Villas In Scotland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Scott - Verified booking

  Just back from a wonderful week in the most beautiful, perfect place to get away to!

  We absolutely love this place! From arriving to the Challenger estate, it is clear you're in a very special place. Set in the most picturesque environment, its impressive to say the least! Once on the estate lane, the drive to the Bothy is smooth, straightforward and you soon become absorbed in the stunning surroundings. The Bothy itself in its position is really welcoming. We arrived in the evening and it was lovely and warm inside and we very soon felt at home. It is really cosy yet also perfectly spacious. The decor and quality furniture really add to the character of the very charming Bothy. It is clean and fresh throughout. The log fire in the living area is perfect for the evenings and we were welcomed by a generous amount of breakfast items and plenty of wood for the fire. The Bothy has everything you could need or think of for your stay, from games and books to helpful kitchen items, more than can be mentioned, lots of extras. More photos or maps of the estate and area are the only thing that we could possibly find to say that could be added to celebrate this wonderful place! The garden to the Bothy is just beautiful! It is the perfect place for day and night activities, particularly wildlife spotting and star gazing. There is a bench to soak in the stunning views and the garden is lit by lights between the trees at night, which is so pretty, we enjoyed this every night! The views from the Bothy and the estate are superb, with lochs, mountains and ruins within easy walking, and numerous other places of interest a short drive away. Communication with the owner was great from start to finish, always prompt and really helpful. We would absolutely love to stay at the Challenger estate again, in fact we cannot wait to go back!

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• Graeme - Verified booking

  Our stay at the Challenger Bothy was just brilliant and exceeded our expectations.

  On arrival we thought the location picturesque and the house and outdoor area beautiful. We were impressed by it all and loved the mix of traditional and modern. The bothy was spacious and tastefully decorated in a minimal way, which made for a relaxing environment. In the awesome kitchen, we were delighted to receive the welcome of home baked bread, free range eggs, bacon, milk, and other breakfast items. Thank you, this was much appreciated! Everything you could have asked for was provided, even toiletries in the bathroom. The bedrooms were great and giant mattresses extremely comfortable. There was also plenty wood for firing up the hot tub, fire pit and wood burning stove, which were a pleasure to use. Fond memories of the hot tub by day and fire pit by night in the perfect outdoor space. Furthermore, it was interesting to read about the history of the estate in the information folder, which adds to its charm. On clear days the sunsets and sunrises were magic as were the views of the distant mountains. We spent much of our time enjoying the bothy but also managed walks around the estate and Lairg, with The Ord being a favourite with its ancient cairns and excellent views over Loch Shin. The visitor centre there is a fab wee hub. Further afield the Falls of Shin and a trip to Tain were great days out. Also popped into the Balblair distillery for a bottle of their fine dram and visited the nearby ancient and Pictish stones. Can’t wait to return to explore more as it was our first visit to the area and we would definitely hope to stay at the Challenger Bothy again when we do. Thanks for so much, we absolutely loved our stay!

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• Doreen - Verified booking

  Absolutely stunning location & the Bothy could be equally as stunning if a little bit more TLC was carried out by the maintenance team.

  As the bothy is surrounded by trees (very close on 3 sides), it is naturally dark & cold inside, but there was no heating switched on to welcome us. After fathoming out how to work the heaters we had to buy new batteries for all 4 of the sensor controllers as theirs were all flat (& no replacement ones left where it said in cupboard). The gutters were totally choked up with pine needles etc. & shortly after we arrived when it was raining quite heavily, it was like a waterfall falling over the front door until my husband cleared that gutter. Also 1 of the downpipes on the outside corner of the living room was lying on the floor until husband slotted it back into place. There is a lovely picnic bench in the 'garden' but it would be a lot more useful if the grass was trimmed around where it sits. There is a gorgeous state of the art kitchen with just about everything you need (except maybe a can opener). Would have been nice if the vacuum cleaner had been emptied. It was totally choked up & wouldn't even pick up a feather until it had been cleaned out. Bathroom is equally as good with a great heated towel rail & plenty of hot water (switch is in the study) Bedrooms & sitting room were adequate but don't expect the logs for the burner to last long ( about 4 hours). As we were there for a fortnight, the owner rang to say she would send Allen to replace bedding & towels mid stay (which he duly did). Overall it's a great little cottage that could be as fantastic as the scenery with a little more care & attention to detail.

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• Diane - Verified booking

  Dolphin Cottage is lovely, well placed, immaculately clean.

  Everything you need is there for you to enjoy your stay. We didnt find we were missing anything we needed. The owners had left things we didnt expect to find, especially with the toiletries. They left us milk and tea and coffee facilities for our arrival, also a starter pack for the log fire. We arrived to a power cut and they were able to advise us on when the power might be restored. They left a folder of hints and tips and all the manuals needed for the appliances. They deserve to be popular with guests. Lovely cottage and fab hosts. It took us 9 hours to get to Banff but we would happily book again. The cottage is dog friendly and they provide throws for the furniture. We will recommend them to anyone we know who might want to travel to that area. One tip if you are hoping to see the northern lights, ask the locals for advice on your first night. We found out that the lights had appeared on at least 3 nights of our stay but despite looking out of the windows we didnt see them, maybe we should have looked out of the back door not the front as we saw more stars in the sky at the back. All in all a lovely week in Banff and the surrounding area with a lovely cottage to go home to each evening

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• June - Verified booking

  Weren't told that the swimming pool was unavailable until we got there.

  We tried to fire up the hot tub and followed the instructions. We were told that it took 30 minutes to heat up, we checked after 30,45 and 1 hour but the water was stone cold. This basically meant sitting watching TV for 2 days which we could do at home, we decided to head home and the co owner agreed to refund us £200. We were advised that his wife would contact us to arrange this later that day, no one phoned, I called back the following day and spoke to her son who said he would get his mother to call us we are still waiting. We were contacted by Sykes who said the refund had been removed and we could have 2 nights free, given that the owner didn't have the courtesy to call us we rejected their offer. Sykes basically stated that there was nothing else they would do and when I requested their CEO email address again I didn't get the courtesy of a response. Wouldn't use them again and will ensure that none of my family and friends do either. Case of we have your money and don't care. Can I also point out that the swimming pool is still showing as available on Sykes site- False advertising.

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