Squirrel Barn. Hi-spec. Hot tub & Wifi. Sleeps 14

This is a beautifully equipped old barn conversion set up with children and pets in mind. It has fully secure gardens, a hot tub, zip wire, swings, slide, toys, and a BBQ with table and chairs. They’ve thought of everything, and more.

The kids had fun, which matters most, but they’d probably have enjoyed any house with garden toys. Nothing here really stood out. For £3,500 for four nights, with a 3 pm check-in and 10 am checkout, I didn’t feel we got value. The price was doubled for the bank holiday weekend, and at that level I expected things to be close to perfect. They weren’t. Even at the normal £1,800 rate, I’d feel the same. It seemed like margins mattered more than standards or service, and the property didn’t feel properly maintained. The beds were uncomfortable. The hot tub was filthy, and even after the owner sent someone to clean it for over three hours, it was still dirty. As a pool plant operator, I can say it wasn’t just leaves and bugs as the owner suggested. It should have been cleaned and maintained properly before we arrived. The owner’s comment, “it gives us a good excuse to clean it,” was unwelcome. After the dirty hot tub, the children couldn’t shower because the boiler had been emptied and took eight hours to refill. There were hardly any utensils or glasses in the kitchen, and the welcome pack was sparse and low quality. Four Aldi dishwasher tablets, for example, felt like penny pinching when a box of 40 costs £3.29. For what we paid, I expected much better supplies. Attention to detail was poor throughout, and some games were missing pieces and unusable. The oven and hob were broken. We were told this happens every six months or so and they would start working again, but it took us hours to get them going. It could have been fixed for £250. We were also charged extra for scrap wood, which seemed unreasonable after paying so much, especially for basic old pallet wood for the fire. The large outdoor bin was already full when we arrived, and we were told to keep rubbish inside near the front door. It built up for days, including food waste. For £3,500, not even being able to use a bin was very poor. They should have collected and disposed of it daily.

I didn’t stay myself, but friends gave a fantastic account and were over the moon with what was there for them. The children were busy nonstop with the zip wire and a seemingly endless range of equipment. All 14 rooms had a TV with Fire Sticks for Netflix and so on, and there was a Mac, computer games, and loads of board games inside. The hot tub was ready when they arrived, and there was a huge BBQ and big tables for a large family gathering. It looked brilliant.

The kitchen was fabulous and the location was nice and easy to find, but we found the place tired and in need of an overhaul. We spent a long weekend there, and there wasn’t enough living space inside for the number of people it can sleep. The lounge was particularly small. Outside, the garden was untidy, with broken children’s toys scattered around and a filthy paddling pool I wouldn’t let a child near. The hot tub was only half a tub, and the decking and ballastrad around it needed paint and repair. Still, it was a nice enough place for a short break.