“Perfect accommodation for a get together with friends”
I have just returned from a 4 night stay at Bottomhouse farm and barns for my 30th Birthday celebrations with friends. The location was less than an hour from Manchester therefore was a perfect location for myself and friends to get to.
I booked this property along with the adjoining property (Curlew barn) on Sykes cottages website and found the booking process incredibly easy, 10% deposit was required for BOTH properties. I was also charged a £35 booking fee for each property despite it being 1 booking.
A good housekeeping bond of £150 is required by cheque prior to arrival (£50 for Curlew barn too) although this was returned to me in full 2 days after my stay.
Check in was at 4pm which I felt was a little late especially this time of year when we arrived at dusk. On arrival Mr Cooper was waiting for us with the keys and gave us a very comprehensive induction showing us around both properties and showing us how to work everything including the hot tub. He had also left a bottle of wine and birthday card which I felt was a lovely personal touch.
The barn was clean (besides the toilets) and perfect for the occasion, however I would not recommend for couples or family's due to the bedroom layout. There are 4 bedrooms, 2 which sleep 4/5 with 3 single beds and 1 double and an en suite bathroom each, 1 with a set of bunk beds, and 1 with a double bed. All bedrooms are adequately furnished and the beds are comfortable. The electric showers in each en suite however were poor (bad pressure), there is also a wet room downstairs however we could not get the big shower head to work.
The living room space is small for the amount of occupants and the leather couches are particularly difficult to sit on (cushions kept sliding off), there is also a nice wood burner with supplies to light your first fire, you then have to pay for additional supplies.
The hot tub is amazing (although costs an additional £150) a perfect addition to the weekend. We were told it took 6 people but on one night we fitted 10 at a squeeze! It was rather cool on night 2, but that's because we never refilled it until the following day. If you give it the required care and attention it is lush, be careful it has the power to get you incredibly drunk ;)
We had a takeaway one night from Abdul Spice in Leek, the food was delicious and adequately priced.
We also walked into Ipstones on Sunday, it's approx a 40 minute walk and if visiting on a Sunday beware that the pubs only serve food between 12-3pm. Walking to or from the barn in the dark can also be very dangerous as there is no street lighting. There are several supermarkets in Leek which you can easily drive too.
I booked Curlew barn as well as my party size was 18+, I would not recommend paying for the hot tub at this property as it is excluded from the main bean and is away from the main party.
The main downside of this property is there is no internet/WI-FI, and the mobile phone signal is poor. I feel for the money they charge to rent this property that they should invest in Internet for their guests.
Overall we had a fabulous time and would revisit
- Beth T, January 2014
