CURLEW BARN, family friendly, country holiday cottage, with hot tub in Ipstones, Ref 3596

Description from the manager

This impressive three bedroom property is able to sleep up to seven people and is situated in the Peak District hamlet of Bottomhouse. This unique and welcoming barn conversion was originally an 18th century pig sty situated in the rural hamlet of Bottomhouse. This property offers well-equipped accommodation with beamed ceilings and superb views over rolling countryside. The cottage has a sitting room with dining area, separate kitchen, two shower rooms and three bedrooms, making this an ideal cottage for families. The cottage also comes with optional use of a hot tub and access to a garden and off-road parking.

Amenities: Electric cen...tral heating. Electric oven and hob, combination microwave/oven, fridge/freezer, wine cooler, washing machine and tumble dryer in outside barn, dishwasher, 2 x flat screen TVs with Freeview, DVD, CD/radio. Fuel and power inc. in rent. Bed linen and towels inc. in rent. Cot and highchair on request. Off road parking for 3 cars. Enclosed patio with furniture and BBQ. Hot Tub available at a charge of £100, payable direct to owner. Sorry, no pets and no smoking. Shop 2 miles, pub and restaurant 5 mins walk. Note: Refundable Good Housekeeping bond of £50 required. Note: No stag parties allowed at this property. Note: Max. 7 people including infants.

Region: The ultimate in “year-round” appeal, the Peak District offers countryside, picturesque villages and magnificent scenery. It touches upon six counties and encloses 555 square miles of open moorland, flowing rivers, and wooded dales.

Town: Located on the western fringes of the Peak District, the attractive rural village of Ipstones is set in moorland countryside between the market towns of Leek and Ashbourne. The village itself offers a post office, village shop and pubs serving food, although other amenities are available close by. The surrounding countryside is excellent for walking and offers miles of woodland trails and moorland hikes to enjoy. Dovedale and the limestone Churnet Valley are within easy driving distance and the Manifold Trail is also close by. Chatsworth House, Haddon Hall, and the National Trust’s Lyme Park – used in the television adaptation of Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ – are all easily accessible, as are the National Trust’s Ilam Estate and Blackbrook Zoological Gardens.Read more

Additional Location Information

Additional notes from owner

All prices are inclusive of the booking fee. The "Min. Per Night" prices quoted are based on the weekly rental price, they are not applicable for short breaks. See our short break policy or ask for further details.
Winter Short Breaks (WSB) are available at many properties in the "Winter" period - subject to availability. Extra nights are charged pro rata of the weekly rental. Off Season Breaks (OSB) are available at many properties in parts of the "Low" and "Mid" periods - subject to availability. The price for a 3 night break is either 75% of the normal weekly rental or, if it is higher, the quoted Winter Short Break price. Extra nights are charged pro rata of the weekly rental. OSBs can be booked within a calendar month of the start date of the holiday. "Last Minute Breaks" (LMB) are available at most properties throughout the "LOW", "MID", "HIGH", "PEAK", "XMAS" and "NEW YEAR" periods. The price for a 3 night break is either 65% of the normal weekly rental or, if it is higher, the quoted Winter Short Break price. Extra nights are charged pro rata of the weekly rental. LMBs can be booked within one week of the start date of the holiday.

What Past Guests Are Saying

Overall Rating

• Pippa E
  Reading, United Kingdom

  Cold, cramped, awkward and disappointing.

  Left on 03/02/2013 for a stay in February 2013
  
  

  Visited the smaller barn for a weekend in February, for an annual reunion with friends. Owner met us upon arrival and was friendly. We have stayed in cottages/barns for the last 5 years; this was the only one we have ever felt disappointed by.
  
  Positives: Fairly inexpensive, very convenient for alton Towers, plenty of parking, nice backyard area for summer.
  Negatives: freezing cold downstairs. Heating hadn't been on when we arrived, but even with all heaters on, we were still sitting in coats and duvets by the end of the weekend. Leather furniture and no carpet in lounge don't help. Never had this issue in any previous accommodation at same time of year.
  Sleeps 7 adults max. 'Sofabed' in (the bitterly cold) lounge is suitable for a child and was extremely uncomfortable (when we complained, we were first told to contact the manufacturer and then given a camp bed, which literally fell apart as it opened).
  Hot tub was broken. The owner explained on the first night that it wasn't working reliably and was likely to be warm, not hot, so gave us a discount. He said he was willing to discuss it further if there was a real problem. We tried to use it and found that, upon getting in, it was colder than lukewarm, so we got out. We spoke to the owner the next day, explained and asked for our Hot Tub money back as we couldn't use it. Despite original promises of further discussion, he said no immediately. He then said that as someone had got in to test, he wouldn't refund the money, because he would have to clean it (this had not been mentioned originally; had we known, we would have changed our attempt to use it). He did eventually refund the money on Sunday, but this was uncomfortable discussion for all concerned and spoilt the feel of the weekend.
  Lacked practicality; odd things missing from kitchen equipment, such as a tin opener, corkscrew (despite an impressive wine fridge). Asked to top up hot tub, but no hose; suggestion was to boil kettles and carry them through the house.

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  Would you recommend this vacation rental to a friend? No

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• alicia r
  England

  Great get together

  Left on 12/28/2012 for a stay in December 2012
  
  

  Good time had by all. Been to Bottomhouse Barn before and booked this one for smaller group. No probs all round. Nice farming community and very quiet. Recommend yes

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  Would you recommend this vacation rental to a friend? Yes

  Recommended for: Friends, Disabilities, Families w children

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• MrsLewis1
  

  Not the best

  Left on 12/26/2012 for a stay in December 2012
  
  

  We stayed here for Christmas in a group of 8 adults and 2 toddlers. After all it is considered suitable for 9 people so we took our own travel cot for the baby.
  This accommodation is not suitable for 9 people in fact I would say more suitable for 6 and 2 of those would need to be children. It is very small with small amenities all crammed in without a thought.
  The kitchen has a very small oven, slim line dishwasher (which the large plates do not fit in) 2 fridges and no freezer!
  The living room is cold with uncomfortable small leather bucket sofas, a table to fit 8 chairs around at squeeze and a small tv (just remember you specs) right down the opposite end to the sitting area.
  The bedrooms all link into each other and the beds are uncomfortable, about 20 years old I'd say.
  When we arrived it was almost like the place had not been cleaned. The rugs were filthy, as we're the sinks and showers (one which we found an old beer can in) and the towels were stained. And when we asked where the Hoover was kept as it had clearly not been done. The owners response was "I have done them they're alright" Only when we said we would have children crawling around he finally said " it's in the shed over there".
  We made the most if our stay as it was Christmas but I would not recommend this place to anyone. We payed the same price as we've payed every other year and in comparison this barn was cramped with poor facilities and an unhelpful owner. The hot tub was small and cold but the owner will try and fob you off with some story about not leaving the lid off for longer than half hour at a time.
  When paying this amount of money you will definitely find a lot more for your money so look elsewhere and if you can't find anywhere I would recommend you stay home.

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  Would you recommend this vacation rental to a friend? No

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• Wendi W
  736833

  Would not recommend

  Left on 05/17/2012 for a stay in April 2012
  
  

  Booked this property, along with the larger neighbouring barn (both owned by the same person) to enjoy an extended family break - there were 21 of us in all. Six of us stayed in Curlew Barn.
  
  We forgot to bring with us the £200 cheque for a bond, which had been requested by the owner prior to our arrival. When we explained that we had forgotten the cheque (who carries chequebooks these days?) but were happy to leave our addresses and contact details in case any problems were found after we left, but the owners refused us access until we had cobbled together between us the required £200 in cash. The owners insisted that this was a condition of booking enforced by the agents, but we have checked and this is not the case - it was imposed solely by the owners. They promised to send us a cheque to reimburse the bond once we had left and they had checked the property.
  
  Firstly, Curlew Barn is split in two, which means that the owner can actually rent this small barn to two separate families if he wishes, or separate off part of the barn if a smaller family book. This would be ridiculous - in our half of the cottage (sleeping 4) there was not even enough space for 4 of us to sit. The other half has a larger lounge area but only sleeps 3 (all in the same room).
  
  During our stay we experienced severe weather - freezing temperatures, snow and high winds, resulting in a complete loss of power for a full day. As Curlew Barn is only fed by electricty, this meant that we had no heat, light or cooking facilities - we could not even make a cup of tea. Of course, this was not at anybody's fault, however the owner was completely unhelpful and actually downright rude during this difficult time. Luckily we could go over to the other barn to our other family members, where they had a wood burner to provide a little bit of heat and a gas hob so that we could boil water. There was only a little bit of wood provided in the larger barn, so we went to the owner (who lives on site) and asked for some more - whereupon he brought us a small bag of logs and asked us for £5 before he would hand them over! When we asked him to provide it as a gesture of goodwill he finally replied "Whatever!" and walked off. Later on, his wife came over to tell us that the electricity wasn't going to be back on for a few more hours, and we asked her if they had any candles or torches etc, as it was getting dark - and she simply walked off whilst we were trying to talk to her! Bearing in mind that our party consisted of all ages - ranging from 2 to 72, we found both owners' attitude appalling in their disinterest and unwillingness to help provide some small degree of warmth and light for paying guests. Goodness knows they will have saved a fortune on electricity, as all heating is electric apart from the wood burner.
  
  Other things to note -
  1. The accommodation is by no means ideal for as many people as is advertised. I have already given comments on Curlew Barn above. The larger barn (Bottomhouse Barn) is supposed to sleep 15, but this is only possible if you are willing to sleep more or less on top of each other. There are two large bedrooms each with 5 (yes, 5!) beds in. There are two very small bedrooms, one with a double bed, and one with bunk beds. The final sleeping space is a pull out bed on the landing!
  
  2. The bunk beds are supposed to be suitable for adults but were so unstable that the teenagers that were going to use them could not do so.
  
  3. All but one of the beds need replacing - springs are poking through.
  
  After a week of mixed fortunes, we left both barns in impeccable order - nothing was left in a worse condition than was found (apart from an old mop which fell apart as soon as we picked it up). When the cheque for the bond was finally returned, guess what? Money had been deducted to pay for a new mop, as well as a mysterious deduction for "additional cleaning" - to the value of £5 !!! Nothing to do with the "goodwill" wood then???
  
  My advice - do not book this barn, or it's sister accommodation Bottomhouse Barn. The owners have a really bad attitude, are not willing to do anything to make your stay pleasureable, and are only interested in squeezing as much money out of their property as possible.

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  Detailed ratings for this rental

  • Check in
    
  • Cleanliness
    
  • Comfort
    
  • Location
    
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  • Value
    

  
  

  
  Would you recommend this vacation rental to a friend? No

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  Was this review helpful? Yes