Holiday Cottages in Scotland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Saskia - Verified booking

  Dookers Hoose is a characterful and charming seaside retreat and was the perfect location for our family holiday.

  The house feels very welcoming and has a creative ambiance with artwork by the owner and family decorating the walls, a mix of vintage and modern furniture, books, games and window ledges decorated with seashore finds. This feels more of a home than just a holiday let, situated in Cullen Sea Town with its soft colourful walls, pantiles and tiny gardens at every turn. We loved being able to hear the sea from the house. We enjoyed cooking in the stylish and well-appointed kitchen and were very pleased to find so much space for storing supplies as well as an efficient washing machine. The layout of the ground floor makes it a very sociable space and on cooler evenings, we enjoyed the electric ‘wood burning’ stove which created a cosy atmosphere. We brought some solar powered fairy lights with us for added twinkle. The internet was consistently reliable and we did not for one moment miss having a TV. The little table in the front room was a perfect spot for drawing, painting and writing. We brought bikes, body boards and wetsuits and were delighted to have access to the garage for storage as well as clothes lines which made drying wet kit easy. In front of the garage and opposite the front of the house across a narrow, quiet side road is the small outdoor garden space with a picnic table. This was a lovely sunny spot to sit with morning coffee and a book watching the world go by. Just across the shore road lies the sea wall with steps down to a lovely stretch of sandy beach which is perfect for safe swimming and provides access to long walks along the shore. The steps on the sea side of the wall are a great place to sit with a drink and enjoy the huge skies and stunning sunsets. On your return from a swim, you can enter the little back yard through a gate and access the conveniently placed bathroom with shower. There are lovely coastal walks (or runs) from the house and we saw dolphins on several occasions from paths scented with bracken and wild thyme. The surrounding countryside is beautiful by bike and car, and there are many interesting places to visit. Supplies can be found in Cullen itself where there is a reasonably stocked Co-op and we noticed a deli opening soon. There is an amazing fresh fish shop in nearby Buckie and you may catch your own sea trout from the pier if the seals don’t get there first! If you prefer not to cook your own, the fish and chips in Cullen are consistently good. Any queries during our stay were answered quickly and the visitor’s book is brimming with information on local eateries and places of interest logged by the owners and visitors over the years. A lovely stay and we were sad to leave.

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• G Williamson - Verified booking

  Really loved our stay in Gardeners Cottage on the Penninghame Estate and would definitely recommended this place for a lovely chill out holiday. The estate is just off a road next to the River Cree. Lovely and quiet this cottage has a lovely homely feel and is tucked away at one end of the estate so nobody drives past your cottage to get to other parts of the estate. The whole place was lovely and clean and decor and furnishings were to a good standard, the kitchen was also very well appointed with many items seeming to be pretty new. The place was lovely and warm and welcoming on arrival with the heating on at a background level and there was always lashings of very hot water for baths showers etc with all utilities included in the price. There are 2 single bed rooms and a double bed room and while we only slept in the double bed this was lovely and comfortable and was a good length for anyone over 6 foot tall ! 2 pillows per person were provided, one a bit firmer than the other so you had a choice to suit you if you are fussy on your pillows ! There is an office on site if you have any problems and very friendly, helpful staff to sort stuff straight away. Negatives from the stay,well, dont expect fine dining in the local area for your evening meal if you don’t intend cooking, the nearest town, Newton Stewart manages a few pubs that serve very basic food, cheap prices but basic fare, but together with a couple of takeaways thats it for food. The security on the cottage was really my only concern from our stay with the locks on the doors and window being very minimal and basic and when we arrived 2 of the downstairs windows could be opened from the outside with no way of locking them on the inside ! When I reported this to the office the following day basic locks were fitted to these windows within a couple of hours.

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• Laura - Verified booking

  We spent a week at this cottage and thankful that we hadn’t booked two weeks!

  ! Firstly I have to state that I had not read the script properly re this cottage and thought there was a garden – WRONG! However there was also no space to sit outside mainly due to the close proximity of the back of the post office. Basically the space between the shop and cottage is two car wide and quite busy so definitely not (in my opinion) suitable for children.. On a positive note the cottage is lovely however as already stated in prev reviews the seating is not suitable for tall people, which we both are. This did cause a major problem for my husband particularly and the seating exacerbated his back problem to the extent he had to increase his pain relief. You might think we should have cut the holiday short, well unfortunately, I also took ill so the drive home was not on until the Friday when we did leave!! The views from this cottage are awful, you look out from the living room and see a the main driveway which I must state is very tight for cars and from kitchen window is the crates and boxes etc. I have not had the opportunity to post my photos re the views around this cottage re Skyes feedback survey but I will pursue and hopefully find a way!! The owners never showed up to welcome us and the welcome pack left was meagre i.e: 7 dishwasher tabs, 4 coffee and three tea sachets and three milk pots – are, for me, extremely poor given the price of this cottage. To end on a positive note, I would definitely return to Boat of Garten again as it is a lovely village with lots of local walks etc.

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• Diane - Verified booking

  The property was located along a farm track (about a quarter of a mile) with a raised bank in the middle.

  We found it difficult in our sports car to navigate the track without causing damage to the underside of the car. We reported this to the owner who arranged for the grass to be cut, however, this wasn't the issue. We think that it should be stated on the website that there is difficulty in accessing the cottage unless you have a 4x4 or car with high ground clearance. We were not able to go out after dark or come back after dark as it would have been impossible to navigate the track. The cottage was not clean (dead flies and insects on the windowsills, mould around the window/door frames, shower head was dirty as was the bath). Most of the window seals had failed so the windows were cloudy and on the first night there was a gale blowing through the bedroom window surround seal which had failed. The toilet seat was ill fitting and loose and the flush was ineffective. We couldn't sit outside as the garden was completely overgrown. Only one of the three wall lights worked. The kitchen hot tap dripped continually. We would definitely not recommend Sykes to anyone as we felt the listing was inaccurate and we would not have booked this had we known in advance about the track and other issues. We have used Holiday Cottages in the past who have been excellent and the properties were as described with no issues. Some were less expensive than this one and some more, it isn't a question of price it's a question of quality and standards.

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• Stewart - Verified booking

  Irritated that a large bunch of keys for local churches, houses and businesses, had been left in the property.

  Texted the housekeeper listed in the information book [within the house], who later texted back informing me that they no longer cleaned the house. Decided that I wasn't prepared to spend more of my holiday chasing up forgetful cleaners or negligent owners. Mid-week I received a text message from 'a detail focussed and efficient' cleaning company asking if there was a bunch of keys in the house and then could we arrange for them to be picked up. This was annoying as I believe it was a breach of GDPR and of the Sykes contract. My details had been shared with a third party, not for the purposes of payment or key pickup, or for the general promotion of local businesses as stated in the contract. I would have expected either Sykes or the owners to have contacted myself directly regarding the keys and not a third party. For balance we have previously rented a number of properties through Sykes without issue, have been satisfied and they are always the first place we look for holiday accommodation. Disappointed with the performance on this occasion. The cottage would have benefitted from some more cleaning materials, such as a decent brush. Having a dog [casting at the time] we were particularly mindful of cleaning up before leaving, being more vigilant before leaving noted his [distinctive] hair wasn't the only dog hair. Whatever the truth in 'poor workers blaming their tools' we felt hampered for want of better tools.

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