Orkneycrofts

Had a week in Turriedale in the October holidays. The house is great, and has everything you need, including plenty crockery, fridge freezer, microwave, washing machine, bath, shower and a Rayburn, which was fantastic for cooking and heating. It’s pet friendly, which allowed us to bring the dog, which was a huge bonus. As we had to leave early for the ferry, Simon kindly threw in a complementary food hamper, which had some excellent locally produced food. He also gave some top tips on local walks and points of interest. Location makes it easy to get into town and there are several local landmarks on the doorstep. Orkney was fantastic, and Turriedale was just what we needed as a base to explore from.

We are currently spending a week at The Byre and have had a wonderful time. Everything is there for the perfect relaxed break, the croft is that rare combination of homely and luxurious, and Simon is a super host. We hate the idea of leaving but will definitely be back.

A well equipped, spacious, traditional croft in the heart Neolithic Orkney, with evening sunset views over the Ness of Brodgar. Great base for visiting the islands.

I spent 5 nights at Turriedale in mid April and enjoyed every minute. Fantastic location and views. Peace and quiet. Excellent facilities. Extremely comfortable. Wholeheartedly recommend.

A wonderful cottage in a great location. All the facilities you need in the cottage - and top quality stuff too!

We stayed here in June 2019 for 1 week and had a really horrible stay in Turriedale.First impressions:Very dark interiors and decor and furnishings that belong to the 1980s. Dirty linen was on the floor in one of the bedrooms, missing clean pillowcases on our bed. We could not get the cooker to work properly despite following the agent's instructions - which according to the heating engineer that arrived to fix it, were wrong. The agent's advice was to empty the hot water cylinder by running the bathroom tap, and then try again to get the cooker to work.The hot water in the bath ran out to a trickle after a first flush. The shower turned itself off when it was turned to hot water - so bathing was a problem. The bath is ancient and missing much of its enamel. Looking into the visitor's book we found that the people staying before us for several weeks had exactly the same problems. The previous visitors had suggested that an alternative method of cooking should be provided. We ended up eating toast.The garden was so overgrown with weeds that we could not see out of some of the windows and the 'outstanding views' were obscured. The garden is completely unusable.Other issues:We paid for the 'fully stocked fridge' - expecting a mix of food. We arrived to find it was exclusively meat bar a pack of crackers and butter. The agent took all the food away except for the butter, saying he would reimburse us the money. It took weeks, several phone calls and emails - and he finally returned 50% of the money. I suggested that he have a 'what you want' sheet in advance (as we have done elsewhere when we have bought supplies) but his response was to say that people like us should not order food.When we had the continual issues the agent became very agitated with us and said we were unreasonable in our complaints that we did not have hot water or cooking facilities over the weekend we arrived. He said he needed a rest over the weekend.Fortunately we managed to find a bed and breakfast to stay in for the middle of the week, so we had 2 days at a really nice alternative place.I would never want to stay here again. In almost spoilt our whole visit staying in this accommodation and having an agent who seems to lack customer skills. A place to be avoided.

We arrived at East Heddle on 26/9/20 for a 7 day stay. First impressions were not good as externally the gardens and outbuildings can best be described as shambollic. Inside the property we found cobwebs, dirty floors, evidence of mice in cupboards, a dirty towel in the bathroom and crushed and dirty bed linen. This is described as a 5* property! Totally unacceptable, particularly as we would have expected a deep clean to ensure the property was Covid-safe. We called the owner, Simon Treasure, who arrived and, after much heated discussion, agreed that the property was not clean and offered to get his cleaner back on Monday. We were not willing to stay in the property until then - and had no confidence that the property would ever be made clean and safe - and so declined his offer. Fortunately we were able to find good accommodation elsewhere. We are still trying to get our £675 back from Mr Treasure but he does not reply to correspondence and 2 weeks on we are not hopeful. I fear our only recourse will be via the courts. Avoid.

Comfortable, well equipped and brimming with atmosphere. Very knowledgeable and helpful proprietor

This is a very comfy and cosy cottage to stay in but there was alot of dust everywhere and fuff on the floor and not all the lights worked