Burns Cottage, Greta Bridge near Barnard Castle

Burns cottage upon arrival looked stunning with our stay being over Christmas the house had a lovely Christmas tree up with all the lights a very nice touch. Day 2 our main issues were noticed as a party of 15 we was spread out, but we noticed one side of the house the one via the main entrance through the games room 2nd dinning area had freezing cold water the entire stay, bath, shower sink tap water , we did inform the hotel the Morritt hotel whom also own burns cottage but no maintenance person came to check or see what was going on with it not even a phone call back ? So that was a huge Issue as all guest were then having to use 2 bathrooms between us, one being a 92 year old having to go back and fourth all the time. Second issue the utility room second small kitchen Freezing water never heated up the dryer was cold never dried any towels we washed? Third issue the sauna steam room didnt work it never heated up the instructions manual were misleading we tried it every day and left it to heat for the time it required and nothing! Very disappointing Fourth issue was with the views from the windows facing the rear of the morritt hotel it was very scruffy boxes and rubbish all over not what you would expect to see . Over all disappointed with the price of burns cottage you would expect the property to be more maintained and the staff to be more acknowledgeable to issues been reported. With other propertys similar with more facilities and better reviews it requires some maintenance . Natalie

We really wanted to love this property which was spacious, had the hot tub & sauna to make it extra special & elements of the decor made it seem luxurious, but whilst we really enjoyed our time there, various issues took the shine off what should have been an amazing short break it needs some attention to detail to make it 5 out of 5. Previous guests have fed back that providing a guest bookletguide to the property would be helpful, but this wasn't available. As such, when we couldn't access the WiFi again, an issue that previous guests mentioned all we could do was muddle through ourselves then contact the hotel. The receptionist was helpful & did call back as agreed, but was unable to provide a password that worked. It wasn't until the following morning that I tried capitalising part of the password that we were lucky enough to get online. Later that day the maintenance man left a print out with the password on what a shame this wasn't done in the first place. First thing Saturday morning we noticed that the heating had gone off. There was nothing we could see to rectify the issue so I contacted reception who said she'd send the maintenance man out. We went out for a couple of hours & when we returned, the chap was there & had restarted the boiler. He said it was an ongoing issue, but that it was remedied by pressing a button on the bottom of the boiler. He shut & locked door to the boiler so I asked if he could leave it open in case it happened again. If it had been left open with a note explaining how to restart to boiler, it would have saved everyone a bit of time & discomfort. When it was on it was lovely & warm. We had to avoid using a couple of toilets as they wouldnt drain properly. The shower in the first bathroom near the front door wasn't warm enough to use at all and a shower in en suite was hot but only dribbled water out. Useable but not great. Although we hadn't expected washing machines, we did have call to use one when a jumper got something spilled on it we'd soaked it & just wanted to rinse & spin it dry. Tried both machines, neither was able to achieve a spin speed that dried the top out at all perhaps a 'Do not use' sign on these as well as the toilets? might be appropriate? For a party of 14, there were not enough pans, which made cooking more challenging than it perhaps needed to be. On the surface it looked clean beddingtowels were spot on but other things weren't we found an empty cider bottle in a cupboard & a black bag full of something outside the patio doors. Attention to detail lacking in places took away from some of the nicer features, as other guests have mentioned. The hot tub & sauna were great no issues with those, though 2 hot tubs were advertised & only 1 was available. Overall, we were a bit disappointed that what on the surface looked like a wonderful property fell short in a number of areas.

Burns Cottage is good place for a break with friends but could easily be a great place. Our party consisted of 9 people and there was lots of space, a large living area, dining room and kitchen with a second kitchen that was very useful. There are two separate smaller lounges that was really good when people wanted their own space for a while. The property has obviously evolved over the years with parts added on and finding your way around at first was interesting. Everywhere was clean though some cobwebs in the corners, the beds were comfortable and having the two hot tubs was great. Some areas that could be improved An instruction folder with wifi code, cooker etc.instructions would been really good instead of having to guess. Had to go the hotel for the code. Knowing where the heating thermostat was would have been useful. Bath plugs. 1 bath plug for three bath tubs! We reported this to hotel, we were told it had been noted but no further plugs appeared. Wifi. Poor signal, only really usable in the central areas, not the bedrooms. TVs. There are lots of TVs but only the one in main lounge actually worked. We didnt go to watch TV but it would have been useful for the housebound couple that were with us, who stayed in while the rest went for a walk or a trip into Barnard Castle. There were different problems, one needed a PIN number that was not available. Others needed batteries for the remotes and others that could be used did not connect to the wifi to use the builtin Netflix etc. as the signal was too weak. Although they had an arial attached no channels could be found with a search. Kitchen implements. No corkscrew or scissors to open packets etc. Although there were ample pint and wine glasses very few smaller glasses for gin and tonics etc. We used egg cups for shots! Better instructions for the sauna. Although instructions were provided they were misleading. We didnt figure it out for the first 24 hours despite having two engineers in the party. Bathrooms. Despite having a lot of bathrooms, shower rooms and toilets most were on one side of the building. Our bedroom was one of two in an area where each had a double bed and a spiral staircase to an upstairs loft area that each contained two single beds. Great for families but only one one shower room nearby that would potentially be used by 8 people. We could have gone to the hotel repeatedly to try get these issues sorted but having failed to get bath plugs didnt think it worthwhile. However it didnt spoil the trip. Most of the issues would have been sorted if the staff had gone in and checked everything from time to time!

The first impression of the property is good but on closer inspection there is a lack of attention to detail. Dirty skirting boards, doors, door handles and light switches, some beds without mattress protectors. The sauna didnt work and neither did one of the showers. The bedding and towels were lovely and clean. We appreciated the hot tub. We had a lovely weekend but wouldnt return.

I have to say firstly that Burns Cottage is a very nice property but it is clear that is owned by a hotel rather than a family business who care for their accommodation. We arrived at 315pm check in time was from 3pm when we presented ourselves at the reception of the Morritt hotel for the keys collection we were told in no uncertain terms that we were early and the house was not ready. I pointed out that we were in fact late,! With no apology forthcoming we then had to wait a further hour & a half before asking again if the property was ready as we had frozen products in our cars & needed to get it into the freezer. Reluctantly they said we could enter the property it was now quarter to 5. When we entered the house it was clear that it hadn't been cleaned, with piles of towels in the lounge which we distributed to the various bathrooms etc. We had requested a highchair & cot neither of these were in the property so another trip back to the hotel to request these were bought to us. Neither of the two hot tubs were ready, one full but stone cold with the other with about 6 inches of water in it. On the hot tubs, on our return home the whole party of 15 came down with Hot tub folkiculitus skin infection which a number of the group had to have a course of antibiotics. This skin infection is caused by poorly maintained hot tubs. We have used Sykes many times in the past with no issues but I am surprised this property is on your list as it is no where near your usual standard. I could go on about the short comings of this property and its owners but won't bore you any longer. I certainly would not recommend this property to anyone. Thanks