We had a wonderful stay in Cornfield Lodge after looking forward to this all year.
The lodge was clean, cosy and tidy (exactly as the pictures show but with a different sofa) and had everything we could need, we all fought over the Rhino!
I had packed all sorts of cleaning bits and bobs and didn't need any of these, nice fluffy towels provided for showers, washing tablets if you need them, all kitchen cleaning products including dishwasher tablets, tin foil, condiments and fairy! Plenty of plastic glasses for the hot tub.
I even managed to make a Sunday dinner, plenty of pots and pans with the oven, hob and microwave!
The underfloor heating kept it lovely and warm and the little utility/boot room dried our towels, swimwear and even a muddy wash load no problem!
We did find the fridge a little small (under bench fridge) but it was winter so just kept our drinks outside on the decking! There is an extra freezer in the utility room.
My only grumble is that we like a firm mattress and although this mattress was a high quality memory foam one it wasn't for us so didn't have the comfiest of sleeps......although the kids did, clearly we should have swapped rooms! The bedding and bedrooms were really cosy and both bedrooms had TVs and hairdryer.
I was sad to find I had forgotten our bag of games but didn't need to worry as there is a cupboard full of games, jigsaws, books and DVD's.
As someone else mentioned the WIFI was great and phone reception perfect.
Asda and Tesco both deliver so you could save space in the car by arranging a delivery for your trip but both Tesco and Sainsburys are only a 5 minute drive. Northallerton is a 20/25 minute walk along a roadside path with lots of bars, restaurants, cafés, shops and a park but sadly Covid closures meant we didn't get to test any out.
We also had a drive to Thirsk (10 minutes) which has a nice little park and riverside walk with cafe's, pubs and shops too! Would be lovely when everything back open.
We did get takeaway delivered from both Kam Bo House (Chinese) and Romeo Pizza which were both lovely and both on Just Eat!
The hot tub was big and new and lovely with fabulous sunset views and felt very private. We enjoyed watching all of the birds with a glass of fizz. Watch out for the tree man!
Sadly we had a problem with our hot tub heating but this couldn't be helped and everything possible was done to try remedy this and try to solve the problem, we made the most of it anyway!
There is a distinctive smell in the air but you don't notice it after day one and it is on a working farm, the kids (and us) thoroughly enjoyed visiting the animals and feeding the goats. It would be lovely to go back in summer when the animals are out in the fields and make use of the BBQ!
Cliff our host was perfect, just what you want, friendly and helpful but not in your way. We were encouraged to use the lodge as our home and that's exactly what it felt like. Thank you Cliff for being a great host and letting us visit the animals and feel so relaxed. Also thank you for the lovely welcome hamper which we made the most of, it was really nice with lots of treats!
Last but not least Maxwell, the resident dog who we enjoyed our daily visits from. He is so friendly and well trained, not over stepping the mark (literally keeping his paws out). We happily adopted him for the week and enjoyed his company!
We would definitely return and have already looked at future dates!