Unicorn House Hot Tub Near Barnard Castle

It was clean.

I would strongly advise against staying at this property. During my stay, I experienced ongoing issues with the heating, which I raised with management before I vacated. These concerns were not resolved. I was left without adequate heating, which made the property uncomfortable and unacceptable to stay in. More seriously, I had also flagged that the chimney required urgent sweeping, which was not carried out. This resulted in a chimney fire during my stay. While I was later told the fire was “contained,” this completely overlooks the fact that it was preventable and created a genuinely unsafe and distressing situation. Since leaving, I have looked at previous reviews and it is clear that heating issues have been raised multiple times by other guests and do not appear to have been properly fixed. This suggests a pattern of ongoing maintenance problems that are not being addressed. Despite all of this, the response from management has been dismissive, offering only partial compensation rather than taking full responsibility for the situation. Overall, this was a very disappointing and concerning experience. I would not stay here again.

So, our 2 night stay here was okay and we were prepared to overlook the photos on booking.com for the actual condition of the house on our arrival. The accommodation wasn’t ready at check in time so we went to the pub next door. When we returned to the house 90 minutes later, the washing machine was dishing a wash and we received a message to advise us to remove the robe from the machine. After paying a hefty £200 damage deposit before our stay, the accommodation on the whole was unclean, a smell of damp in the living room with a half filled bag of ash waste not cleared in the back garden next to the hot tub despite there being an ash bin. No fuel to light the hot tub which meant a car journey to the local garage in Barnard castle to be able to use the hot tub. There is no information in the property description about needing fuel to light the fires hot tub, so the assumption would have been to supply sticks and logs. There were firelighters and matches. The owner of the property agreed to refund this money for our inconvenience but has instead withdrawn this money from my account - although now refunded with an apology, I’m still waiting for the original agreed refund for the logs and sticks purchased, which has now been over 2 weeks and lots of communication. The outdoor living space is untidy with rubbish and a for sale sign littered about. The upstairs bathroom is half repaired and half decorated. The local restaurant advertised as a 6 minute walk away is in fact a 17 minute drive away - some false advertising there. We received many messages during our stay from the owners / team with instructions such as empty the bins on departure, ensure the property is clean and tidy, where to leave the keys on departure and to contact them when we had departed. . I’d have preferred some peace and less communication, with more efficiency to resolve the refund(s).

Property needs some TLC and more accurate property description.