Dog Friendly Cottages in Northumberland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Barry - Verified booking

  Having read a review on Sykes website which stated there was a problem with the heating at the Lodge - I phoned Sykes two days before my booking to ask if this problem had been resolved.

  I was advised that there was no problem with the heating. After driving for 6 hours to reach the property - imagine my annoyance to discover the Lodge was cold and felt damp and indeed there was a problem with the heating. The radiator in the hall and the bedroom with the double bed did not come on at all. Then the hall radiator came on and the lounge radiator was cold. The bathroom and kitchen radiators appeared fine. The weather was cold and the Lodge felt cold. The next day I managed to contact Sykes local representative, who arranged for a member of the maintenance team to come out. He can confirm that radiators were not working. He did bring three electric oil heaters out and the place did thankfully get warm. The owners then visited on the Wednesday evening - without any prior notice - and brought with them a fan heater which was not needed. They acknowledged a problem with double bedroom being cold and also advised that there was a problem with the thermostats. I was also advised by the cleaner, that she had been asked to take the three heaters away after cleaning the property on our departure and she advised that she was not aware of a problem with the heating, but that she had also been asked to take away heaters from the Lodge when she cleaned before my arrival. I do think Sykes and the owners have a responsibility here for ensuring that the holiday home they are advertising is fit for purpose and adequately maintained and any issues raised - resolved. I am annoyed that Sykes told me there was no problem despite the written review and that the owners knowingly rent out the property with problems.

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• Heather - Verified booking

  We were moved into this cottage due to major problems in the one we booked into.

  On first impressions the Lodge was beautiful and unique. Lovely inside and out. However there was major issues with the heating system. The radiator did not work in the hall, only got slightly warm in the bedroom and lounge slightly warmer. This led to the hall, bedroom and bathroom being really cold. 12- 13 degrees on the hallway thermostat. So only half the radiators were working properly. Evenings were spent with blankets around our shoulders and on the bed. The bedroom smelt of wet plaster it was that cold. There are two thermostats, one in the bedroom and one in the hallway. We were constantly running between them both, boosting, to try and get the place warm. The shower was another issue. Lovely fixed head shower, however this is not good for people that don’t want to get their hair wet. There was a hand held shower but it was fixed just above the taps and facing outwards to the facing wall. If this was turned on to get to temperature, the power of the water hits the opposite wall potentially flooding the bathroom. So you had to stand in the bath holding it whilst it got warm, rinse yourself, turn it off, soap yourself and then turn it back on to rinse. Really not ideal and practical. The back door was really stiff to open and some force was needed. Children or the elderly would not be able to open this, so a hazard for fire safety.

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• Mrs Mullarkey - Verified booking

  Lovely property in a great location, easy access- walking distance to some of the best beaches in Northumberland and the best crab sandwiches at the Ship Inn. The property was large and comfortable, great built in oven and microwave and fabulous to have a gas hob. Plenty of plates/cutlery/glasses (perhaps too much, difficult to keep track of cleanliness with so much stuff available). The property was lovely and warm and very quiet. The only thing that let the property down was the cleanliness. The floors needed a good clean, thick dust in the corners and cobwebs hanging from the walls in the main bedroom. The bathroom was disappointing, black mould around the bath and shower door. I had to clean the shower head before we could use the shower to remove all the mould. The bottom of the shower door is missing allowing water to escape all over the floor making it very slippery. We booked this cottage for the enclosed garden for our dog. Unfortunately the grass was so long she couldn’t use it and we had to take her on the village green out the front for her to toilet. The grass was cut on the Thursday, far too late as we left on Saturday.

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• Chris - Verified booking

  Without a doubt the lodge is a lovely cottage, in a perfect location for walking into town or seeing the local area.

  The cleanliness however leaves a lot to be desired. Dusty paintwork, cobwebs on light fittings, bulbs that needreplacing, a television in the second bedroom which doesn’t work, a radiator in the main bedroom not working and a dangerous mobile radiator with a wheel missing. The worst problem was a free standing mirror which fell at a touch, just missing our small dog. Because of allergies I always use my own sheets and towels when I’m away. Imagine our surprise when taking the sheets from what looked like a nice clean bed only to discover a mattress protector which obviously hadn’t been changed for quite some time from the amount of bodily fluid stains which we found. Disgusting! This was replaced after a phone call. We did report this and more to the agent in Seahouses who said they would look into the problem. We have used Northumbrian cottages a number of times without any problems and know they will take our complaint very seriously. mobile radiator

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• James - Verified booking

  The location is very good quiet but wit easy walking distance from Alnwick centre and short drives to coastal ports and beaches.

  The building has great character from outside but interior is bland, and the deep reveals on small windows together with nearby trees on all sides meant natural light was poor. Equipment provided was good quality and in ample amounts, with good supplies of soap, dishwasher tablet etc However on arrival a burglar alarm set off, not mentioned on information we were sent, nor known by the agent we phoned, however eventually found the code on page 10 of the information folder to switch it off. . Some oil- filled radiators were in place seemingly from a central store and the gas radiators were not working, and no heat in the bathroom . As the weather cooled mid week we explored the boiler controls to find it had been set to hot water only. It was easy to change to get proper heat, including the bathroom. 2 out of 3 light bulbs in one bedroom were not working and no spares could be found. One toilet roll for a week seemed mean

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