orchard meadow holiday barn leek-buxton-Ashbourne

This was a real home from home for us on our holiday. We didn’t have to rush to get out in the mornings as our children were more than happy to chill out inside or run around outside looking at the sheep in the field. Everything was really clean and comfortable.

Lovely converted barn, nice and peaceful. Lots of space and very well appointed kitchen with everything you could need including dishwasher.Plenty of towels, comfy beds and nice artwork in each room. Games and books to pass the time without phone signal! (You can get signal with EE.)

Fridge could be bigger and also a freezer. WiFi available but you have to pay extra. The bath is also small, fine for kids but not an adult.

The location

The main toilet has no exhaust, leading to an unpleasant odor, possibly due to improper drainage or issues with the pipes. The exhaust in the other bathroom with a toilet also appears to be non-functional. Additionally, the linens and pillowcases feel rough, and opening the windows at night allows insects to enter the house. Probably a screen net will solve the problem. However, the property itself is clean and the owner is friendly.

Everything

The location of this property is amazing. The cows can be loud! But the sheep in the back garden are just the cutest. There was a lovely welcome hamper on arrival. We had issues with the WiFi and the hosts were straight there the next day to sort it out, can’t fault them one bit.

There was no freezer and there was no service and unable to make calls unless with EE

Very neat, clean and superb

Such a lovely little barn conversion with all you need for a quiet secluded stay

A washing machine would of been handy but not essential

Orchard Meadow Barn is a newly converted barn in a very rural location in Lower Elkstone, right by a working farm. It has great space with 2 good sized double and a decent twin bedroom upstairs, and a large open plan kitchen/dining/lounge downstairs. Furnishings are comfortable and the kitchen is reasonably well equipped - we found everything we needed. We appreciated the stash of board games, and I'm pretty sure the games console got some use as well. There is a charcoal BBQ and seating area outside, with a small fully enclosed garden. Parking for 1-2 cars is available. The owners, Diana & Darren, were very communicative and helpful in the run up and during our stay - they obviously care about their guests experience, with some nice touches including a generous welcome hamper.

Overall this was a comfortable stay with great hosts; there's a few things we felt could either easily be improved or that could have made a nice stay a great one which we hope are helpful. The lounge has a large corner sofa, which seats 4 comfortably and 5 at a squeeze. This was fine for us, but parties of 6 adults or older teenagers might struggle. There's plenty of space for an extra sofa or a couple of comfy chairs - we'd suggest this is an easy win. Similarly the table outside has only 4 chairs - we didn't use it, but we'd suggest adding 2 more. It's worth being aware the en-suite is quite small. The shower cubicle was tight and you have to step around the toilet to get in & out of the corner doors; this is a bit awkward especially if, like me, you're on the bigger side. The sink on top of the toilet cistern is a useful space saving idea, but it's too small to be of much practical use other than for washing hands. We used the sink in the main bathroom for teeth, shaving etc. Similarly, the bath in the main bathroom is very small - useful to have for bathing kids, but I'm not sure I would have been able even to sit in it, let alone lie down. There is a shower over the bath - but no curtain or shower screen; we would suggest adding to help keep the water where it should be. There's no freezer in the kitchen, although there does seem to be a space for one under the kitchen island, and there's no ice box in the fridge. This meant if we wanted ice for drinks we had to remember to buy a bag when heading back, and ice cream was a no-go.