The Barn at Smalldale Hall Peak District National Park, Derbyshire

We had a lovely week, almost everything was perfect - just a few niggly bits which, if fixed would earn an Excellent from us. Beds clean & comfortable. Kitchen very well equipped in general, though a couple of glaring omissions in our opinion - a set of oven gloves and a washing up bowl being the most important. Living area ( middle of 3 levels) worked well for our mixed group. A little dog in our party was welcomed. We had cause to ask for a special favour which was quickly authorised by the owners - so kudos for that. Plumbing/ water pressure etc. not perfect but we adapted. Some dusty spots - interesting, considering that intense Covid cleans are still being done, apparently. Bottom line, we’d happily return as the area has so much to offer and even staying in the property ( as in not going out) isn’t a hardship, but would be disappointed if the owners don’t take note of the oft mentioned ( not only by us) small oversights which would gain an extra star from us.

We had a wonderful time. The Barn was extremely well equipped, Three abthrooms, Four bedrooms, two kitchen, lovely grounds and very secluded. Lovely walks around and nature in abundance. Will definatelt stay again!

Once again a lovely cottage booked through Sykes.. This accommodation is very spacious and well laid out. Lovely large main bedroom on ground level, but needed the heater on to take the chill off the room. Nice comfy living/dining/kitchen area on the next level. Although we only ate breakfasts in the cottage, working space in the kitchen is limited when trying to prepare food for 6 adults and 2 children. The TV can be heard (even when on low), in all of the bedrooms. However, this is still a very nice cottage for a family holiday. Oh yes...good pub at the bottom of the hill which provided excellent meals, huge portions at a reasonable price.

The barn is a lovely old building, beautifully converted, and standing in its own grounds at the top of a very steep and narrow road.. The road leads down into the village of Bradwell, with several pubs and a Co-Op store within walking distance. The ground floor is a very large bedroom and bathroom with flagstone floors, and a spiral staircase goes up through the whole house. The kitchen/dining/ living space is open plan and airy, the upstairs bedrooms are very comfortable and the two upper bathrooms have evidently been recently refurbished. Plenty of head room in the showers, but water pressure is low. The barn's underfloor heating made it feel very cosy and there was a great TV and wifi connection. We would definitely stay here again.

We had to contact the owners on several occasions due to the poor weather and they were very helpful and accommodating.. Having read the comments from previous people that had stayed we don’t feel these are a true reflection - we had no concerns with the cleanliness and the kitchen was very well equipped - we even cooked a full roast dinner with no issues (although a few more wine glasses wouldn’t go a miss!!!). Would happily return.

What a great place, clean,tidy and great facilities nothing to fault about this property at all. Came with 4 adults and 2 children which gave us masses of space. Highly recommend

Excellent cottage, loads of space, great facilities super clean.. Location is great with everything you need within walking distance (pub at the bottom of the hill is great, Old bowling green) Would 100% recommend

Overall, we were very happy with the property.. But if I was to call out a few shortcomings they would be: - 1) The kitchen was not very well equipped, particularly a lack of pots, pans and bowls. The owner should just get a set from IKEA and make sure there is enough so that you can cook for 8 people with differing tastes. 2) The sink area needs updating and also the bin is very hard to access with the wooden stopper. The owner could simply attach a pull ring to the top of the wooden stopper to make it so much easier to access. 3) The bedrooms and bathrooms are in need of a facelift (particularly the bathrooms) 4) Showers are in awkward positions and shower controls are difficult to get right - too hot or too cold. Otherwise, a great property in a great location. Perfect for families or a group of friends. Nice local pubs which are friendly too. Great views from the cottage.

A couple of minor changes would have improved the property.. Eg kitchen very poorly equipped with old scratched pans, no small saucepan, no oven gloves and only one little towel. The beds were comfortable and clean. Family bathroom small and pokey. However there are 3 bathrooms plus additional toilet so well provided in general.

Other than the concern about showers, below, we think this holiday home is lovely. Stylish, modern décor and furnishing; well equipped; comfy beds. Other than bathrooms, spacious. The managers were very friendly and helpful. The bathrooms and kitchen were spotless. When I looked really carefully in hard-to-reach high corners, I did spot one or two cobwebs, but being a barn with lots of beams, there’s always going to be some cobwebs. The broadband was better than I expected for a relatively rural location. Good enough to stream TV. I ran a speed test and got 4.8Mbps downstream. The over-the-air TV signal is poor though, so it is good that the very modern TV can handle iPlayer, Netflix, etc. There are a few areas where we would find fault, hence our rating, although overall I would say the plus points outweigh the negatives and we would stay there again if we returned to the area. The biggest downside is that the showers are close to unusable, though baths are fine. This is partly due to weak pressure and unstable temperature (though there was always plenty of hot water). But the main problem is poor headroom. The two upstairs ensuites are in the eves, so they have restricted headroom and the over-the-bath showers are particularly restricted by a roof beam. If you are under 5 ft 5 high, you should be fine, but anyone higher will find there’s a roof beam where their head needs to be, unless they stand within 18 inches of the wall the shower head is fixed to, which is too close (imagine trying to use a cubicle 18 inches wide). One is constantly at risk of bashing one’s head on the beam. The beam also means the shower curtain can only extend 18 inches, which is just not enough to keep the floor dry. The ground floor shower has even less headroom and the shower head only fixes to the wall about 2 feet up. Otherwise, it is hand held, so only any use if you are showering a young child. It would be nice to have some rails to hang up bath towels. The downstairs toilet seat was broken when we arrived and was not fixed during our week stay. It was very loose and fell off a few times. I don’t know how long it has been broken, but even if this happened during the stay of the last guests and they did not report it, the need for a repair must have been apparent when the toilet was cleaned on changeover day, so there was ample time to get it repaired before our week’s stay ended. Contrary to the listing, there is no DVD, CD/radio, or iPod dock, though this did not bother us. The garden is fairly wild, but in the rural/farm location, this did not feel inappropriate. We were visited a few times by three sheep, who would no doubt destroy flower beds! But it is a shame not to have better garden furniture. The wooden picnic table is rotten in parts and feels like it might break soon. The plastic chairs are covered in grime. The kitchen rubbish bin is built into the sink unit. To use this you lift a circular cut-out in the wooden top panel, but the handle of the cover for the hole seems to be missing a knob that fingers can hold, so you are left prising it up with your fingers.

Property in need of general update and cleanliness wasn't up to scratch.. Bathrooms need to refurbished. Outside area needs maintaining and improving - weeds growing, paths need clearing, outside dining space and furniture in poor condition.

We had a pleasant stay at this barn conversion.. The open plan living area was spacious with a large dining area and lounge area with comfortable seating. The beds were comfortable too. The owner came to say hello and to bring a welcome bottle of prosecco on the first day of the holiday which was lovely. The owner had also left some information about the cottage and the local area. The things that let the property down were the cleanliness and the lack of maintenance. A bit more care and attention to the cleaning of dust and cobwebs could make it better and the broken shower in the double bedroom's ensuite needs to be repaired. We also weren't sure what could be recycled so more information about that for guests would be helpful. I also think that the garden area out of the back could be tidied up which would make the outside area more useable and attractive. We really enjoyed our stay in this property and had a relaxing week exploring the local area. The village of Bradwell was really lovely with a Co-op, bakery, fish and chip shop, ice cream shop and a pub down the lane, all within walking distance from the property.

Exciting property in super location. Layout of house is great and worked for our teenage/adult children. Let down unfortunately by absolutely no info provided to guests about property facilities- WiFi, oven, bins, heating, local area... Although granted not stated in listings- no hairdryer, iron, drying rack and cutlery tray, bathroom cleaner? Bathrooms could have been much cleaner. Needs greater attention to guest interest and their safety and a deep clean.

I would like to say that this barn has a lot going for it including its location and size but was really let down by the cleanliness of the accommodation and the maintenance of some of the facilities.. On entering the ground floor bedroom we could see that the mirror on the dressing table was thick with dust together with the mirror in the en-suite (I did take a photo of this). There were cobwebs with dead spiders in the bathroom and the dust/cobwebs behind the settee in the lounge was pretty awful. Although I can appreciate that this is a barn there really is no excuse for the lack of cleaning in the property and really lets it down. The shower in the twin room also did not work and the hand held shower in the en-suite family room was useless. There was no guest book in the property giving you information about how things worked. All in all we had a good stay at the property but we would not return back unfortunately which is a shame as with a bit of care and attention this could be a top class place to stay.