Holiday Cottages In Western Isles

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Andrew - Verified booking

  I stayed at this property between the 8th of March and the 15th of March and I booked it because I had stayed at Otter Cottage approximately 200 yards along the road recently in January.

  On the face of it this is a modern property which certainly looks the part but I had a nightmare week there. On arrival no satellite signal so could not use the TV, the basement TV also had no signal but access to iPlayer etc, I could not use this as my wife is disabled and on a feeding pump and could not use the stairs, when I booked I made sure everything that I needed was on the one level, after much faffing about with the owner and the housekeeper the following day they arranged for a satellite repair guy to attend from Stornaway on the Monday to check the satellite position as they stated that there had been storms and had knocked out a lot of other satellites, two guys turned up in a private car without a ladder and new they couldn’t reach it , came into house and checked the connections and could find nothing amiss, and stated it was a subscription issue, by this time I’m none too pleased so they went away in the huff, spoke to housekeeper Elly who said that she would get onto Sky and get sorted, came back to me and said spent hours onto Sky and it would not be up and running now till the following Thursday ( now I’ve been a Sky customer for over 25 years and never been in situation where it would take more than a few hours to upgrade or install a package ). because the Tv in the lounge was Sky Glass then you could not use it even as an app , was offered a smaller tv by Elly on the Tuesday to get me at least BBC iPlayer but by this time I was not prepared to stay in and deal with it so told her to forget it, now guess what? by the Friday when I left there was still no picture ( took a photo as proof ), next door neighbour who was a nurse noticed my wife had a nasal tube and new she was on a feeding pump as this was now Wednesday she asked if we knew the power was going down in area the next day Thursday, I told her no I was not given any information about this, she said that everyone had three months notice of this as a few properties ( new builds ) up the coast were all being connected to the electricity grid and power could be out all day and possibly into the Friday. The house itself is cold, although you can allegedly up the thermostat to increase the temperature but the owner 600 miles away can override it, the ceiling is the height of a double decker bus so any heat goes straight up about 16 feet, the owner said to use the display fireplace to boost the heat but as I explained to him it is a fan heater which aims the heat into a glass fish tank type display and cuts itself out constantly, so my wife is sitting with a hot water bottle in a property that I had paid a premium price for. The lounge had no small tables to put a drink on so I had to go upstairs and take two bedside cabinets down to use as tables ( Elly came with two small tables on the Sunday or Monday ) the lounge has large windows but no blinds or curtains so you are sitting there at night and feel like a goldfish, god knows what it would be like in the summer. There is a distinct lack of places to hang things, no key hooks , no towel hooks in bathroom, you are encouraged to use the side door into the utility but the door is either warped or badly fitted , no trays to put wet boots or hangers for jackets, no shower caddy, no space/shelving at bathroom sink to hold toiletries, had to store at windowsill, no scissors no torches, had to buy scissors in Tarbert , supposed to be dog friendly but large glass coffee table by lounge window with sharp corners at dog eye height ( and the owner is a vet ) place is surrounded by sheep which is not ideal if you have a dog as the new fence down the right especially has spaces at the bottom where a dog can escape. Supposed to be instructions in a black box on how to use the hob but found none ,had to google it. On reading the house guide it gives the owners application to Harris council to use the property as a rental BUT it clearly states that due to the way water is supplied/stored for use at this property and is susceptible to legionella then the property is NOT to be rented to people who may be vulnerable and the owner has clearly ticked the box to say that he complies with this regulation. So maybe he ( a medical professional ) can explain how my wife who has a suppressed immune system managed to stay here and was potentially put at risk, and why this is not clearly advised on SYKES SITE. So to conclude would I recommend this property Would you like to phone a friend?

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• Helen - Verified booking

  On first impressions we were pleased until we found a hole in the bed sheets and stain.

  There were many unclean items in the kitchen that we needed to wash before use and the teabags, kitchen roll & washing up liquid had not been replenished. When we contacted the cleaner she told us to go and buy some and did not want to address it and was very rude. We found the dryer unusable until it was cleaned by us due to lots of sand, fluff & overflowing water tank. The wooden floor leading into the lounge was raised due to damp and therefore we could not close the lounge door. There are no side tables to put a drink on in the lounge, we had to put our drinks on the floor. In all three bathrooms there were no hooks to hang a damp bath towel and no hand towel holder. There was a roll of wires hanging out from the main bedroom wall. Sparkling grape juice left as a welcome pack rather than a bottle of wine! We have stayed in much more luxurious properties at half the price - very disappointed. There is much to address before the property can be described as luxury. Overall a very expensive non luxury stay.

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• The Tarleton Family - Verified booking

  We had an amazing time at Otter cottage.

  It is everything you dream of: luxurious, quiet, fabulous views, stunning sunsets, sea just a few minutes' walk. We had the amazing long beach practically to ourselves when we stayed in August 2012. Harris is like being in the Carribean, with turquoise seas and white sands, quite astounding. The cottage had everything we needed and things we hadn't even thought of. The children were kept very well occupied, and I loved the huge outside/inside porch to keep sandy wellies and beach treasures in. The owners were just brilliant, couldn't ask for friendlier, more approachable people, even brought down puppies for us to see! We had a fantastic time and hope to return someday - it was definitely worth the trek from East Anglia! There is so much still to explore there that a week really didn't give us time to do! Thank you for such amazing memories.

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• Angela Barnshaw - Verified booking

  Hi Angus and Allina, Sorry it has taken almost a week to e-mail you.

  Just wanted to say how much we enjoyed your terrific property in such a beautiful location. Everything was great and suited us very well. Thank you very much for the great welcome pack we enjoyed every bit of it and the red wine was so much to our taste that we bought another at the store in Leverburgh. Thanks also for the doggy pack much appreciated by our pooch. We were absolutely delighted by your thoughfulness. I put the extra towels in the wardrobes as we had sufficient and laid them out when we were leaving but. I think I forgot to lay out the towels in the downstairs bedroom. Hope you found them OK. LHH have not asked us for feedback yet but we would just say that your house was of 5 star standard and very generously provided everything we needed AND MORE. Thank you, until the next time. Angela & Harry Barnshaw

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• AM - Verified booking

  My family have just returned from a week at Otter Cottage and I wanted to let you know that we found the house to be of the highest standard and pretty much perfect in every way.

  The cleanliness was second to none and the house was warm, comfortable and felt like home from the minute we walked in the door. It was great to have items included like washing up tablets, toilet rolls and food bags etc; as well as cotton wool, soap and body wash etc; in the bathrooms. These little touches are appreciated when self catering. The location for touring Harris is perfect and the views and closeness of Scarista Beach were fantastic, our dog loved her walks there every morning. We fell in love with Harris all over again since our last visit 20 years ago, we will definately not be leaving it this long until our next visit. Thanks again and best wishes.

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