Holiday Cottages In County Durham

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Christine - Verified booking

  Lovely location and very peaceful.

  The farm dog amused my children every day with jumping over the wall and having a game of football. The cottage was lovely and had everything needed. We did feel it need a little TLC. The ensuite shower wasn't great, not very powerful and water dripping from the shower head and pipe, the beds were very comfy although the town room beds were very rickety and need tightening. The main bathroom was lovely especially the shower, although we didn't use the jets (we didn't know how too). We did have a storm which affected the electrics but they came back on after 30 minutes. We were close to family for visiting which was our.main focus. There was an leak near the front door when we had the heavy downpour, and a puddle of water formed in the utility room on the corner. We were miffed to have no radiators in any rooms or on the bathroom, so drying towels after using them was impossible. I understand there is underfloor heating but we didn't know how to use it, although we would have needed it during our stay. A dressing table in the main bedroom would have been nice but hand having the drawers and a mirror above. The information folder would be better if it had more information on how to use the shower jets, underfloor heating. Helpful to have the iron and ironing board, although this was very hard to use as it was very low and a little bent. Lovely to have some games and puzzles available, although the Whitby puzzle had one price missing, but didn't spoil the fun. A good clean of the microwave and baking trays would be good as they are very used and light bulbs in the main bedroom again only 2 working. Some broke tiles on the floor outside the twin room. It was a good location for us to visit family which was the intention of our stay but we feel from pictures, the adjoining cottage looked much more inviting and bigger.

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• Joanna - Verified booking

  A very mixed review for our stay last weekend.

  The house itself is lovely and was comfortable and clean. A few damp patches in the second double room that needed tending too but we appreciated the age of the building. Unfortunately we all came back from the weekend unwell, my son has such a bad rash I've had to take him to the doctor's who confirmed Pseudomonas Folliculitis and that it came from the poorly sanitised hot tub he said the bacteria comes from poor sanitation and upkeep of the water. We complained to the owners whilst we were there about the smell coming from the tub and that the water was extremely dirty after only one use. The owner suggested that it was my makeup that had caused the filter to clog up and that he hadn't seen anything like it before as the filter was completely blocked and refilled the tub but it was too late. My son had already started to get spots, there is no way we could have made the water that unsanitary in one use that it caused such an infection. I also had no makeup on while using the tub. My son is so unwell as a result that he's had to be treated with two different types of antibiotics and steroid cream as it's really painful and inflamed and he's had a raging temperature all week - the rest of us are seeing how we get on but all have spots where our swimwear was all apart from my mother who didn't go in. This is definitely a health and safety matter and very concerning. He could potentially have scars all over his torso now as the infection is so bad! We complained to Sykes days ago and have had no response so leaving our review here so that others are aware of the dangers of unclean hot tubs.

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• Helen - Verified booking

  I have never stayed in a property where I had to purchase a new kettle on day one because of the condition of the one in the property.

  The kitchen was generally unclean. Microwave was rusty. Cooker hood had one out of three lights working. This was a theme throughout the property. The dishwasher leaked. We bought this to the attention of the owners and they were aware of it and put tape around the pipe. The cupboard was unusable because of wetness. Second fridge ( no knobs on door as it was integrated) had food items left in from previous guest. Despite owners instructions we were unable to use the main shower and used the ensuite shower which had comment and stones flooring which had not been cleaned. the main shower had buttons that all appeared to be broken or burnt out.There were no instruction manuals for any appliances and were we told if we wanted the heating on then we were to contact the owner. The main bathroom Window was not frosted glass and looked out on to another property meaning the blind was down for most of our stay. Light bulbs missing or not working,broken tiling across the floor . In the utility room there was an old toothbrush and paint pots that looked as if they were just left. We booked this property through Sykes and were disappointed that it does not seem to reach a satisfactory standard.

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• Mrs Plant - Verified booking

  The Beeches is on a farm and yet separate from the activities of the farm. It is set in its own grounds with a decent size all around garden. The views from the front of the property are simply magnificent and the rear garden (complete with a BBQ) is extremely quiet and private. The accommodation has three beds and two baths a great lounge with a large TV and in a separate room there is a playstation and a table football game. There are some great walks directly from the house and many more in the local area. The hosts were extremely welcoming and we had homemade cakes on arrival . There are plenty of places to visit, the waterfalls are particularly good and if you are feeling energetic then I would recommend the "Elephant Trees" walk where I saw to my delight a flock of Curlew. There are numerous places to eat, however I would wholeheartedly recommend an Italian restaurant in the nearby town of Crook called Perla Nera, their home made bread sticks are excellent and the Black squid ink pasta with king, tiger and baby prawns was probably the best pasta dish that I have every had.

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• Mrs Plant - Verified booking

  he Beeches is on a farm and yet separate from the activities of the farm. It is set in its own grounds with a decent size all around garden. The views from the front of the property are simply magnificent and the rear garden (complete with a BBQ) is extremely quiet and private. The accommodation has three beds and two baths a great lounge with a large TV and in a separate room there is a playstation and a table football game. There are some great walks directly from the house and many more in the local area. The hosts were extremely welcoming and we had homemade cakes on arrival . There are plenty of places to visit, the waterfalls are particularly good and if you are feeling energetic then I would recommend the "Elephant Trees" walk where I saw to my delight a flock of Curlew. There are numerous places to eat, however I would wholeheartedly recommend an Italian restaurant in the nearby town of Crook called Perla Nera, their home made bread sticks are excellent and the Black squid ink pasta with king, tiger and baby prawns was probably the best pasta dish that I have every had.

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