Large Dog Friendly Cottages in Castle Douglas

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  We enjoyed our week in Barscobe House. It has a lovely prospect looking over the countryside, set in a well kept estate, and a large secluded garden with a mowed lawn. There are walks starting from the house e.g. the Holy Linn waterfall, and up into the hills. It was reunion for three generations of a family, coming together from Edinburgh, Yorkshire, London and Maine USA. It was helpful having the caretaker and housekeeper staying on the estate to help with queries. We also used a local agent, who had good local knowledge. The kitchen is very well equipped: it is difficult to know what one is going to find in a holiday let, but this property has the sense of a much loved family house, well designed for catering. There were many baking trays, cake, bun and loaf tins, a blender, food processor, hand mixer, ice maker… A real old fashioned larder, 2 fridges (one with a freezer section) and a chest freezer. Ample cutlery and crockery etc. Good recycling arrangements (glass to the nearby village, or local supermarkets). Two washing machines, a tumble dryer, an old style wooden ceiling pulley for clothes (in a separate scullery). Two dishwashers. Some of the chairs and furnishing are wabi-sabi, but we found this made it comfy, and matches the house. Beds comfortable, nice cotton bedding, plumbing good, very toasty hot press to dry/air clothes. We already knew that Castle Douglas is a foodie town, and it didn’t disappoint: three butchers (we used Grierson’s, excellent), bakers, a greengrocer, and we ended the week ordering a very good fish supper from Moore’s (with a rigid insulated box and a foil-lined bag, they stayed hot enough on the 25 minute drive). The nearby village of Balmaclellan has a friendly community shop for messages like fresh milk. There are mobile fish van shops in the region too. We were lucky with the weather, but the house has a snooker table (pool too? Not my strong suit!) and lots of indoor space should the weather break - we did consider playing “Sardines”, but actually spent a lot of time exploring local attractions for outdoorsy types (some of my family has an affinity for cold water, and swam enthusiastically in Loch Ken), with the coast not too far away. We were sad (in a way) not to need the fires, that’d be cosy indeed. The “dark sky” area meant that on clear nights we could see the Perseid “falling stars”. The wifi dropped out occasionally but this wasn’t a problem for us. The caretaker was on hand on the one occasion the router needed rebooting. We understand that infrastructure improvements are coming soon. It is an interesting old building (early 20th century) that must be challenging to keep from disrepair. The windows alone are a daunting task. The hefty security deposit is unusual in these days, but I see why it is imposed, and it was repaid within the week. The entry time of 5 pm is the latest we’ve ever been offered (due to cleaning schedule, I think), but we built that into our arrival time. We had one electric car in our party: the provision at the house is currently via a standard indoor socket using one’s own trickle feed cable: rather slow, and the surcharge seemed arbitrary (not metered, rather high) - but we did opt to use it as the fast chargers in Castle Douglas were in use/out of order: the infrastructure will presumably eventually catch up (and I don’t just mean at this property). Highly recommended.

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• Laura Slaven - Verified booking

  We had a truly wonderful stay at Airds of Kells House. The location is fantastic - perfect for exploring all that Dumfries and Galloway has to offer, as well as being surrounded by countryside views. My kids had such fun running wild in the grounds. We even saw deer on arrival (though they didn't return during our stay). The pheasants kept us all amused with their crazy running, though they were a little overwhelming for the dogs when outside (on leads). The house itself is really well equipped, with an abundance of crockery and tableware in the kitchen. We cooked the most delicious Easter roast in the rayburn. The bedrooms are also well appointed, we loved finding a torch in each for nighttime (or possible powercuts, but this didn't happen) - a nice touch. The beds and pillows are comfortable, with good quality linen and towels provided, and so much space for everyone. Additionally, the bathrooms are lovely, with plenty of hot water to go round. It's obvious the house is well loved and it is decorated to a high standard. If I had one minor comment, it would be that the rugs in the kitchen could do with non-slip backing, as we went skidding on them a few times! The only room we didn't use was the dining room (except to hide eggs for the Easter egg hunt), as the dining space in the kitchen was more than adequate for the 6 of us. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend this property :)

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  A lovely place, superbly equipped, with more books than you could read in a year. Supermarket in Castle Douglas open till late 7 days a week, compensating for the few gaps in the supplies. E.g. more spices than you would ever think of, but no oil; excellent dishwasher and washing machine, but no tablets; no bin liners. Excellent restaurant Mr Pooks in Castle Douglas - you should be able to afford it at least once. Note that the beds downstairs are a bit to a lot hard, maybe ask for a softer mattress? You should not need to leave, but if you do, note that Kirkcudbright is lovely with a variety of choice for food, but with Wigtown you go for the books and the lasagne and chips. If you can work out what the actual recycling arrangements are (they give 3 versions) you're a better person than I am. The Wifi is good but does not penetrate to the downstairs double bedroom - there are amplifiers plugged in but no idea how to use them.

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• Jordanne Richardson - Verified booking

  Beautiful cottage and idyllic setting, garden was fabulous and hosted our sports day, the area is so quiet and barely saw any cars, the rooms were lovely and the kitchen and living area were amazing and spacious. The views from the kitchen were brilliant and all of our dogs had a fabulous time exploring in the garden, the tennis court was brilliant and all of the equipment was supplied, fantastic holiday and a beautiful cottage, we cannot wait to return!!!

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• Confirmed Guest - Verified booking

  Very special house... Gorgeous views. Quality, thoughtful and homely fixtures and fittings. Beautiful cattle in woodland pasture outside. The fields surrounding the house were covered in pheasants awaiting their fate in the pheasant shooting season. We found this an off-putting feature.

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