“This was by far and away the most peaceful and relaxing holiday we have ever had, and was just what we needed to unwind from the stresses of daily working life!”
The cottage is lovely, very well presented, and perfectly situated for walks with our dog away from busy roads. It was very nice of the owners to have left tasty treats and flowers for our arrival too. Pabo Lodge had a very homely feel to it, and we felt comfortable and not 'on pins' as can sometimes be the case when staying in more modern properties with a minimalist style of decor and lots of hard, shiny surfaces which tend to show up the slightest fingerprint, and carpets which are difficult to get muddy paw prints out of.... Pabo very sensibly has easy clean floors throughout, except for the carpet in the bedrooms as one might expect from a comfort point of view. However, while having this character feel to it, the property is still very well maintained and clean - we have absolutely no complaints on either score. One never knows just how much to take to rental cottages in terms of household consumables (i.e. light cleaning materials, towels, bedding, condiments, washing up liquid, etc.), and we consequently took pretty much everything with us that we could think of, but we needn't have bothered because the owners had anticipated our needs and provided everything. The absence of wifi might be of concern to some, but we didn't mind as the whole point of the holiday was to get away from our 'normal' lives. All in all, this was the perfect, traditional little hideaway, secure outside for the dog to run about and generally for us to indulge in a little escapism and dream that it was ours! If planning another holiday in the area in future summers, we will certainly check with Sykes to see if Pabo Lodge is available. Just as a point of note regarding booking, the rider that dogs should not be allowed on the beds or settees was not available to see until the booking had actually been made, and it might be helpful for dog owners to be made aware of this in the general listing. We never go anywhere without bags of throws and additional blankets, as although our little furry friend is happy to sleep next to beds, it is well beyond the scope of our efforts to make him understand that he has to break the habit of a lifetime and not sit on the sofa, but others might not have the space in their vehicles to do likewise.
