Thistle Thatch Cottage and Hot Tub - Mourne Mountains

The bath was amazing, lots of hot water and we were really toasty despite the storm outside.

Nothing except the bad weather. 😆

Andy was a great host, he accommodated our unexpected late arrival without issue. Check in couldn't have been easier and Andy had the place pre-heated which was lovely on a dark Nov evening. The cottage itself was beautifully and tastefully decorated. We enjoyed the cozy warmth of the open fire in the sitting room and the stove in the kitchen was great to heat the whole house. The bed and bedding was really cozy - the bedroom itself was lovely and the bath was a nice way to relax after a day hiking. The location itself is stunning - definitely get up early to see the sunrise light up the landscape and go out at night to see the stars! We mostly ate at the cottage however one morning we went to the Hares Bistro for breakfast which is a four min drive from the cottage (and easy when you cant be bothered to cook). In the same direction there is also a couple of car parks which are great starting points for exploring the mountains. We would definitely return in the future.

Nothing - place was the perfect escape.

An amazing experience which we would highly recommend. Waking up in the morning and getting the stove going to have our morning coffee (there was an electric kettle provided but we decided to make use of the stove) to cooking all our meals on the stove was great! Views were exceptional. Baths fantastic. The place was so cosy!

Absolutely nothing

Wow, this place is the most beautiful place I've stayed in by far, its really a step back in time, a peaceful retreat in the heart of the mountains, the views are spectacular, if you like hiking/walking and being in nature you have to stay at this beautiful place, the cottage is just perfect from the moment you pull upto it every little detail is perfect. Andy was so helpful and got the hot tub set up for us-magical outdoor hottub

We picked up a few groceries and cooked our meals on the wood stove...no need to go anywhere after that as we had everything we needed right there.

Would have been handy to have more wood on site so we didn't have to bug the host so often. We did all our meals using the wood stove so we went through a lot! Hot tub was amazing but the wooden seats could use a bit of a pressure wash...mind you, you don't notice that at night!

I have nothing but praise for this idyllic little cottage at the foot of the Mournes. Every detail was given great thought and executed with perfection. The location is the thing of dreams.

While I may have only praise for the perfect little cottage, the opposite could be bestowed upon the host. The perfect find for my short birthday getaway, destroyed by Andy, the unprepared host. No fire started or hot tub instruction given (requested at time of booking). Andy would return the following day, after we message him to say we’re ready to get it up and running. And if we could give him a 3-4 hour notice before we wanted him to come over. That would be great. There was two thirds of a basket of blocks and a fire log. Andy suggested one block at a time was plenty. The blocks had been used by the time the stove was reaching moderate temperature. Around 8/9 pm. We had arrived at 6:30 pm. We were frozen going out in the pitch black dark to see if there was any wood store or turf stack. The wind was blowing a gale and it was raining razor blades, it was the dark moon that night. So no moonlight 🌑 There was zero fuel to be found, and three trips to buy sticks, blocks, peat briquettes and firefighter’s the following morning, finally got the temperature up. At a cost of £73.64 💷 But the wonderful lady in Killen’s fuel shop in Milltown, was the friendliest most helpful person 🙏 Once we got the fires sorted and the cottage warmed, we discovered there is underfloor heating powered by gas. A switch that Andy had pointed at and mumbled, but didn’t tell us what it was. Willie got it turned on and after about 6-7 hours the stone cold stone floors began defrosting. Much better day and we got the hot tub fired up. The hot tub takes a bit of work and fuel, but a unique experience to have had, sheer bliss.