Brig o Doon House Alloway

We booked this property to celebrate my dad’s 70th birthday, travelling as a group of 7 adults and 3 children. The house is very spacious, with plenty of bedrooms to accommodate a large group and lots of communal areas for socialising. We especially enjoyed the size of the kitchen, which became the main hub of our stay, and the large garden was great for the kids to play football in. The location in Alloway is lovely and very accessible, with ample parking available. Overall, it’s well suited to large family or group gatherings. The host was responsive to messages and kindly allowed us an early check-in. When we raised a couple of initial cleanliness concerns, Victoria came to the property promptly to address them, which we appreciated.

We did feel the property falls short of the standard expected for the price and listing. There are a number of cosmetic issues throughout the house, including tired and overused dining chairs, a broken mirror in one bedroom, a non-functioning hot tap in the downstairs toilet, and worn or stained bed linen. We also felt the bedding appeared personal and heavily used, which made us question whether it had been properly refreshed between guests. As a result, we ended up ordering our own bed linen during the stay for peace of mind. Some external maintenance is also needed — notably a conservatory door that appears to be hanging on a single hinge, which could become a safety concern if not repaired. Cleanliness and presentation could also be improved. We noticed dusty mirrors and surfaces, some personal belongings left in bedrooms, wrapping paper left inside a large vase in the lounge, Christmas decorations still on display, and a few items that appeared to have been overlooked between guests (including items left in the garden area). These details gave the impression that the property hadn’t been fully reset for new guests, which impacted our overall experience. We were particularly looking forward to using the hot tub, but unfortunately the surrounding bar area and furniture are quite worn, and the hot tub itself appeared heavily corroded or affected by limescale buildup. This put us off using it, which was disappointing given it’s a key feature of the listing. The listing on Booking.com would also benefit from being updated. Some rooms shown in the photos no longer exist due to layout changes, and we were expecting a dining table in the large rear room which has since been replaced with a sofa. This affected our plans for hosting the birthday celebration. Additionally, the bed configuration did not fully match the description, as only one room (rather than two) had both a double and single bed.

Location

Hot tub was run down and didn’t reach temperature on arrival, had to wait 9 hours for the hot tub to reach temperature. Hot tub was a big feature of the property and not being able to access it for most of the stay was disappointing. We didn’t like how the house felt lived, owners property (food in cupboards and fridges) visible, lots of locked doors which made us feel uncomfortable. Most uncomfortable part being when we went to bed we noticed a light on behind the mirror in one of the bedrooms. The mirror was off the wall and revealed a hidden room with belongings and uncleanly items. This left us feeling extremely uncomfortable, we would have had no idea this was there and made us feel extremely unsafe, I have concerns for how many guests would have been unaware of this when staying. Property had Alexa’s in upstairs bedrooms which felt like a breach of privacy. The property (particularly upstairs) was unkept, multiple items being smashed, mirrors etc. Some doors to the outside of the property didn’t lock or locked with great difficulty. Would not recommend this stay.

Such a beautiful house very big. Whole family loved it it was the perfect Christmas day.

We could only book it for 2 days

The house was impressive in size and generally well kept.

The accommodation could be doing with some upgrading and maintenance as it was an expensive overnight stay. It also really requires a deep clean! Large cobwebs, dead flies around, toilet bins not emptied from home owners/previous guests. The hot tub also needs some maintenance as is extremely difficult to put the jetts etc on because the buttons have been used that often they are basically non exsistant anymore. The master bedroom also needs a new mattress - it is way past it's best. A cat also kept entering the house when we were staying too. It would have been useful to know that there were other people staying on the property, not only in the attached B&B, but also in other parts of the house too.

Great location and very quiet!

House was amazing, nicer than the photos, we had the best time for my friend's hen party, loved the outdoor area, all of the lovely sitting spaces, just such a lovely place.

Casa muy espaciosa y acogedora

Loads of space inside the house and all the rooms were spotless. The outside of the property was excellent: loads of comfy seating, the bar and the fire pit. Excellent venue for a big family gathering.

WiFi could be better and more glasses would have helped.