen hand towel, not enough cups or mugs and only four dishwasher tabs left. The welcome hamper was v poor - v cheap sachets, a v scrappy two pieces of cheese, five eggs, five small eggs, three small pots of preserve and a white cling filmed loaf. I could go on. Heap white goods and the plinth below the under counter fridge kept falling down of its own accord as there seemed to be nothing holding it up. The lighting in the sitting area was poor. The furniture was well below par.

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  The two soas were v uncomfortable and difficult to get up from. There was no fire glove and for a four night stay, only two fire lighters left. The pillows on the bed were lumpy and uncomfortable despite us changing them over and trying new positions every night ! The toiletries were quite sparse I thought. The bathroom fittings were all cheap. The shower was cheap - flimsy wire tray on the wall which wasn’t straight. The actual shower wouldn’t go hot enough as it was probably regulated not to go past a certain temperature- shouldn’t we be able to adjust to our own preference ? None of the windows fully opened - again they all appeared to be limited. There was no kitchen hand towel, not enough cups or mugs and only four dishwasher tabs left. The welcome hamper was v poor - v cheap sachets, a v scrappy two pieces of cheese, five eggs, five small eggs, three small pots of preserve and a white cling filmed loaf. I could go on. Heap white goods and the plinth below the under counter fridge kept falling down of its own accord as there seemed to be nothing holding it up. The lighting in the sitting area was poor. The furniture was well below par.

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  Our second consecutive Christmas stay and the property still meets the high expectations that it set last year. It is a very large space for two and equipped to feel like home from home, with lovely little touches like the welcome pack, as well as candles, quirky finishing touches like the watering can lamp, and of course the beautifully decorated tree. The settees won't be to everyone's liking but we did find a way to get settled. More information about bins/recycling would be helpful - where we're from a green wheelie bin is for garden waste and we ended up bringing all our recycling home as we couldn't be sure it wouldn't just go to landfill. Also the fridge is a little small for a week's stay over Christmas which demands both food and drink chillage! These are small observations though - in general we love the stillness and solitude, the huuuuuge bed, luxurious bathroom and log burner for the evening. Sadly I think we've been priced out of staying again next Christmas but it will stay on the wishlist for future visits.

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