Alan’s House

The location of the property is excellent for exploring the Isle of Skye however there are a few things that need to be improved with the accomodation. Firstly with a storm forecast at temperatures of 5c outside I would’ve expected at least one of the heaters to be on but they were all off and all window vents were open, not a warm welcome. The TV is very dated and the DVD player didn’t work. For our 9 and 10 year old it meant there was nothing suitable for them to watch. On the stormy days that would’ve been good and they both wake early so it would’ve been useful then too. Small things the the kitchen clock needing the battery replace, one of the plug sockets being faulty and dust bunnies and some gritty bits around the place were a bit irritating. However our biggest problem was that the Hob in the kitchen did not heat up enough to safely cook on. We had brought some meals to be made for the first few days but with the hob not even able to fry an egg we had to opt for oven and microwave dinners and on one evening, sandwiches. Not good enough for self catering accomodation. The communication of the team at Islands and Highlands cottages has been really good. We had added on use of the EV charger (as advertised) at short notice when we decided to take the hybrid, due to the fuel shortages, however when we arrived at the property there was no EV charger. It was suggested that we use a three prong plug inside and lead the cable out through a window which we would need to do overnight to get a good enough charge and as I mentioned before it was cold and stormy so absolutely not an option. That also would not be a solution for a full EV so I suggested they change the advertisement of that and they were very nice and helpful, removing the extra charge. We also appreciated the extra blankets and torches around the accomodation as we did have a power cut late one evening.

Location and view is very good. Cottage is cozy. Could be better: the couches are very low, the masterbed is very small, towels provided are not enough for a longer stay. We stayed 10 nights, had one small towel in the bathroom for all and two too big towels per person provided. When you wash yourself, it will need three days to dry (even in the summer). At first look it was clean. At second look (our dog played with his ball) it could be better to be honest. But there is a dust absorber in the utility room… A lot cars will pass the place to get to the beach. Customer service (ihs) is good. We didn’t reach out for them, but we were all time updated and got an email when the water two days later could have been away due to short works (outside).

Smaller than we expected from the online photos. Needs hooks on the back of the bathroom door and bedroom doors and more storage in the kitchen. The kitchen would also benefit from having somewhere to hang a hand towel & tea towel. Luckily we bought an extra quilt each to put on top of the mattresses as a previous review said they weren’t very comfortable so that didn’t cause any problems, We found the settees hard to get up from as they were very low but that’s an age thing. We were very lucky to have amazing weather for the time of year but potholes were horrendous which was a big problem over alot of the island. Overall we enjoyed our stay and will be visiting the island again.