Authentic Irish Cottage, Rural Ballymascanlon

The cottage was absolutely fantastic, all we expected,, a real wee gem and exactly what we needed to switch off sitting by the amazing harth with the fire roaring

One of the ensuite bathrooms had soap with a hair on it and the other the toilet dripped for about 15 mins after use, which was very loud & disturbing for sleep - both simple fixes

The location was perfect for us. The cottage was warm.

It was so lovely

We loved everything about the cottage, the size of it is great 3 large double bedrooms , 2 of them ensuite and one with patio doors on to the beautiful garden . We were attending a wedding at Castle Bellingham, then at Carlingford, so the location was perfect as it is in the middle of both venues. The kitchen is very well equipped for a family. The neighbours of the cottage are lovely friendly people, my daughter left 2 dresses in the cottage and after contacting the owners, she arranged for me to collect them from the neighbour. We had family visit who were staying elsewhere, and they all said how lovely the cottage was, how much bigger it was compared to the cottages they all had and how they would book it The next time they visit

There was nothing we did not like

Lovely Irish Cottage full of information on its history down through the generations. Comfortable, Cosy and Clean.

Comfortable inside with decking and summer seating out the back.

Was self-catering. Location was very good: peaceful without any traffic noise or aircraft. This adds the feeling you have gone back a century or two, which was good! The documents and pictures in the property showing aspects of the history were also appreciated for similar reasons. The three bedrooms having their own bathroom facilities was unexpected, but appreciated. The large dining kitchen with central table made for a pleasant family dining experience.

The Hive heating control was not the easiest to set. However once this was sussed and reset correctly it worked very well. The heating was initially set far too high (and wasteful!) at 24C when we arrived. I believe it was set this high because the previous occupant had complained about the house being cold on a morning. I reset it to a comfortable 20.5C but found the heating was ignoring the schedule and reverting to a frost setting overnight, needing a 'Resume schedule' in the morning. I figured this could have been the real reason for the cold mornings? I'm not sure what I did to overcome this, but it started working correctly after I reset the schedule for the hot water as well. On-line it reports this issue could relate to depleted batteries? I did not need to investigate further, but the owner may wish to? Many of the wooden window openers do not close securely: it wasn't a major issue for us as we had few valuables and it must be in as 'crime free' an area as one could find! We were on a budget and had our main meals back at the cottage: so a bigger fridge would have been helpful - but we still managed. However if 6 or more guests (compared to our 3) were trying to do the same, it would not have been big enough to accommodate a full -start of week - fresh food shop as we did on day one, and then also hold the extra cooked food retained for another day.

The history of the house, location and cottage look great, loved open fire.

Nothing, it was everything we expected

The cottage was amazing: welcoming and cozy with all the comforts

The overall cleanliness was good, however some of the furniture and floors were a bit dusty