The Lodge Farm Barn, DEEPDEAN

Rated 4/50 by AlEthKaL on 8th August 2019

"Difficulty in locating the property for the 1st time, had to ask a local. The wording on the boulder by the road can't be seen unless you're right on top if it, by which time, you've passed the turning. Maybe if it was painted in white, it might be easier to spot. The Stable was a lovely open plan building and already contained many kitchen essentials for you to use (sauces, jams, spices etc), there was a freeview tv along with a selection of DVDs. Also there are a number of books to read. However the WiFi is very intermittent as is phone signal (we are on O2) (All is as described on the website). We decided to take a walk up the steps to the garden to relax after our journey. Here we found the gazebo, firepit and bbq to the right and the covered hot tub to the left. The photos on the website show a well maintained garden area around both gazebo and hot tub, but there were actually a lot of tall weeds/grasses/flowers which attracted an abundance of flies/bees/butterflies. The oak tree by the side of the stable which also covered over the hot tub had become very much overgrown since the photos were taken on the website too. From first sitting in the garden my husband was being bitten by flies.. Not a good start. Later that evening, we decided to get in the hot tub (the main reason we booked the stay) within seconds of climbing in, hoards of flies appeared, you just couldn't relax without trying to swat them away ( I think I fished out about a dozen within 5 minutes!) So I got out, dropped the cover back and decided to leave it until later. About an hour later, I tried again. This time all seemed good for 10 minutes and my husband decided to join me...no sooner had he sat down, there appeared a huge mass of midges who were hell bent on flying at you, it was awful! Needless to say out we got and went inside...Not what we hoped to be doing on the first evening of our little relaxing holiday. After dark (about 10.30pm), we thought we'd give it one more go.... Yayyyyy no flies... We managed to get about 45 minutes in there. I do think if the tree was pruned back and the grasses cut down this might reduce the number of flies. My husband couldn't sit outside without getting bitten, and inside it was way too warm. Certainly not the 3 night break away we'd planned and hoped for and it was getting quite stressful after the 1st night..we were there to relax and it wasn't happening. The following day we went out, but on returning early afternoon, we tried sitting in the garden again... Short lived as the flies came back. So we sat on the step at the side, not as many flies, but at least we had some fresh air and not sat indoors. Louisa the owner got back and she tried her very best to help us out of the utter disappointment we were feeling (and for that I'd like to thank her for), but we were past the point of wanting to stay on and ended up packing up to drive the 260 miles back home after just 24 hours. I really can't fault the Stable or the peaceful area (or Louisa for trying so desperately hard to help) but we'd booked the property specifically for the hot tub and we just couldnt use it in daylight hours for all the flies."

Rated 5/50 by Dontonysoprano on 10th August 2016

"We had a wonderful holiday at the Lodge Farm Barn. It is a quiet, beautiful and well equipped property; a great place to stay and to explore the countryside. We especially enjoyed the well equipped kitchen, the living room and the garden patio. A special thank you to the owners for their hospitality and effort to create such a beautiful place. Highly recommended!"

Rated 3/50 by A FlipKey Verified Reviewer on 6th September 2012

"This cottage is set in a very quiet locality. It is not really suitable for anyone without transport because of the out of the way location. The cottage is reasonably well equipped although some additional items such as a tray would be helpful. Because of the location mobile telephone reception is virtually zero. Although Internet connection is available it is difficult within the cottage. A good location for visiting the forest of dean and the welsh border."