Ballyginny Cottage

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Reviews

1. Sarah Beale ★★★★★

   We loved the long weekend we spent in this wonderful homely cottage. Despite not having booked the hot tub, Jo and Graham had fortuitously set it up. So we and the children could enjoy, loved the fact it was wood fired. Fantastic garden space, fully utilised by the children. Walking distance to gorgeous local pub, short drive into Newcastle/Castle Wellan and the Mourns. Would highly recommend staying, the welcome pack of goodies was a delightful surprise. Thanks so much for making our stay in Maghera wonderful.

   1 year ago
2. Louise Dunn ★★★★☆

   We stayed at Ballyginny Cottage at the beginning of the summer and what a beautiful, quaint small but perfectly formed cottage! 2 bedrooms with 2 en-suites was great. The cottage has a big garden to the side which our kids loved and the highlight of the weekend was the amazing wood fired burner! (An extra £50 to use). Jo had it all set up and ready to go which was fab. Only a 5 min drive to Newcastle and the shops. On arrival Jo had a cute welcome pack which was very much appreciated. The only thing I missed was having a freezer-would have been handy for the ice cubes! Would definitely stay here again!

   1 year ago
3. J B ★☆☆☆☆

   We were disappointed with the cleanliness of the house.  I don't know when it was last cleaned but it wasn't recently. There there was a dead fly and a dead wood louse in a bathroom but the dead mouse in a trap was absolutely unacceptable. There were no hand towels in the bathrooms even though it stated they were included. One of the beds was held up by blocks of wood. The wood burning stove was so full of ash that we emptied two full pans before we could light it. It has a wood fired hot tub which was a nightmare to light especially as there was no firelighters left. We had to go and buy some. There was hardly any small sticks to start both the hot tub and the stove which made lighting them a lot more difficult that it should of been. The hot tub had no way to regulate the temperature when it finally warmed up nearly 3 hours later, it got unbearably hot. The area around the hot tub was very slippy due to green scum. To include a £80 cleaning fee seems fair if the place was clean, unfortunately it was far from it. Nevermind the fact that the host was very unresponsive.  I had emailed her twice after booking as it stated we needed to pay a fee for a dog even though we were not bringing a dog.  She never responded. She messaged via VRBO site the day before we arrived asking for a £150 security deposit.  She didnt send details how to do this until I asked. She sent the incorrect code for the key box and we couldn't get in.  Thankfully we found a bunch of keys lying on the ground by the hot tub and thats how we accessed the house. Later a message came through with the correct code for the key box... The oven/grill was that dirty the kitchen filled with smoke when we turned it on, we had to turn it off and couldn't use it. The fumes made our eyes water and we had to leave the door open for ages to clear it out on a cold night. We had to wash any glasses & tableware before using them because they were all grubby. It was just generally disappointing to spend £270 on the house for one night to have so much wrong with it.  It was all basic things that would of easily been picked up and rectified if the house was cleaned before our arrival. I messaged the host when I got home explaining the many issues, sad to say over 2 days later she still hasn't responded.  I would like to say i'm surprised. Please do yourself a favour and stay somewhere else.

   almost 2 years ago

1. Joanne Ward ★★★☆☆

   Stayed in Ballyginny Cottage with my 7 year old daughter for 4 nights midweek for £600 and an additional £150 (which is refundable pending inspection of cottage on check out) I found the host Joanne to be extremely helpful. The cottage is in a lovely location, quiet and peaceful, approx 5 mins drive from Newcastle. Cottage was very clean, warm and comfortable. Pet friendly to an extent, we brought our little dog but there were many areas/opportunities for her to escape through!!! Hot tub was absolutely amazing and a big hit! Just a pity additional logs for heating it need to be requested (at a cost) and are not just readily available although we had enough for the duration of our stay (we used it on 2 days). Having read other reviews, it’s a pity to confirm that previous issues (broken lock on patio door, bed supported by wood, no wardrobe/storage in bedrooms) haven’t been resolved yet but none of them really bothered us to be honest. Also having read about entertainment available, none of these are available at the properly, nor was there a BBQ facility. Again, didn’t really bother us too much as the weather was beautiful and we spent alot of time at the nearby beach. There is no WiFi available at the property either. Regardless, we did had a lovely stay and enjoyed our time at Ballyginny Cottage.

   almost 2 years ago
2. Dino Dan ★☆☆☆☆

   I booked the cottage at short notice for the sum of £600 for a 3 night stay. We arrived late on Friday night. We were immediately disappointed as the cottage was dirty, quite run down, and clearly needed a lot of maintenance work and some TLC. The patio doors were broke in the kitchen, some windows in the house would not close fully, the hinges on the doors needed fixes as the doors banged constantly. The furniture has been done on a shoe string budget and that is immediately obvious when you enter the property. However even with all these issues we decided to stay and try to be positive and make the best of the situation. The next morning around 11.30ish the owner and her husband arrived to the property with no warning, no text, no call to say they were going to call in. I was actually hoovering and mopping the floors when they arrived as the house was filthy and we had guests joining us later for a small get together which I informed the owner about, the owner and her husband stayed for about 15 mins, still unsure as to why they called to the property as it is quite obvious we would have rang them should we have required any assistance. Later on when the guests arrived and we were all respectfully enjoying the weather with some food and drinks a man arrived and tried to gain entry to the property claiming he was here to attend to the garden and trees, this man was abrupt and rude and seemed to think he had the right to gain access in the middle of our party. He was informed we had paid £600 and he would not be gaining access whilst we are there, he then informed us that he is the owners son and that she didn’t tell him that guests were at the property. The whole situation ruined the atmosphere of the evening and we felt like we were being checked on throughout our stay. For the price we paid we expected much better and I definitely would have stayed at home had I known what I had booked and the random spot checks. I’ve stayed in many different holiday homes and never once experienced an owner acting in such a manner or sending family members to the property knowing full well people are staying there. I did speak with the owner on the phone was apologetic, however she did try to justify what had happened and wasn’t forthcoming to offer any sort of compensation or refund. Finally I almost forgot to mention the hostile neighbour ( an unfriendly older woman whom lives alone) attempted to smile and make eye contact when she left the property, it was clear she had no interest in saying hello, although the owner had warned us about her before our arrival as we were advised to but natural wood burning fire lighters for the hot-tub as the regular sunny Jim firelighters were of extreme annoyance to the neighbour. Totally disappointed and would recommend people find better accommodation.

   almost 2 years ago

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