Villas In Angus

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Alexander - Verified booking

  We spent a happy week in North Stables between 9 and 16 September.

  The flat was clean and well-presented. The sitting room and bedrooms were well-decorated and comfortable. The NTS staff were exceedingly friendly and helpful. We had an excellent tour of The House of Dun given by Colin who was a terrific guide. The surrounding area is beautiful and there is much to see and do. However, while most of the flat was highly acceptable, the kitchen left a great deal to be desired and needs to be re-designed. The flat accommodates four people but there was an inadequate amount of cutlery. Serving a starter and a main dish involved washing knives and forks between courses. It seems, judging by the irregular number of glasses, that breakages are not replaced. There were only two eggcups. One of the frying pans has buckled and did not work well on the rings of the antiquated cooker. The fridge/freezer was far too small and inadequate for two, never mind four, people. It was also poorly positioned especially for older and infirm people. The kitchen was full of cupboards, most of which were empty. A proper re-design, removing most of these unnecessary cupboards, could result in the dining table being accommodated, more suitably, in the kitchen rather than the sitting room. Surely some more cleaning materials could be left. On arrival, we found two dishwasher tablets and two tea towels, one rubbish bag and no cleaning cloths. In the bathroom there was one roll of toilet paper. There was a time when a welcome tray would have been left but all I could see was a bowl with sachets of instant coffee and tea bags. NTS holiday properties are not inexpensive. My recent experiences suggest that they no longer present particularly good value and compare unfavourably with other properties in the “heritage” area of holiday lettings. We enjoyed our trip but certain aspects of the presentation and equipping of the property left us feeling disappointed and gave us the impression that not enough attention is being paid by the NTS to important, smaller details which make so much of a difference.

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• Eva - Verified booking

  I started my 3 weeks Scotland holiday in Steading cottage for a week in 2023.

  I am very keen of cleanliness, and in the past I was a hotel housekeeper spot-checker manager. I exactly know it's not easy to hit my standard. But Steading cottage made it:) I didn't find anything below my (very high) standard, even ready ice cubes were waiting in the freezer to make my gin-tonic happy after my long journey! The owner is a friendly, kind and smiley lady, and a very expert host, with this spotlessly cleanliness I would even bet her star sign is Virgo (just like mine). The cottage is a separate house next to a working farm, but I never heard any disturbing noise. True, that I was out every day for long, but when I was back, the farm was quiet and very-very peaceful. Just what I love! I spent some evenings in the small, well maintained beautiful garden, and also in the front of the farm, leaning on the stone fence watching the beautiful sunset far above the hills. Fabulous viewing! It is also in a very good location, 3 minutes drive from the little town Kirriemuir. Also, I could reach all attractions in the middle and middle-east Scotland, so among other things I visited Blair castle, Highland safaris, Balmoral castle, Dunninald castle, the east-coast, Drum castle, Pitmedden garden, Hopetoun house, The Kelpies and so many on. True, that I found the B roads very bumpy and potholed, some of them flooded, but this was the case almost all of the east; while later on the west side, near the lakes and mountains, the roads were well maintained and perfect (more tourists-more money). I still loved the whole east, too, with its rolling hills, further horizon and gentle sights, and to enjoy all of these, Steading cottage was a perfect starting point. I loved to get back there after a long and busy day, and have a deep restful sleep on the perfect mattress in the comfortable, clean house! I tried a few cottages all UK-wide within my holidays, but so far this cottage is among the first! I hope to go back one day:)

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• Stuart - Verified booking

  This listing does not live up to its description.

  It is a cold, unwelcoming place where the heating is insufficient in every respect. Cold floors, draughty windows, a lack of insulation in this outbuilding lead to it having an unaired, abandoned feel and certainly not suitable for a winter break. It can be found up about a mile up the farm track, with a dark, dense wooded view from the kitchen and a view of the back of a farmhouse from the front. There is no name on the cottage which stands next to a delapidated greenhouse with sharp glass which has been allowed to cave in and stay where it fell. We left after 2 nights because the bed was so horribly and unbelievably cold. We left the heating on all day on our second day but the building retains no warmth at all. The minute the heating goes off, it becomes cold again. There is insufficient lighting in the lounge/diner for reading which is not cosy, even with a log fire. The owners had kitted out the kitchen well and left eggs as a welcome gesture which was nice but even the black , windowless bathroom was quite depressing. We did not contact the owners before we left as there is nothing they could have done to improve things for us. Sykes' representative's naïve comment that we should have talked to them first so that they could have turned up the thermostat showed a lack of understanding of the severity of our issues. We have both lived in a rural setting in the north of England and are used to inclement , winter weather. We have been Sykes customers for over 20 years and have always had a good experience. This means we will not be booking our next holiday with Sykes.

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• Chris - Verified booking

  We enjoyed our stay at North Stables very much.

  The flat was comfortable, clean and to a high standard. Very quiet and peaceful when the house closes. The staff that we had contact with during our stay were very helpful and friendly. The complimentary House of Dun guided tour is a must and the grounds/gardens are good to walk around. A few things that could be improved: 1. The washing machine is not working and appears, from previous reviews, to have not been working correctly since February. This should have been fixed by now. 2. The Wi Fi signal is very bad and keeps cutting out. 3. The boiler intermittently cuts out mainly when having a shower resulting in a cold wake up! It has to be reset by pressing the button on the boiler. 4. Several doors are difficult to open/close due to them catching on the carpet. 5. Two of the duvets appear to have a plastic covering under the cover and these can be very hot to sleep under. 6. Front door handle nearly off and needs refixing. 7. It would be nice to have had a starter supply of washing up liquid and hand soap. The above in no way spoiled our enjoyment of the property though and we would have no hesitation in returning.

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• Susan - Verified booking

  We had a lovely stay here.

  We were given a very friendly welcome by the housekeeper. The flat is just as described. Light and airy. People have mentioned the cooker is old. It is, but it works perfectly well it’s just very slow to heat up. The beds were very comfortable and bedding and towels were clean and new. 10.5 tog quilts in May were too warm for us, but at least we weren’t cold. I couldn’t open the beautiful old sash windows on my own, but together we managed. N.B. If you leave the windows open you’ll be visited by house martins. They like to leave little parcels behind them! The gardens and surrounding woodland are open to guests and it was wonderful having the freedom to wander around. All the staff were lovely, friendly and helpful. It’s a few miles straight into Montrose to the nearest supermarket, there are beaches, nature reserves, castles, gardens and grand houses nearby . A lovely place to visit if you can manage 18 old stone steps up to your front door!

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