Barley Cottage

Fantastic little cottage in a fabulous setting overlooking the River Cree.

The cottage was very clean and spacious. Saw plenty of wildlife from the balcony including deer grazing in the river on the last night there. On road parking not a problem outside or you can bring your car round the back if required. Newton Stewart itself has the basic amenities (shops, pubs, takeaways) that make it a good base to explore the area. Highly recommended for a relaxing holiday in one of Scotland's least visited corners.

You know you've hit the 'Sweet-Spot'.

..when every review in the visitors book give a gushing account of a stay in this cottage. It's just as good as it gets....Let's start with the location: Perfect ! Explore everywhere around Southern Ayrshire with ease. Minimal road traffic...but, if you prefer Walking - well here we are ! Lots of easy walks...along the river...in and around the village...and, if you feel like you're in need of 'refreshment' the Pubs are: friendly, inexpensive, and well stocked with quality local beer. The Cottage itself is an example of restful perfection: comfortable bed, a kitchen you can actually cook in, and a balcony on which to relax after a day's walking....No wonder guest return time and time again. Just like we intend to.

Lovely well equipped and clean property.

Beds were very comfortable and lovely big white towels to use. Great shower too. View from the balcony was great. Our only problem was the tv channels, couldn’t get the BT channels to work, only 3 sports channels would come on but did manage to get a few channels by switching to freeview on the tv. Did ring and message the owner on 2 occasions but couldn’t really help when I spoke to them and when I messaged he didn't reply, not sure why? I was just pleased it was nothing urgent. Would stay there again.

Lovely house with a great view on the river.

It is very well equipped with everything you need. The kitchen is set up to actually be able to cook, which was great. The front room is nice and cosy with plenty of room. Location is great too, short walk to the shops. Don't miss the ice cream shop at the end of the road!

Second stay here.

Cannot fault anything. Ideal cottage to stay in to explore the area.

We really enjoyed our stay and the comfortable facilities provided everything we needed.

It was lovely to find some basic foodstuff already in fridge, bread-bin and cupboards and the shops were in easy walking distance too. We had a good time exploring local walks although the weather was pretty limiting, and would love to return at a better season for outdoor activities. The prompt attention when we asked for help with the television was very welcome and friendly. And we were glad to hear the news that the lighting in the main room is to be improved this year as we found it too dim for reading and my knitting activities (we are elderly) It was a lovely base from which to explore Galloway, right down to the Mull in time for a sunset walk!

What an absolutely beautiful property.

We booked last minute for a short stay as we needed to get away and we fell on our feet. We opened the door to warmth, a lovely fresh smell and a house beautifully decorated for Christmas. There was a lovely box of goodies left for us and while we don’t drink alcohol the rest was very much appreciated and wolfed down during our stay. The house is again beautifully laid out, spacious and comfortable. Bedrooms and bathroom are upstairs up 13 fairly steep stairs. Plenty of towels and storage for clothing. Shower easy to use. Living room is beautiful with a view over the River Cree from a balcony, our dog took great pleasure lying at the doors watching the ducks. The house was pleasantly warm but the living room also has an electric fire, two decent sofas and a small selection of games - we found the cards on the last night, large dining table with beautiful decorations reflecting the Christmas season but also showing a lot of care and detail with paintings and art work. There is parking in front of the property although I imagine this could be in high demand at times and some off road parking behind should guests prefer this although due to my mobility needs it wasn’t suitable. I’m conscious I’ve used the words beautiful and lovely a lot here. The cottage warrants them, thank you. We sat down as a family to try and come up with some ideas for improvement and really struggled but how about these, the hall stairs are steep and possibly might benefit from a second bannister. There were no instructions in the box for the electric cooker but we easily found them online. Some instructions for how to use the TV would help, thankfully we have teenagers so didn’t need them. The house isn’t advertised as disabled friendly but as an ambulant wheelchair user I found I could manage around the house better than some properties advertised as such. Should the owner which to pursue this as an option a second bannister and perhaps a grab rail at the shower would be a good step towards this. This is just my reflection based on my own circumstances though. Thank you, should our circumstances allow we would definitely visit again.

This is our second stay at this property, always clean and comfortable with a great view.

Would defo use again.

This was a very comfortable and well equipped cottage, with a great view of the river.

We appreciated the milk, bread, biscuits etc that the owner had kindly left for us. Thank you.

We were very grateful to the cottage owner for taking our booking at very short notice (2hrs).

The cottage we had with a different company had a major plumbing issue so we were stranded 6 hours from home. The views of the River Cree from the lounge balcony are fabulous and very relaxing. The cottage was clean but could do with a deep skirting boards and all clean. There is an exposed carpet gripper as you go into the main bedroom which pierced my son’s foot and the landing light is not working. There is a cupboard under the stairs and a walk in cupboard upstairs that are very badly organised with stuff for those cleaning and maintaining the cottage, this could pose a problem for those with curious children. I texted the owner about the carpet gripper and landing light. I would go again though as the town and river are awesome.

Another fabulous visit stayed here several times the house is perfect in every way close to all amenities perfect base for exploring last twice we’ve visited with grandson loads to do with him like farms soft play areas all within a short car journey can not fault it one bit

accommodation was excellent veiw of river was magic, would not hesitate to recommend stay here,

All good.

Lovely place to stay. Forgot to mention landing light out. Could have done with clearer up to date instructions for tv and oven. Took me a while to work them out. No need to publish this bit.

Beautiful setting hadn’t realised there was no access to a garden from the cottage.

My old dog is up in the night so I had to dress and take her down the street to a grassy area several times a night. A bit scary. The balcony is lovely in the morning and the situation close to the river was lovely. The cottage was cosy and well equipped.

A really good holiday house in a beautiful location overlooking the river.

very well equipped kitchen.The electric fire does not seem to work at the moment and the Tv seems to have a life of its own.Great to be able to park outside the door.Will be back again.

Just very pleased cannot fault anything.

Nice situation. Lovely welcome pack left.

A really lovely cottage,well equipped & locals are very helpful & friendly

Property was great.

Unfortunately we had no running hot water for 5 days. The owner was quick to respond when we reported it, but was unable to resolve it by the time of our departure.

A lovely property, nicely decorated and furnished.

Quite homely which is I find unusual for holiday accomodation. 4* because I had to take the dog out every time she needed to pee as no access from the property to garden space

Possibly one of the best places we have ever stayed to be honest,ideal location lots of places to visit and the cottage to die for,to be fair we did miss having a little garden to sit out in when the weather was decent which was not that often to be fair but that will be put to one side because the view from the balcony was superb.

...everything in the cottage was superb so happy with our choice of accommodation hopefully will visit again,big thanks for the goodies that were left for us...just wonderful.

A lovely property.

Very clean and comfortable. In a good location for travelling around the local area. Lots of provisions on arrival, e.g milk, butter, bread etc. more than in other properties we've stayed at. A very enjoyable holiday.

Second time at barley cottage like home from home took our 18th old grandson this time he loved it especially the balcony

Booked again in October, thank you

This has been our third visit to barley cottage.

Lovely setting, clean cottage and well stocked with every essential. We will return in future

It would have been good to have a book to write our comments in and also to express our thanks for the various welcome goodies provided.

We had a lovely holiday at Barley Cottage.

It was lovely and clean and well equipped and the breakfasts overlooking the river were a perfect start to our days. We really appreciated the welcome pack after our journey up. I think we will be back, we found the cottage and the village a relaxing place to be.

We thoroughly enjoyed our short stay at Barley Cottage.

The property was just perfect and had everything in it you would require. The "welcome" items were such a surprise and very much appreciated. The scenery from the cottage overlooking the River Cree was just stunning. The property is situated in a great place allowing easy access to the surrounding towns/villages nearby.

A really cosy cottage, beautifully maintained and spotlessly clean.

Lovely views from the lounge and balcony over the River Cree. Newton Stewart is a great little town with lots of independent shops and everything you need is within walking distance of the cottage. A great base for exploring the area, especially if you are keen on walking and birdwatching.

Spacious, comfy cottage with fab balcony overlooking River Cree, quiet area, off street parking, easy walk to town.

Provided everything I could possibly need. Would definitely stay again.

Lovely property, clean, comfortable beds, balcony a real bonus.

Off street parking if preferred and a garage, though we parked on the street as no charge to do so. We were lucky with the weather so had our breakfast on the balcony each morning and sat watching the fly fishermen trying to catch the salmon in the evening. Must say the cormorant was much better at it. Location is good, a short walk to shops and a no charge car park in the town if you prefer to drive. We will definitely be staying there again.