Large Dog Friendly Cottages in Alston

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Stephen - Verified booking

  We stayed for 3 nights.

  The location is perfect a good base to visit the surrounding areas. Central to both the northern lakes and Pennines. The village of Alston itself is a short 2 min drive to a public car park and nice tea rooms and Alston hall is good for a sit down meal. The cottage itself is beautiful. Facilities we’re great , everything you would need was provided, washer dryer iron hoover. Plenty of towels a nice welcome pack for our dogs. As a site and a location I would give it 10/10 The BAD part unfortunately after 1 night I received contact that the owner had told the agent that we had a party , that we were over occupied with 9 people and that we had set up out door lightning. The truth was when we went in to Alston on our first night the local eating places were booked up so we bought some food from the co-op. We cooked it and decided to eat outside in the lovely garden on the picnic table. We commenced eating around 630. Our party consisted of 3 male adults 2 females and 1 child and 2 dogs. We finished around 815 as the sun was going down and there is an outdoor socket I placed a table lamp outside to give us some light as we cleaned up. There was no music no alcohol and we were in the rear for less than 2 hours. The lady who called us from Sykes was really nice and advised it was probably a nosey neighbour who had reported to the owner the above fallacies . Unfortunately this really cast a dampener on the rest of our trip. We felt like we were being watched and scrutinised by the owners of the other cottages in the site. I wouldn’t place the blame on skyes or the owner as they have protocol and insurance and continuing to have relationships with the people that actually live in the location. However the fact remains I wouldn’t recommend booking this cottage as we personally had a bad experience. Despite its beauty and location.

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• Jacquie - Verified booking

  All in all, a pleasant stay.

  Beds were extremely comfortable, with crisp white linen, and lovely views. The lounge was large but cosy and well appointed easily accommodating 6 people (although there were only 2 of us). The kitchen was very well equipped. A few niggles now but I guess it's difficult for the owners as we learned they live in another part of the country so don't see the visitors book. On arrival, in driving rain and wind, getting the key safe open was really difficult. It's clearly broken, same issue when trying to close it up on departing. The grass in the garden was something of a mine field due to dog mess not being picked up, I don't envy who has to cut it but my diary dog would not step on the grass. Unfortunately the shower head was awful, covered in mould, as were many of the tiles round base of the shower. There was also lots of debris down the side of the cushions on sofa so maybe missed when hoovering. The description said fuel for heating supplied but there was only 3 logs and kindling although it has been made up really to light. Maybe I misunderstood. Some of the crockery could have been cleaner as had to wash 2 plates and saucepan. However, we're aware that the owners are intending to upgrade the cottage over the winter so I hope these niggles will be sorted. Please also leave instructions for things like where to put rubbish, where the heating controls are, where to buy logs etc, as when we arrived there was no heat on and it was freezing and dark. Once the thermostat found, the heating was very good. The views from the cottage are beautiful and it's literally 5 minutes in the car to Alston. The neighbours are also very friendly.

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• Amanda - Verified booking

  Treetops is the most delightful place to stay, it is truly a home from home.

  It has generous sized bedrooms, with quality furnishings and the very comfortable beds. The bathroom has the most wonderful shower and bath, and again is fitted to a very good standard. The downstairs of the property is also of generous proportions and is very well thought out. The kitchen / dining space is huge and allows for everyone to be together whilst cooking and eating. Both the living room and dining room benefit from the log fire and it makes the place feel even more homely. There are lovely little touches such as a pint of fresh milk in the fridge along with some tea, coffee, biscuits, chocolates and even a few dog treats on arrival - which are very much appreciated. The outside space is also of a good size and is secure which is very useful when taking a dog. There's ample on street parking for two cars (possibly more) directly outside the property and access to the property is simple and straightforward. We had the best time here, it was lovely and peaceful but also only a short walk to the local shop and amenities. We genuinely can not find fault with anything. We had great communication with the owners, who were friendly and polite. Its safe to say we will be returning next year and we can't wait to do so!!

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• Laura - Verified booking

  The cottage is well equipped and the biscuits/coffee/milk was a nice touch.

  Decorated to a nice standard and the cleaning was ok. Overall this is a nice place to stay, we chose this place mainly due to the paddock for the dogs, but unfortunately our dogs escaped through the broken fence As soon as we arrived we let the dogs have a run in the paddock there was a hole in the wire fence which my 2 dogs managed to find straight away to get into the next field and chase the poor sheep. Luckily they have good recall and came back very quickly but it could of been a lot worse had it of been different dogs. I found cable ties near the fence so the owners are aware of the issue and I managed to temporarily fix it but this certainly should of been checked before we arrived especially knowing we were bringing dogs. Despite this we did have a nice stay. There was no fire starters or kindling which we had to go out and find so that was a bit of a disappointment especially during cold nights.

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• Lindsay - Verified booking

  We loved Tree Tops for our 3 nights in October 24, 3 walkers plus dog having a go at most of Isaac’s Tea Trail.

  The cottage is warm and comfortable, especially the adjoining sitting room and large kitchen with the wood burning stove across both ( which we used- so cosy) The weather was atrocious, but with dog in tow we went out in all our waterproofs. We had some slight reprieves especially walking along the river out of Allendale which was beautiful. Highly recommend the trail, if you have good boots, maps and gear ( and better weather). Could we ask for the following which would have helped our stay? *Clothes horse to hang up wet clothes Also The kitchen tap is dripping all the time The door locks ( including French doors to back) are tricky so perhaps more than just advice is now needed? We are strong and yet still struggled The gate handle needs fixed ( important with a dog to help keep safe as you go in and out) Perhaps a hand towel each would be nice as well as an extra towel in kitchen

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