Tuesday 12 May 2015

Corndavon Cottage - Nr Ballater, Royal Deeside

This is actually Morven Cottage, exactly the same from the
outside as Corndavon.  We just never got a photo of
Corndavon without our car in the front!
When did we visit?
1-8 May 2015

How much was it?
£435

Who did we book with?
Sykes Cottages

Does the Cottage have it's own website?
Yes - Garnshiel Lodge

What were our initial impressions?
  • The way we approached the cottage, on the B976, takes you through some spectacular countryside, with amazing views in all directions.
  • The location of this cottage is amazing.  It is remote, it is wild, it is beautiful.  For us, it was perfect.  You need to be prepared though, the local shop, whilst not that far away, is not just two minutes down the road.
  • We were greeted by Archie, one of the owners, who couldn't have been more friendly.
  • We booked this cottage quite some time ago and for ages have been telling people that we were staying in a green wooden shack, in the middle of nowhere, with a very tartan carpet!  It was with great trepidation that we entered, only to be delighted with what we found.
  • The cottage is really spacious, with a huge lounge & dining area, with a small kitchen off it. The double bedroom was also fairly large, though the twin room was smaller, though still plenty big enough. Both bedrooms had plenty of storage.
  • The bathroom was a good size, again with plenty of storage.  There was a good sized shower cubicle.
  • The cottage is spotlessly clean.  We moved the sofas around in the lounge, to make things a bit cosier for us, and there was not a crumb or a speck of dust underneath either of them.  We can't say that about our own lounge!
  • There was no welcome pack to speak of, though there were sufficient dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid etc to get us started.
  • It felt nice and warm and we were really pleased to see that we could regulate the heating ourselves.
  • There was a nice big basket of logs, kindling, fire lighters and matches to give us one good burn of the log burner.
  • A hot tub has recently been installed, which we were not fussed about using.  The cost of the use of this is not included in the price we paid and I believe prices have now been adjusted accordingly.
 Our likes over the course of the week
  • The location did not disappoint.  We loved it when we arrived and we loved it even more by the time we left.  Whilst there were people staying in the adjacent cottage and in the lodge, the site was still incredibly peaceful and the views all around are amazing. There was also lots of bird watching to be had.
  • The location is also really good for getting out and about visiting.  We visited Ballater, Balmoral, Braemar, the Linn O' Dee, Crathes, Stonhaven and lots of other local spots, without having to drive for absolutely miles.
  • Archie was brilliant.  As he was working on site for a number of days over the week he always had time for a chat and information about more interesting, off the beaten track places, to visit. His recommendations always came up trumps too and lived up to his descriptions.
  • There was really good phone signal for EE, though I understand this may not be the case for all networks.
  • The cottage was really cosy, warm and comfortable.  We had some really bad weather and spent a couple of days holed up in the warm, just chilling out.  
 
Anything that could have made it better?
We loved our stay in this cottage, though there were just a few things that could have made it even better:
  • This is the first cottage we've stayed in where we've had no welcome pack at all. Luckily we had called ahead to check what was provided so it didn't cause us any problem, but a pint of milk would have been good.
  • Bath and hand towels were provided, but no bath sheets.  Again this didn't cause us a problem as we had checked this out beforehand.
  • There is a two slice toaster provided in the kitchen.  For us, a four slice would have been useful, though of course, we could use the grill instead.
  • The kitchen has an induction hob and there are plenty of frying and saucepans provided.  For us, a wok would also have been useful, though we did manage to make do with what was available.
  • The wifi was always available, though could be slow at certain times of day.  It seems that superfast broadband could be on the way in the future!
Would we recommend this cottage to our friends any family?
Absolutely!!  In fact, we already have.

Would we stay in this cottage again?
Absolutely, yes.  We can't wait to and will hopefully book up again for next year soon.

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