David H
April 2018
In general, we were disappointed with the cottage. The location is excellent; I can wholeheartedly recommend a visit to Portknockie and the surrounding area, but I couldn't honestly recommend staying in this cottage.
It *could* have been an excellent house, and maybe was a few years back, but in general it felt grubby and lacking in care and attention. Things like dirty dishes and utensils in the drawers, dirty marks on radiators and walls, extractor fans clogged with dust, doors not closing properly, locks that need the keys wiggled in a specific way to work etc.
There was also a lack of attention to the little welcoming details - no tea or coffee, no washing up liquid or soap in the bathrooms, no dishwasher tablets etc. There were no handtowels in the bathrooms etc - the little things that make a good first impression were definitely lacking.
Appliances were in various states of disrepair - the dishwasher was missing a wheel on the rack, which meant it fell off the rail every time it was moved, and the cutlery rack had a loose bottom so items fell into the machine. The fridges were propped up on cardboard to keep them level. There were dirty, burst sandbags sat at the back door which brought dirty sand into the house every time you went outside.
On the positive side, the house was warm, the internet connection was excellent, and the property was a good size for a party of eight, but again, the little things let it down - one tiny fridge and a single shower aren't really enough for that many people for a week. Likewise, the small bathroom upstairs was lacking hot water.
So much as I hate to put a negative review on TripAdvisor, and I really don't like to moan about things, we were really disappointed in the house and I think the owners need to spend some time and money bringing the place up to a suitable standard again.