'THE LODGE' - NEAR SCARBOROUGH
We stayed here from Friday 4th September to Tuesday 8th September 2020
the year of the 'virus' and 'lockdowns'.
NEED TO KNOW
This is a Sykes Holiday Cottage near to Scarborough.
2 keys - 1 lock box
There is a note pinned to the blackboard on the wall with checkout info as well as a file on kitchen work top
Gate didn't lock - was just string looping over the top
Drive was gated and comfortably fitted 4 cars and a small van - had to block each other in mind
Sleeps: 17 with 8 bedrooms
1 double bedroom on the ground floor
A day bed is through one double
and one double is only accessible through a room with two singles
and there are quite steep narrow stairs to top top floor
No grocery shops in walking distance
It is dog friendly - but I'd say this depends on your dog breed and how much you're prepared to watch them - more on that below
It was very noisy on the week days due to the main road and single glazed windows
- so suggest taking ear plugs or claim a room on other side of the house if you're a light sleeper
As it was wet during our stay, and we had dogs - we found the tiled floor was getting quite slippery at times
- so I advise taking a matt of sorts if you have elderly/young children that might slip
We unfortunately had lots of flies in kitchen - so advise taking fly spray
The main toilet downstairs is a saniflow - and the one upstairs blocked easy
There is a hot tub 😍 - so take your swim gear - I also recommend if not packing light you take a dressing gown for after.
Also the provided 'guest towels' are the standard white - so if you have dyed hair that runs like me - I suggest taking your own
GENERAL
The house is lovely - it has large spacious rooms, gorgeous tiled floors, a massive garden for the dogs/kids but it is a little 'tired' and could definitely do with a lick of paint and some TLC - for example some doors needed re attaching to their hinges, skirting and banisters scuffed, and there was very little decor in the front rooms. Not to forget that the bottom gardens needed quite a lot of work - but under the circumstances - and with it being a 'holiday house' you can see why it's the way it is.
The pictures on the website are a bit old now - as we had what looked like brand new grey IKEA furniture in all the rooms, new faux leather dining chairs around a long wood table and different bar stools - which was different to the photos provided on the Sykes website.
There were 3 toilets and 2 showers downstairs - 1 toilet in the outhouse (I'd avoid using this loo!), 1 toilet and shower room accessible for all just off the dining room, and the other through the second sitting/TV room. 1 toilet, shower and bath on the first floor, and a toilet and bath on the second floor - all showers were modern and amazing!
The outhouse - which is to the right of the dining room door outside has a tumble dryer and washing machine
A vacuum cleaner, mop dustpan etc were available in the cupboard under the stairs on the ground floor, and plenty of hand soap was provided throughout - but we did get a bit low on loo roll
There are 2 large front rooms, both with a Smart TV so Netflix, Prime etc all ready to log in to - One room had an electric fire, whilst the other had a wood fire with kindling provided for one night - this particular front room leads to a tiled corridor with coat hooks - which perfect run for a small dog on a wet day, or to store wet muddy atire, and then a toilet, shower room and double bedroom at the end.
The lower floors of the house were warm, the central heating kicked in automatically - and the little electric fire warmed the room up lovely. However the bedrooms in the 'attic' were a little more chilly - but an electric fire was provided.
All rooms had doors, including the kitchen, which was great if you needed to separate children/dogs/just want a moments peace
Two high chairs were located in the dining room, a long with baby plates, bowls, cutlery etc in the kitchen
The house had decent BT WiFi - and we received good signal all over the house (although I didn't check on the very top floor floor)
THE KITCHEN
This kitchen had that proper 'farm house' vibe and feel - it was gorgeous - and it was where most us tended to gather as you do. In the middle there was a huge wood work topped island, with 4 'bar stools' - there was a note about how you can't use products on word worktop - which was possibly why there were so many flies in there! Again - take fly spray!
There was a decent family sized fridge freezer, two kettles, two 4 slice toasters and a large dishwasher - dishwasher tablets, cleaning sprays provided under the kitchen sink. A large oven and gas hob - plus another xxxxx type oven in the dining room. Plenty of mugs, plates, cutlery, and cling film, kitchen foil, cooking utensils were also provided - although we had 4 BBQs on the go - and we had to borrow a set of tongues and a spatula from our van as there wasn't enough
THE GARDEN
It states 'enclosed garden' - and it was enclosed at some point - but unfortunately for us part of a wall had collapsed and so it just had metal sheets blocking a very large hole which leads onto another property's garden. The gate also had quite large gaps, so if you have a small dog - this may be an issue. We had staying with us a beagle, a German short hair Pointer and a Staffy/Lab cross - and we panicked a fair few times that the beagle (our Wander) had got out - she hadn't she was just rummaging inside the bushes and under the garden waste pile, but personally, I wouldn't recommend leaving the dogs un attended in the garden, and at night - we took them out on leads - just to be safe. Also to note, we heard the distant sound of hounds and gun fire shots one night - so again didn't want to risk our Wander trying to get out to investigate/hunt them down.
Another important thing to note in regards to dogs is that there are a lot of fruit trees and bushes in the garden. From apples, pears, and raspberries, to unknown berries and mushrooms! So be careful if your dog is a scavenger - as there may be quite a few rotten ones on the ground depending on the season.
There was a table and 4 chairs outside, plus plenty of benches, and the Hot tub was raised up two steps on decking. The top 2 lawns were beautiful, and are well kept - but bottom two need some work as mentioned above.
There is also no 'outdoor cover' so we took a pop up gazebo with us as we all know how un predictable the English summer weather can be.
THE SURROUNDING AREA
The house is located next to a doctor's practice - so no risk of annoying neighbours
There was no convince store in walking distance - but there was chippy who we were told sold milk, and newspapers
We used 'Just Eat' on first night and had pizza delivered
Decent - and vegetarian friendly - Indian restaurant 'Spice For You' located in Pickering village 15mins away via car and they do orders for collection
There were 2 pubs walking distance
A Spar and Petrol station 10min away via car
A Morrisons was 25mins way via car
the Snainton riding centre is situated down the road, so you tend to get a fair few horses coming past.
'The Lodge' was 20mins from Scarborough and 40mins from Whitby. We didn't go in to either due to the beaches not being very dog friendly whilst in the summer season. However, Filey is only 30 mins away away and has an amazing beach that is always god friendly. We are going to Scarborough camping in October though, so we can update you on this later 😌
Flamborough edge and North Landing were 40mins away via car and we visited these on our way back home. There were lots of wasps at Flamborough for some reason, and they kept trying to land on us, so be careful if allergic. There was a small gift shop, restaurant, bar and public toilets at both. We were also very lucky to find some seal swimming inland to! Parking £1.40 for 2hours.
North landing £1.30 for 2hours. It has a steep slope with built in steps to get onto the small beech area - so take care.
OVERALL
This property has SO much potential to be amazing - and personally - I thought it was a tad expensive for the state it was in. It did however serve it's purpose, and have everything that we needed/wanted, and we'd love to go back if prices were cheaper. The area was quint, albeit quite a lot of through traffic, but was a great location for plenty of seaside towns, as well as inland walks. The locals were friendly and the pubs were had decent ales on for reasonable prices too!
Surrounded by mountains and within a 5-minute walk of the ski lifts
Written by Trish
Written by Trish
Hit the jackpot here!
Written by Trish
Written by Trish
COMING SOON
