Host & Stay - Cummins & Goings Cottage

The house was spotless, the welcome hamper, flowers and prosecco was a lovely touch. The extra towels, tea towels, washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets and toilet roll were added extra.

Internet was not the best even after resetting the router, everything else was good.

Very clean and well equipped cottage within 5 minutes walking from town centre. Surprise basket on arrival, very kind!

Combined toilet and bathroom upstairs a bit inconvenient. Otherwise nothing to complain!

The location was perfect! We were so close to the centre and had a lovely view of Barnard Castle at the bottom of the road. We really appreciated the hamper left by the hosts and all the facilities in the property such as fridge/freezer, washing machine and dishwasher came in good use. There were so many nice restaurants and lovely walks nearby. We we really pleased that there was a space to park one car right outside the property.

The check out time of 10am and the check in time of after 4pm

Really good stay thank you. Lovely property, great hamper, location spot on, arrangements all good.

A disappointment though was no wifi available, which we raised with your help line only to receive no call-back as had been promised. This may or may not have been something that could have been be resolved of course but the lack of a call-back was the issue for me. A very weak mobile signal meant no alternative connection was available.

First of all I would like to make it very clear that this property was absolutely excellent. I shall explain why I have knocked points of during my review. The pros of Cummings and Goings were many including the excellent welcome pack, spotlessly clean property, easy to use TV (Which cannot often be said these days), extremely comfortable beds, plenty of towels and toilet roll, well equipped kitchen, great décor, comfortable temperature, powerful shower, very quiet location and a wonderful view of the castle at the end of the drive. The only downside of the property we found was the lack of instructions for the hob which we eventually worked out how to operate.

Unfortunately I don’t have anything good to say about the management company of this property, Host and Stay. They have a very haphazard approach to responding to email enquiries. I booked the property and paid the non-refundable fee. Only at that point was I made aware of a previously undisclosed admin fee of £10. I searched the site and there was absolutely no mention of it anywhere. The fee was apparently charged in order to process the refund of the £250 damage deposit which was taken from my credit card on 1st April 2023 and later refunded on 25th April 2023. My visit to the property was from 14th to 17th April 2023. It took 3 emails dated 24th January 2023, 28th January 2023 and 2nd February 2023 before anyone at Host and Stay deigned to respond when I challenged this admin fee. In an era where I can transfer money to any bank account in the world from my mobile phone in a matter of moments I felt that the £10 fee was scandalous. The fact that it was hidden until the non refundable fee had been paid made it very sinister. I understand the need to protect property owners from rogue visitors so the damage bond was very reasonable. Why it had to be taken 14 days before our visit and held for a further 8 days after we had vacated is beyond me particularly in view of the barrage of messages from Host and Stay prior to our departure making it clear that their housekeeping team would arrive shortly after the check out time so it would be apparent that same day had we caused any damage. I did successfully challenge the hidden £10 admin fee which has also been refunded but the whole episode has left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Suffice to say I will not book any property that is managed by Host and Stay at any point in the future which is unfortunate as Cummings and Goings is a lovely property.

warm well equipped cottage

flakey EE WiFi

The property was so close to the city, attractions and restaurants. The breakfast and little treats were amazing!

It was hard to get the key out at first but not a problem once we figured it out!

Good location , close to town .Very homely cottage .

The festive decorations and Christmas tree were a lovely surprise. As was the welcome goodies.

A warmer duvet would have been welcomed as the weather was very cold.