Prince's Cottage

I was a bit concerned about the single track road to the cottage but it was well maintained and as long as you take your time, it's easy to follow.

The cottage was as described and was lovely and quiet, with wonderful views across the valley. We were lazy and went for dog walks by wandering out the front door and heading either left or right up the single-track road for walks. Our dog is fear reactive so this was perfect as there were very few triggers for her - we all got to relax. There are sheep around but the garden wall had been secured and there was no way for them to wander in. The fire was easy to get started and the starter pack was a sizeable amount of logs rather than just enough for one night. The central heating was easy enough to work once you realised you just had to turn the thermostat until it clicked on. The facilities are good, the wifi is perfect, the shower works well, the sofa perhaps needs replaced as it's a bit soft and the microwave probably needs replacing as it was rusty. Overall though, it's well laid out and workable. I would recommend taking an evening meal and breakfast with you for the first bit and then the next day, drive to the main retail park in Dumfries which is about 50 minutes away. There is a big Tesco and Sainsbury's and you can do a proper shop, and you can also get wood for the fire either at the garages or at the Jet garage on your way back. There is a pet store with coffee shop next door to the Jet garage which looks interesting. Overall it was a lovely, peaceful place to stay and let us properly slow down and get away from it all.

We had a wonderful stay at Princes Cottage.

The scenery is incredible and the area so peaceful and quiet. Beautiful dark skies at night. Great bird watching in the glen with red kites, buzzards, kestrels, etc and ospreys at Loch Doon. There are lots of beautiful walks in the area, including Appin Forest and Shinnel Head from the cottage door. A bit further afield lies Tynron Doon, Penpont (The Three Villages Cafe is fab) and Thornhill with a couple of small supermarkets and a great fish and chip shop. The cottage is traditional, so a little dated in places, but the most important areas (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom) were clean and well equipped. There were a few provisions supplied (small quantities of coffee, tea, sugar, biscuits), but no welcome pack like we’ve had in a lot of places we’ve stayed, so make sure you arrive prepared - including milk for that all important brew after a long drive! We came prepared with lots of food for our stay, but if you like to eat out a lot you’ll need to be willing to drive quite a distance every time. The cottage was perfect for 2, we were cosy and comfortable, but it would be a bit cramped for a larger party of adults with just 1 bathroom and a narrow kitchen. Our dog loved the large, fully enclosed garden and we had no problem with the sheep visiting. If you want a ‘get away from it all’ holiday this place is perfect.

Beautiful location although very remote (you need to bring basics with you if you don’t fancy a 40 min round trip to nearest shop for milk!

). The kitchen could do with more cooking dishes but otherwise was well equipped. The heating/hot water was not working when we arrived but this was immediately rectified when we called for help. Our main criticism was the place needed a thorough clean. Overall we enjoyed our stay.