“We've been coming to Bamburgh for over 20 years, but first time we stayed in this cottage.”
We usually only need 3 bedrooms but we had another relative with us this year so needed the 4 bedrooms. We found the cottage spacious, spotlessly clean, well furnished and the kitchen is well equipped. The beds are very comfy and all of us slept well. The cottage is in a great location close to the dunes and has a view of the castle from the main bedroom. Those were the good points, but sadly there were some negatives during our stay. Firstly the ensuite downstairs, as soon as we opened the door ...
We usually only need 3 bedrooms but we had another relative with us this year so needed the 4 bedrooms. We found the cottage spacious, spotlessly clean, well furnished and the kitchen is well equipped. The beds are very comfy and all of us slept well. The cottage is in a great location close to the dunes and has a view of the castle from the main bedroom. Those were the good points, but sadly there were some negatives during our stay. Firstly the ensuite downstairs, as soon as we opened the door to it we were met with a quite overwhelming bad smell like musty damp which we couldn't get rid of.Then on the Wednesday the upstairs loo became completely blocked and almost overflowed. The smell from the sink plug was awful. Water from the loo seeped up into the sink as it was all obviously connected. Pretty gross! I reported it immediately and Northumberland Cottages were great and sent someone to fix it and thankfully all was resolved. The second negative was the lack of cleaning stuff in the cottage. Every cottage we have ever stayed in has had at the very least a bottle of washing up liquid and loo cleaner. But there was only a tiny tube of washing up liquid, only 3 dishwasher tablets and absolutely nothing to clean the loo with. Also only 2 loo rolls in the house that supposedly sleeps 8 people to last till we were able to buy some of our own. Not really adequate. Thirdly, the dryer function on the washer/dryer wasn't very good and the airer provided was broken and very small anyway. Not great when it rained. Lastly, the cottage boasts 2 DVD players, but neither worked properly, there were no manuals to help either, though we did manage to get a dvd to play on the playstation upstairs, but if you provide DVD players at least make sure they can be used and also provide a manual for them. Despite all that we tried to not let these things spoil our holiday. At least we were able to get out and about and the weather was fairly good in between the showers mid week. Eating out was great. The Apple Inn in Lucker, The Cottage Inn at Dunster and the fabulous Potted Lobster in Bamburgh are all a must. The surrounding countryside is stunning and I can recommend a boat trip out to the Farne Islands too. Northumberland is a wonderful place to visit. Don't think we will come back to number 30 though. The price has risen and frankly we've had better for less in other properties in the village.
