Unique Cottages Avis 

Our second time , beautiful accommodation in a lovely spot !

One star is being generous!
In May 2021 we booked a holiday for NY and paid £630 as our deposit. Over the weekend our circumstances have changed meaning we can no longer go on this holiday so I contacted Unique Cottages to cancel my booking and I'm so shocked and disappointed to learn that even though our booking is over 19 weeks away that they will keep our deposit. I appreciate that I should have taken great care in reading their t&c's but when I booked I had asked about cancellation and was under the impression that I could book with confidence, in hindsight the error that I made was that our conversation focused on covid/impact of lockdown not allowing a holiday etc. I have been given the option of trying to claim via my own travel insurance, paying an extra £40 and changing the dates and also paying an extra £100 for the holiday as prices will increase next year or trying to privately sell our holiday. I don't understand why when over 19 weeks notice is being given why there isn't the option for a refund of the deposit if they are able to secure an alternative booking for the property for our dates or for them to contact the property owner to see if they would be willing to offer a refund. I also don't understand why you would have had to pay an additional £35 insurance at the time of booking to have been given the option of getting a full refund, seems very sly! We holiday on average 4 times a year and have never encountered any issue when it comes to amending/cancelling bookings. Most sites that we use offer a full refund right up until the week before and in some case 48 hours before so I cannot fathom why this company operate such an unfriendly, unhelpful, mean booking system. I will never book with them again and would urge anyone thinking of booking to look elsewhere. I am now potentially £630 out of pocket for what?

What a wonderful place to stay overlooking the isle of Kerrera. Every in the property was immaculate which included 3 on suite bedrooms. Waking up each morning to the Views from your direct access to a veranda from 2 of the bedrooms where stunning. Oban was within easy walking distance approx 1 mile and a ten minute walk to the Kerrera ferry is a must. A three minute journey on the ferry and your on the isle. As a group of six we had plenty of room to chat the evening away. Check out the scope in the property and keep your eyes peeled for the otters, seals and the various wildfowl such as Herons, guillemot and the friendly Herring gull called Bernard. We were lucky to have a fly past by a couple of sea eagles while having our breakfast….all I can say is Wow. The otters visited usually around after dark so keep checking the waters in front of the property. All can say is anyone stopping at this property will not be disappointed

We stayed in the driftwood and net store holiday homes in gardenstown Scotland and we can honestly say we had one of the best holidays again, the properties were immaculately clean and very homely and comfortable, it's also a very pretty and quiet coastal village to relax and to enjoy the views.

Very easy to deal with. All done on line with no problems. There is a good choice of cottages so will definitely use again. Got our £100 deposit refunded for leaving the place as we found it, we would never leave it any other way! I would definitely recommend Unique holidays.

A really easy to use website, with last minute availability function. All the info and pictures were exactly as shown. We loved the cottage we stayed in and will definitely book again.

WARNING: only book through this company if you and your family are totally healthy and nothing can happen.
We had to cancel due to the fact that my father was taken seriously ill. The fact that we took out a cancellation on top of the price of the cottage changed nothing. Their cancellation practically covers everything that could go wrong you will not see your money back. Despite the pain and grief we faced during this traumatic time, Unique Cottages literally robbed us off our money and would not even refund half.There is not an ounce of empathy in these people. I'm a nurse and after a tough year we finally thought we could relax and use the gratitude money I received from the government. It's all gone. How would they find it if nurses stopped treating people over 85? shameful behaviour!

I am also doing this with a heavy heart as a long -standing customer of Unique - formerly Ecosse Unique. We have used the company for all our Scottish holidays because of the consistently high standard of properties available. However, our experience last week leads us to believe that the company is no longer inspecting properties or even giving the recommended guidance for cleaning between lets . The cottage we stayed in had certainly not had a deep clean for a very long time - radiators, control knobs, light switches, kitchen bin - yes, the bin - rugs, cushions etc were grubby - some were filthy!. Books, CDs and a very dirty leaflet folder were on display- against all Covid 19 guidance. We took photos which are quite shocking . The cottage was also listed on the VisitScotland site even though it did not have the recommended 'Good to Go' rating. We cancelled our booking for the same cottage in September, losing our deposit. However, we have a different cottage booked with them already for next year ...... fingers crossed it will be better. I am sure that Unique Cottages are aware that good reputations are hard won - but easily lost.

Doing this with a heavy heart, as I have used Unique Cottages 4 times since 2018, with 2 cottages this year. The first this year was perfect. Bellspool Cottage, near Peebles, and the ones in 18 and 19 were also lovely. However, it was my experience with Rhum Cottage, Drummore which led me to write this review. You see its not easy to review a cottage on their preferred site Feefo, so no cottages have any less than 5 star reviews on their own website.
We arrived late on the Friday evening, about 10pm. Cottage smelled musty, but you get that with some older properties. However, it wasn't clean, by any stretch of the imagination. Toilet was dirty, really dirty if you get my drift, as was the toilet brush! 💩
Shower had black mould as did the bath. Even the Oust air freshener was covered in dust. Kitchen work surfaces were sticky, microwave wasn't clean, extractor fan had grease stains etc etc. I had to put crockery and cutlery and pans in the dishwasher, but there was a piece of chewing gum in there. I had assumed it was an old tablet that hadn't dissolved!
Chopping boards were old, scratched and dirty. Toaster was full and I mean full of crumbs, who knows when it was last emptied out.
They have a big George Foreman GRILL in the utility room. Grease tray still had old grease in it and the grill itself needed cleaning. Curtains at French doors black mould (surely during lockdown these could have been cleaned).
The icing on the cake was the washing machine. Door seal full of black gunk. The caretaker when she came on Saturday afternoon expressed shock. It was just used yesterday she exclaimed. By whom? The vacating holidaymakers had to be out by nine am. Does this mean she used it to wash the towels and bedding? Tumble dryer filter was jam packed with lint or oose as we call it here! I took photos and sent them to the company and showed them to the caretaker, who said she had been for her covid jab but got someone else to clean for her - a wasn't me guv, moment.
She recleaned but it wasn't much better.
I complained to Unique Cottages at 1 in the morning on the Saturday, because we were still up and give them their due they called me on the Sunday, but probably only because we threatened to go home.
They agreed to speak to the home owner and would be back in touch after the holiday ended.
And here is why I am really complaining about them. They didn't. Normally, you get an email saying everything is A OK and here is you £100 security deposit back. I emailed them, no response. They just slid the money back to my credit card. No apology, nothing.
I have recommended this company to friends and family, especially those with dogs, but never again.
I appreciate they don't own the cottages but, it's very poor customer service to not respond when someone complains.
We did stay in the end, but only because we cleaned, but hardly ate there, so holiday ended up costing more than we expected.

i write this review after returning from a one week holiday in Isle of Tiree the cottage I stayed at was Traigh Mhor on the Isle of Tiree.
The booking process was fine I had no issues at all it was easy to book and pay. The cottage was £750.00 with a £19,00 booking fee and £100 refundable houskeeping deposit. Total paid £869.00
We received an email in March 2021 after we booked the cottage and in the booking email it stated in red that with the additional cleaning requirements that the owners of the cottage are undertaking for Covid-19 our revised check-in time was 6pm and check out was 9am. The would notify us if there was any further changes.
(so with this being stated I would have expected the cottage to be spotless)
When we arrived at the cottage it looked really nice it was a detatched white cottage with a large fenced garden and outbuildings. The key was in the door and it was unlocked. When we entered the cottage it seemed really nice so we unpacked our car and took our all belongings into the house.
The cottage looked nice on entering but its only when you start putting stuff away that I realised that the cottage wasnt as clean as what Im used to. The cottage had four bedrooms and one bedroom was made up for us as there was only two of us and a dog. The bedroom was a bit miserable and was very dark and the bedroom leading off this was also miserable and had cobwebs and old curtains covering the sky light. To be honest it was a bit creepy, it definetly needs an overhaul and a lick of paint to get rif of those dark ceilings.
The house had a lot of stuff in it like ornaments and old pottery that is not needed as some of the stuff had cracks in it and it just made the cottage look like my grandmothers house used to be.
The cottage had wall heaters and hot water was by an immersion heater. You was allowed so much electric but if you went over a certain amount you had to leave the money on exit as to what you had used. Luckily we didnt go over.
The kitchen was really good as this was modern but again it had a big wooden cupboard in which didnt go with the modern kitchen and really needs to be removed as all it was doing was showing plates off which where useless.
The living room was okay but did not have the armchairs in the house that was shown in the picture son the website. I can understand that the house sleep six but the lounge would have been much better with basically a chair and 2 x three seater sofas rather than three seperate chairs and a big sofa. It made it hard to vacumn when we left.
The worst room was the bathroom, it was absolutely disgusting, the lino had been ripped up previously has it had definetly had a flood and the lino was ripped and rooched up it was horrendous, there was woodlice daily that crawled on the floor and had to be removed aswell as tons of spiders. The toilet got blocked up on the second day and I rang the caretaker got no answer so had to ring UC and get them to ring someone to come and sort it out. Anyway it was sorted and done quickly as the previous occupants kids had put stones down the outside pipe causing it to block. The bathroom had the washing machine in it and that should be in the kitchen. The bathroom definetly needs updating and the flooring needs sorting out.
ive enjoyed my time on the Isle of Tiree but I do think this cottage was definetly over priced, I have stayed in lots and lots of cottages and paid less for much better accommodation. I have always booked direct and never used an agency before and after this experience I will be going direct to the cottage owners in future. I did get my £100 deposit back, but in saying this the cottage was much cleaner when I left to when i arrived. There was definetly no additional cleaning or enhanced cleaning in this cottage as we did clean the cobwebs, woodlice and spiders away for the bathroom and the other areas in the cottage. When we removed the cushions from the sofa - jesus christ it was absolutely filthy with crumbs and other bits and pieces which had not come from us. My advice would be to sack the caretaker and get a good cleaner in there as it needs to be cleaned after every guest leaves. Whoever went into that cottage when we left would not have had to do anything as it was spotless when we left.
i wouldnt use this agency againt to book a cottage as I am used to much better accommodation and I think UC need to check on the cleanliness of the cottages they have on there books. Sadly I will not be rebooking again with this agency.

I am adding a further update to his review, after contacting the agency and making a complaint they did negotiate with the owner of the cottage and gave me a refund of £250. It was in full and final settlement. Even after receiving this refund I would still not use this agency again. In my opinion an Agent/Agency should ensure that the holiday accommodation is in tip top condition unfortunately this one was not.

I booked a cottage for 3 weeks,last year.Due to covid it was not possible tospend that holiday.So I transfered it to the next year(June 2021)In April unique cottages(uc) wrote it would be unlikely to be able to spend the holiday at that time.So I asked them to transfer to September.Answer was:There are no 3 weeks available in September.No other offer,or suggestions.So I looked up their website.There were 2 weeks in September(They didn't think of telling me)
So I wrote again and asked them to reserve those 2 weeks.They wrote back,they would reserve it.Now I booked the 2 weeks for sure and asked for a confirmation.For 5 weeks! I did not ger an answer except the automatic reply.I sent 5! emails asking for just one sentence with a confirmation.I come from Germany and I needed to do further bookings and transfer 2 ferries,and friends travelling with me needed to know exact dates.All this was dependant on the booking with uc. I wrote them 5 times.No answer.After 5 weeks I wrote I would employ a lawyer and write an unfriendly note in the internet if they would not answer within 3 days.Next day I had an answer telling me:Sorry we only have 1 week to offer.They had not reserved my booking,and they wouldn't tell me I could not stay as they had promised.This had financial consequenses for my further bookings,and for my friends.-I was so fed up with uc that I asked for my money back.I also would not pay the 70p.they ask,as they so far did not show any service,instead their behaviour cost me some extra money.- Then I was told they would transfer my refund.After some time I asked for the money which had not come.Answer:They had delated my bank-dates,so they could not send the money.Nobody thought of contacting me and ask for the bank-dates.They just waited for my next complaint,or did they hope I would forget about it?
I certainly will never ever book anything with uc,again.And I would advice everybody not to book with this company.
Barbara Hasaki

If there was an option to leave no stars, this would be our rating. ❌❌avoid❌❌

Made a phone booking for a lodge, at no point during the call was the housekeeping deposit amount mentioned so we assumed (incorrectly) that it wasn’t applicable for the property. Email confirmation came through same day (Friday) and an extra £100 added to the total. Emailed back Friday and no reply. Booking confirmation emailed Saturday evening. Called Wednesday and spoke to manager Denise who was unapologetic, insinuating I’m lying about not being told about the amount. No care given as apparently as I was emailed I was “informed” about the deposit. Conveniently they have charged me a cancellation/booking fee of £15 for the privilege of cancelling because of a hidden fee.

Shocking lack of information, poor communication and lack of empathy for what is their mistake.

Wished I’d read the reviews before booking. Wouldn’t recommend to anyone. Will go back to Air bnb whom we’ve used for years travelling with our dogs and not once paying £60 for bringing on top of a £100 housekeeping deposit!

❌❌avoid ❌❌

Unable to write a review until now as Unique Cottages never sent me the link to Feefo, their official review site.
We had a dreadful experience at Goodall Cottage near Elie in Fife in 2018. The cottage was badly in need of a deep clean and we found multiple black dog hairs everywhere, including the cloth on the dining room table. The bed sheets had grit on them and the kitchen work surfaces and drawers were sticky.
We stayed two nights as we were unable to get hold of anyone initially.
Unfortunately, neither the Owner (who only appeared after we contacted Customer Service) or the Rep from Unique Cottages, seemed to think there was a problem and were extremely defensive.
We were fortunate in that there was a vacant cottage on the same site, which the owner offered to us for the rest of the week. This was cleaner, but in need of an update. We never received an apology or any compensation from Unique Cottages.

We would never use the company again.
Goodness knows what it's like now we have COVID!

Quite simple really - contacted them 10 times in 10 days about several different cottages - no response! So if you are renting through this company this is no use - but like wise if you looking to book a holiday it is no use! Waste of time - avoid them at all costs.

Not actually been on holiday yet , as was cancelled last year and moved to different date 2021 . Meant to be going in May but due to uncertainty still in venues being open ( as we want to be able to visit places museums and go for a meal etc ) , I’m trying to get dates changed to later this year .
Herein lies the problem ..... numerous emails sent , called at least 10 times so far and messages left , and no one is replying , final payment is due beginning of April bet they’ll be in touch soon enough then .
So can’t comment on quality of holiday accommodation etc, but the customer service is shocking so far , looking at reviews online I’m not the only one to have experienced this .

Booked a holiday in 2020 which was cancelled owing to Covid, 9 emails about the next step to UC but all ignored, phone unanswered eventually booking transferred to same date 2021. Booking cancelled with seven weeks to go. May be home owner who caused upset but not good, won’t use again. Deposit refunded and offered another booking but not a good experience.

Please do not book with this company - I have had months of grief due to booking with them. Completely soulless, just out to obtain your money at any cost and entirely lacking in customer service.

I had booked a large cottage for my wedding accommodation and due to my wedding being cancelled as a result of COVID-19, got in touch to cancel. At this stage they offered no understanding of our circumstances and said the owner had stated he would only refund if our dates were booked by someone else, or if travel restrictions meant we could not use the cottage.

Last month, we found out that travel restrictions meant we would not be able to travel to the cottage, which meant they owed us a refund according to their own stipulated rules. I emailed them requesting a refund on three occasions and they failed to respond to any of these.

Some time after this, I noticed that they had re-let the dates that we had booked (they said they would not notify me when this happened and it was my responsibility to get in contact if I expected a refund). Again, they did not respond to my email requesting a refund or answer their phones on the two occasions I called, failing also to respond to the voicemail I left.

Finally, after more than a month chasing them up to get my refund I got an answer to another email in which they agreed to refund - minus the booking fee. Despite everything they have put me through they won't refund this as a goodwill gesture, making it very clear they could not care less about customer satisfaction or making up for their dreadful service. Please, avoid, avoid, avoid this company - I have never encountered such appalling customer service, and they are operating simply to rip off customers.

Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. As an owner letting the property they have been a long way behind the curve. They try to persuade you to keep lowering the price all the time. Their statements also deliberately try to mislead you as to how much they charge. Even asking for statements they cannot produce a clear easy to understand statement. The booking statement as to what rent it has been let at bears no resemblance to the income you get. I had tenants emailing me desperate as Unique Cottages did not respond to emails. Covid 19 was the last straw. I had to let tenants out of their commitments, no problem there but when I wanted to cancel bookings I was hit by additional charges with out communication for months then they just took or should i say stole my money as I specifically said do not take out of the rent. Ultimately a complete shambels and should not be allowed to trade. I could go on....

Avoid at all costs. They cancelled due to Covid change of rules which we understand. However a month on they still have not refunded my money and are avoiding all correspondence. Poor show Unique Cottages. I will be spreading the message of avoid at all costs far and wide. This is unacceptable and not in the spirit of any cottage company.

Despite having paid for cancellation insurance my refund, due to covid 19 lock down, was reduced by 30%.