Holiday Cottages in Northumberland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Nicky - Verified booking

  In theory the perfect cottage for 3 adult couples.

  This Cottage has the potential to be superb, but isn’t. The rooms are spacious, plenty of sofas in the sitting area, very comfortable beds. The kitchen is huge with lots of empty cupboards and drawers. Large fridge freezer. It is clean. We had a lovely holiday here, but I would not return for the reasons given below. The cottage had a surprisingly low review rating - noticed when I paid the final balance - thus requested Northumberland Coast & Country Cottages twice to ensure rather basic things were fixed before we arrived. This worked partly. A few hundred pounds expenditure is all that is required as this cottage will meet its potential. What was fixed: - 6 dining chairs with no protruding screws, - 1 new roll per loo in the ensuite bathrooms. - All light bulbs worked. - New roasting trays. What was not fixed by area: Inadequate kitchen utensils - bring your own if you plan to cook. - Poor quality knives, not sharp, and no sharpener provided. - Mixing bowls - just one very small one. - No salad bowl or any other bowl. - No serving dishes. - No non stick implements for the non-stick pans. - No Casserole dish - Nothing to make a pudding in. - Insufficient crockery or cutlery - we were always washing up a few things, despite putting the dishwasher on daily. - Bring your own washing up liquid - we bought some and left it for the next renters. You are given the smallest bottle known to man. - Bring everything you require to cook (No oil, no pepper etc provided). - Microwave button about to break - So on its last legs. This had not been mentioned in previous reviews. Inadequate furniture: - No chest of drawers in any room - you will keep your clothes on the floor, or suitcase. There is a small wardrobe in each room. - No shelf in any bathroom. A simple glass one above the basin would be a huge improvement. We used the floor. Windows - Window catch broken in downstairs bathroom area so it won't stay open. - No window locks, very basic security. Bathrooms: - The downstairs shower does not drain properly, so your feet will be in an inch of water. Outside - Dog poo from earlier renters by the washing line. We collected all ours and didn’t add to it. - Gate is not dog proof for small dogs. You need to put pieces of wood and flagstones along the bottom. Could easily be fixed by putting wire netting along it. Luckily our dog, who was very happy here, wasn’t particularly adventurous, if yours is, it will get out. - The upstairs shower doors have been replaced with curtains. The original shower doors have been dumped in the garden by the washing line. Note: 1. The downstairs ensuite, is part of the bedroom, with no wall or door in between. Not what we wanted. 2. The parking is very tight for 2 cars, particularly in they are both large. 3. You are expected to strip the beds and put into a laundry bag. 4. Extractor fans in bathrooms unbelievably noisy - you can turn them off.

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• David - Verified booking

  Bedrooms - there were no chests of drawers or shelves in any of the 3 bedrooms, so we had to stack our clothes on the floor or leave them in suitcases.

  Downstairs double bedroom - we didn't consider that this room was suitable for sharing, as there is no partition wall (i.e. privacy or smell and steam barrier) between the bedroom and the en-suite bathroom / toilet areas; also, the room is not fully accessible for wheelchair users as there is a small step up to the toilet and shower. It was just about OK for my 88 year old mother. Bathrooms - there were no shelves to put our toiletries on, so we had to leave some on the basin edge and the rest on the floor. The mirrors were too high for most of our family. The shower curtain in one of the bedrooms needs replacing with a proper shower door. Kitchen - several bowls (e.g. for salads and for microwaving food) are needed for food preparation. Dining area - the square table has 4 chairs and 4 sets of table mats, even though the cottage sleeps 6 (or 5 - see above - depending on how you feel about sharing a toilet in your bedroom!). You really need a rectangular table that seats 6 people!! Also, the dining chairs have screws protruding through the seat pads and need fixing urgently before someone is hurt. General - several light bulbs don't work. We found a few spares and swapped others from less critical areas, but some still need to be replaced. The lounge area TV is too high to be watched comfortably from a sofa. Although it's potentially a nice cottage in a great location, we would not return or recommend it due to the above issues.

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• Mrs Dransfield - Verified booking

  The plus points first. Harbour Hideaway is in a fantastic location in Seahouses. Very handy for all the lovely local amenities. The convenient parking space is right outside the property. The decor is modern and the layout well thought out. For the size it is well equipped, the combined microwave is a larger model. We found the sofa bed to be comfortable and easy to convert from sofa to a bed. The views from the property are beautiful, with lovely walks along the coast. However, Harbour Hideaway is very small, once the sofa bed is made up, you can only just walk around it. The main space, not including the front door recess is app 2.3 metres, (less 40cm for the kitchen run, approx 1.9 metres) by 3.2 metres approx. There is a small recess for the front door. We found damp and high levels of humidity to be a problem and have provided the owner with photos. Thankfully we had lovely weather because it would be difficult drying wet coats, shoes and walking coats in such a confined space. There is very little storage space and we had to leave rucksacks, walking shoes and jackets in the car. All bedding and towels are provided but there were only two pillows, for two people. There is not room in the sofa bed storage for all the bedding, we had to leave a pillow out during the day. We stayed for five nights and found it a little challenging because of the lack of space and lack of storage.

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• Caroline - Verified booking

  The old stables is an adequate property for a group of six (we were a 5) however we were disappointed with several aspects of the property.

  The dishwasher did not work, the fridge ice maker did not work and was turned off due to a leak, the ?overflow from the sink leaked, these were all reported and Mike from Sykes came out to investigate but impossible to correct during our stay. Northumbria water also came to dig a hole at the entrance to the property due to a leaking underground pipe and this was also unfortunately disruptive for our holiday, noise, water turned off for a short period with no warning. Lights and toaster also not working adequately, bulbs replaced just to fuse again? Cause. Toaster only one two slice side working. Oven burnt everything? Thermostat issues and inaccurate. Carpet in downstairs bedroom had stains. Pots and pans dirty and old non stick lining all gone and therefore food ingrained, off putting. No black out blinds in bedrooms therefore awake early everyday. Proximity of cottage to the road made it noisy at times. Parking only just adequate for two cars. Only a general waste bin on site, no recycling facility. We did enjoy our break to Northumberland, enjoyed Bamburgh, the beach is second to none. Alnwick gardens and Lindisfarne very tranquil and beautiful. The potted lobster and several other restaurants in the area were wonderful. Seahouses had some nice independent shops. Lovely walks, beautiful scenery but unfortunately we will not be back to The old Stables. Disappointing accommodation.

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• Audrey - Verified booking

  The property was perfect, although a little difficult to find at first, a passerby pointed me in right direction.

  Everything in the property was great quality, and perfect for one person or a couple. There were nice touches like bread, milk and butter, biscuits etc left. I was confused that there was a two ringed cooker but no pots, or maybe I missed them? It did have a full sized oven and microwave so not really an issue. There was a little seating area outside for eating, or enjoying a morning cuppa. The bed was very comfy, the only thing I didnt like was that there was nothing to open the windows with and I was too short to open them or close the blinds, it was a very warm week so would have been good to get some air. I also was unsure what to do with the rubbish, I didn't see anywhere to empty the bin? The village of Lesbury is beautiful, has a lovely pub, a welcoming local shop (steak pie was amazing) and is in very close proximity to Alnmouth train station and the X18/20 bus stop was just next to property. There is also a Morrisons next to the bus station in Alnwick for supplies. There are loads of lovely walking routes and cycle paths, only a 15/20 mins walk into Alnmouth which has a beautiful beach and it's a haven for bird watching. I would definitely recommend Warkworth Castle which is only 4 miles away. I loved the area and will be back again in the near future, possibly with friends.

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