Spindlestone House

We had a wonderful stay - we loved using the house as a base to explore the area and coming back to the hot tub and games room was perfect. We had a couple of issues with the heating and hot water which were dealt with straight away.

Not worth the price but still enjoyed the location. Positive: We had our own breakfast. Location was nice Negative: Kitchen cooking utensils. Dirty bbq.

Overall, we had a great week at Spindlestone House but, on balance, wouldn’t rebook. The location is excellent: peaceful, 10 minutes’ walk to Budle Bay, 10 minutes’ drive to Bamburgh, with woodland walks nearby. The spacious house has comfortable bedrooms, a large well-equipped kitchen, an enclosed garden, a well-maintained hot tub, and a shared games room. However, the property isn’t particularly clean and feels tired. The microwave needs replacing, some upstairs single-glazed windows are cracked or won’t open, blinds are mouldy, fittings rusted, and carpets and furniture dated. There was also an occasional sewer smell by the back door. Bring salt, pepper, dishwasher tablets, washing powder, tea, coffee (there’s a cafetière), hand soap, shampoo, and an extra clothes horse or washing line. Soap dispensers mostly empty. North East Escapes responded promptly and politely to queries.

This place could be great but it needs a lot of work. The pictures must be quite old as its definitely quite shabby in places and wasn't as clean as we would have liked. There were dead bugs and a lot of cobwebs/dust around. The carpets are very moth eaten. The place has a problem with damp so there was quite a musty smell and black mold on the blinds in one of the bedrooms and in the bathroom. The hot water stopped working twice whilst we were there. It was fixed quickly but its not great. Overall it was a lot of money for the current standard of the place. With a bit more maintenance/refurb and a thorough clean it would be amazing. Its a beautiful location and to be fair to the hosts they were very responsive and proactive.