Westmains Farm

Very Good
Traveller Type: Business Traveler
  : Beautiful cottage with fantastic views! You can tell that a lot of care and consideration has been taken with this cottage. It was very clean and it was lovely to be welcomed by some chocolates and wine. The beds are extremely comfortable and you can tell they gone with a deer theme around the cottage which was nice to see and the bathroom stands out as a big and beautifully done room. The area around the cottage is beautiful and the resident hares & pheasants will keep you company! We came as a family of 3 with a 6-month old baby so there was plenty of space for us. We were pleased to find a highchair and nappy bin so it saved us bringing our own. We went on a few day trips to Birdsowald Fort and Talkin Tarn Park. We also visited Newcastleton and had a few meals at the Olive Tree and Copshaw Kitchen. I would recommend visiting the Hidden River Caf too as that has beautiful views (and food!).
  : Theres literally no mobile reception and the landline phone doesnt work so youd have to stand outside to make a call if there was an emergency. The Wifi was okay (not fast by any means) however in certain rooms you lost connection completely so maybe they should invest in Wifi Booster to extend the range of the Wifi around the cottage. Its also very cold downstairs unless you know how to use wood fire room heater as the electric fire is hit or miss in whether it produces heat and the same for the actual heating system. For the wood fire room heater, we would advise bringing firelighters (none were provided) as the wood isnt dry enough to burn due to it being kept outside in the log barn (we had to buy our own firelighters and left a few for the next guests). Bring some matches too as a few were provided but youll run out very quickly! Therere instructions for every appliance in the folder downstairs apart from the tumble dryer so I had to Google it myself. The filter seriously needed cleaning out too so make sure you clean it after every use. We also had to descale the kettle with a full bottle of lemon juice as it was full of lime scale which ended up in our teas. The bathroom TV isnt working whatsoever, the caretaker gave us some batteries for the remote but the TV still wouldnt work (it turns on according to the light but will never display a picture on the screen which stays permanently black), this was a nice selling point for us that we couldnt use. We were in contact with the caretaker who was a nice guy and more than willing to support us, however the owner was nowhere in sight which loses some personal touch. Especially when there was already a pile of post sat on the dresser addressed to the owner, so who knows how long thats been sat there uncollected. It also meant that some of these issues mentioned above were already identified in the guestbook as longstanding problems but never addressed.

Very Good
Traveller Type: Business Traveler
  : Lovely farm house with spectacular views. Ideal location for us during the pandemic . Lots of room and well equipped and kids loved the hot tub too. Great day visits to Hadrian's wall and Birdsoswald Fort, Carlisle, Gretna and nice wee towns around - Newcastleton, Brampton. Very well stocked cleaning products / toilet rolls / liquid soap etc. Very clean and lots of advice due to covid around the house - liked the advice re remotes etc too Was a great price for the week.
  : I did feel there were a few things in the farmhouse which could have been sorted before our stay. Main oven wasn't working - and this had been mentioned on line before and in the guest book - so did affect our meal planning at times. Main bedroom main lights bit temperamental. Both kitchen table / chairs were very wobbly and we didn't use them at all. Main dining room table needs the legs tightened slightly too. Few blinds were difficult to use for us. Remotes for Bathroom and twin room TV didn't work - not sure if batteries or issue with the TV. These were all minor issues which wouldn't stop us re-booking or recommending to family and friends but would be lovely for this farmhouse to continue to be maintained for future guests to enjoy especially as has so much potential.