Dog Friendly Cottages in Cirencester

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Elizabeth - Verified booking

  We stayed at Pudding Hill Barn Cottage for a week in August 2023 as a family of four (two adults, a 7 year old and 2 year old) and I have to say we had the most amazing time!

  The cottage is beautifully laid out and decorated to a high standard, with lots of very thoughtful touches which helped make our stay easy. From delicious treats such as homemade Apple Jelly and some fresh bread and butter (along with milk, tea, coffee and juice), to useful household items such as dishwasher tablets and cleaning products. There was also a small but comprehensive stash of emergency supplies such as toothbrushes, toiletries and loo roll should you arrive late or be tight on space for shopping when you’ve traveled. Our children were made welcome by both Karen and Marcus who live next door and we felt very comfortable and at ease during our stay. The travel cot and high chair we use for our toddler was a good size and of good quality too (pretty good for those travelling with toddlers as often these items can be lacking). Karen was also knowledgeable about local places to visit and had excellent recommendations on places to eat and drink. One thing to note is that that cottage is down a private single track through two sets of gates, in fields where sheep were grazing, so it’s not obvious from the main road what the location is. This was no issue for us, but something to bare in mind. We loved the secluded location and how peaceful it was. There’s plenty of footpaths and places to visit on foot nearby and actually if you want to visit Bibury (listed as one of the most beautiful places in the Cotswolds and I can confirm it is STUNNING) this is easily done on foot from the cottage. Additionally, if you are visiting Bibury for those perfect pictures for the ‘gram, it’s far easier to go without a car if you can as there’s very limited parking in the village itself and the local community would be very appreciative of less congestion! Our visit was a very much needed holiday for our family and I was feeling very burnt out before our trip and almost reluctant to go in case it was not what we expected- but I am so glad we did! It’s definitely one of the best and most memorable holidays we’ve had so far as a family and we will be back again in the future. Thank you so much Karen and Marcus, we had a really wonderful holiday!

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• May - Verified booking

  To say we are disappointed with the service received and the general state of the property is an understatement.

  We logged the following issues with you and they were allocated case reference COR-279277-CF. These were originally logged on 13 August: Broken freezer - still not working properly when we left on 19 August. We had frozen food with us which we then had to disgard given the lack of a working freezer. Obviously this is most unsatisfactory. Only one spa pass was left for us. This was still unresolved when we left on 19 August and caused us some issues as a party of 10 as we had to 'negotiate' with the reception staff every time we wanted to use the facilities. Balcony furniture was tatty and in some cases unusable. Cushions were missing and the deck chairs had no seating inserts, so were unusable. We had no contact with the owner or yourselves other than a holding email to say you were going to contact the owner,.with regards the issues flagged. What I find most astounding is that today I have received an email from yourselves advisng that all the issues have been resolved - what a joke!!!! This is totally unacceptable and we will be posting reviews to say this. In addition to all of the above I would also like to point out the poor cleaning undertaken within the house. Every room was filled with cobwebs and spiders, which have obviously been there for some time. The kitchen surfaces (behind the toaster) was covered in dead flies and dust. In addition the outside of the property would benefit from some cleaning - all the windows and the glass on outside areas were covered in thick cobwebs, which I would suggest hadn't been cleaned for months and months. They were so bad that one of our party cleaned the outside areas himself. As a slight aside, I would also suggest that the property needs some attention with regards decor. The carpets are dirty/stained and the walls scuffed and marked throughout. All of the above is most disappointing, given we paid nearly £3k for a weeks stay in the property.

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• Aimee - Verified booking

  Absolutely brilliant place to stay as a base to explore the south of the Cotswolds.

  Peter met us and our 2 dogs on arrival and was very informative about the place, history and area and we met he's fabulous dog too. The place is huge and has everything you need. The games room was particulary great at night. I can understand the decor isn't to everyone's taste but we loved it and all the quirks, can see all the Cuban influences everywhere. The barn is on a farm and after seeing other reviews not happy with the surrounding tractors etc, I have to say "what did you expect?". There are vehicles and farm equipment around but it doesn't affect anything and just adds to the authenticity of the area. There is a bbq / pizza oven area across the road in some woodlands which was nice but we didn't use these facilties. Only thing to mention for others with dogs is that there is no secure garden area to let your dogs off, this didn't bother us though as we explored all day and only came back in the evening to relax and sleep. If you were travelling here with dogs with the intention of mostly staying in the barn I'd say maybe it isn't for you (mostly due to no secure garden) as it's quite secluded and although you could walk to the nearest pub it's a few miles away. (Fine with us, we drove to a different pub each night). But as a base to spend the day exploring and then coming back to later on its 10/10, highly recommend :D Would happily return with our dogs in the future.

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• Stephen - Verified booking

  We had booked a week, but left after 4 nights as we had 2 days when the Hot water wouldn’t work.

  Coming back wet and cold from a cycle ride to no hot water was the final straw. The property is owner-run so Sykes only take bookings and are not liable, the owner by his own admission said it ‘probably needs a service!’. He takes no responsibility for the shortcomings and refused to pay any compensation. The best he offered was “You can walk across in the rain to another outbuilding and shower there!” Definitely not what we paid for. The building is a ‘prefab’ , glass all along the front , no opening windows in the bedroom, lounge or kitchen. Bit of a goldfish bowl as walkers on the road can look in, stuffy at night as only option was to leave door completely open and then the local dog walks in. The outlying property ‘walks’ have a neglected air about them as well as being a Scrapyard of old vans and tractors, broken machinery and glass. The ‘tennis court ‘ needs a good clear up - extension leads to the ‘Box’ running across it. Also the trainline passes 100 yards away, not mentioned in the information. The outside ‘Bar’ is a derelict shed and the ‘Swimming lake’ is a pond! It has potential to be a lot better but needs more investment and maintenance to bring it up to standard.

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• Anthony - Verified booking

  Wow what a fantastic cottage, full of character, pristinely presented with lots of little fine touches giving us a wonderful, luxurious and homely feel to our holiday.

  We were very grateful for the welcoming treats our hosts had left for us on our arrival! The location is stunning.... wonderful views across the countryside from the cottage. We also enjoyed the short stroll up to the Trout House where we sat and enjoyed the peaceful, stunning countryside views over the valley which was the icing on the cake. Our exceptionally welcoming and friendly hosts went above and beyond to make our stay a very enjoyable and relaxing experience, nothing was too much trouble and they gave us excellent recommendations on what to see, do and eat! Very dog friendly, our little dog loved her mini break too and was well catered for. The area has a wealth of interesting places to visit which are all within around 20 minutes drive from the cottage - the local Trout Farm is well worth a visit in Bibury and near by Bourton on the Water is simply stunning. We would highly recommend a visit to Pudding Hill Cottage, and can't wait to return! Thank you so much Karen, Marcus and your furry and feathered family for such a fantastic stay.

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