Beach Cottages in Scotland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Sarah - Verified booking

  The site is really nice do thought this place would be good.

  But disappointment hit us on going through the door. Firstly it smelled really musty then we came to realise how basic / stingy it was equipment wise and also how old much of it was going back to original features like the spa bath. Plastics were yellow to orange with age, some fittings were rusty and grubby. Headboards looked unhygienic and one wobbled backwards and forwards by 2 feet or more. Quilts / pillows were inappropriate - very thin or extremely old ( sheets good). Mare minimum of cutlery and crockery in kitchen. No point having dishwasher if only have 6 knives etc. It just shows lake of awareness of what is needed - more like what was the bare minimum needed. No instructions or welcome pack. There is no en-suite as described. There are just 2 toilets. Pull chords were filthy and bathroom / kitchen blinds dusty and rusty. No bath mat to stop from slipping, shower an ancient electric shower that was extremely weak. Shower screen creaked like mad, so did the bath. Found what I thought was a loose cable only to find out that worked the spa bath. But who would enjoy the experience in an environment in such a horrible bathroom. Door battered about and in need of a paint, lock dodgy - got stuck in it. Need I go on. Oh also main light in main bedroom didn’t work and another in sitting room. One bed light between 2 beds only. On a positive note the sofas were good. We were supposed to stay 4 nights and had paid good money but we only stayed one night as it was such a depressing experience. We had just come from a wonderful other holiday let so couldn’t believe this one. Site facilities were good if we had stayed and used them but this was no way up to the standards expected these days, was soulless, dirty, old and pretty depressing.

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• Lee - Verified booking

  This was a very nice cottage and area to stay, I was very happy when I see inside and it was clean and shower looked good and was.

  a great view out across to the beech that was only a short walk down and a beautiful beech it is to. the cottage was very well set out with all that was needed. it was a shame that trees stuck up in the view i see it says they are cut back but the trees i see cant be as they are fir trees and they don't grow up once they are cut at top. the steps or ramp up was a bit of a walk but for me no trouble. I had not noticed there was no WIFI and that for me was a shame as there is a phone line so WIFI would make sense to get if possible as I'm sure much business is lost by that or should be clear on wright up no WIFI. and it was a shame that the tv was so bad there is a sky dish with lots of channels that don't work as there's no sky and most of the free view channels didn't work and the ones that did was bad and broke up lots even on good clear days I think it would be good to rip that sky out and get free view dish all set up as i think cables maybe lot of trouble. i feel a welcome pack on table would be nice not much just a letter saying hi and what's what as it was in a folder on a book shelf out the way. but it was nice that there was tea and milk left that's a great touch. my points are not complaints just ideas as the cottage was clean tidy and a joy to stay in the bed was best i have ever stayed in and there's been lots over years. also great stop small walk to see and get pics of steam train one like in harry potter not same one i may add and small walk to beech and the town not far but very busy town. thank you for a good holiday

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• Alison - Verified booking

  Phoenix cottage is in a great location, with great views over the river, and close to two pubs serving food. We would recommend the food and service at The Anchor, which was only 5 minutes walk away, and it was dog friendly too. We loved the upstairs open plan kitchen/dining/sitting area, with the large balcony off the lounge; great for those sundowners when its warm enough to sit out, (we were there the last week in September), and morning coffee looking out over the water. The kitchen was well equipped and well thought out. On the ground floor there are three double bedrooms, one with twin beds, and two bathrooms with good showers. We found the beds extremely soft, which some might prefer, but we're used to much firmer mattresses. There's also a small sitting area by the utility room where we used to put our walking boots on and generally gather our stuff together ready for a day out. There are three entrance/exits. Our little dog loved the garden, he had plenty of space to run around, and was quite safe. The only negative about the Phoenix cottage was that there was an unpleasant smell in the second double bedroom, (not the master bedroom). I used Febreze liberally every day to try and get rid of it, but really don't know what caused it. Apart from the bad smell downstairs, everything else was good; clean, comfortable, (if you like a very soft bed) and spacious.

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• Jane - Verified booking

  Dear Staff of Sykes Cottages, Unfortunately, we only spent one night at this cottage (paid for three nights).

  There were several items that were not up to standard that I will highlight later, however the main issue was no hot water, this is quite unacceptable. I called reception twice to ascertain the location of the hot water immersion switch and was informed that it was either located behind the living room door, or in the kitchen. After switching every switch on in both locations, to no avail, there was still no hot water. I understand that it's a basic requirement to have this when renting a cottage. The kitchen: Only five dinner knives supplied. (we were a party of six) No operating instruction left for the appliances i.e., cooker oven /dishwasher. Bedrooms: Single bed under the window, (right hand side facing front of cottage) the bed sheets were damp. On putting on heater in the bedroom to try and dry it out, I was text alarmed by Brunston Castle to remind me of the rising electricity costs. Main Bathroom: black mould around the bath is not acceptable. Very poor performance from the shower. All in all, it was not a pleasant experience, I would have expected at bare minimum a guest information book containing all information relating to the cottage, this is standard practice in all cottages that I have rented from in the past. Regards.

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• Kim - Verified booking

  Cottage well situated in town.

  Kirkcudbright is wonderful and worth a visit, but we won't return to this cottage. Back door in need of redecoration, it is tatty inside. Air circulation in property poor as there are no trickle valves on the double glazing. Security poor - a simple yale-type lock on a front door in inadequate, and the back gate was impossible to bolt - even though the notes said that the back gate would be locked. Over a dozen instructions dotted around the house, plus a folder and a noticeboard! Most properties manage with just a folder. Back 'garden' and 'courtyard' were disappointing - vertical garden unsafe/impossible to use. The 'courtyard' was no more than a place to store bins and some strange storage box. Owner's attitude seemed sanctimonious and misogynistic when we asked if the Sky pin could be removed - why inflict a pin-protected watershed on adult customers? No customer should be called 'pushy' - maybe Sykes could provide this owner with some basic customer care training?

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