Guest Blog by India Woof about a weekend in Hayloft at Dalesend Cottages.

Guest Blog: A Weekend in North Yorkshire at Hayloft, Dalesend Cottages, Yorkshire.

We were delighted to welcome India and Richard for a weekend in Hayloft at luxury Dalesend Cottages, in Yorkshire, a romantic cottage for couples, which she booked for Valentine’s Weekend. Some days after their departure we found by chance on the web,  India’s blog about Hayloft. As a customer review of their experience we felt it captured the essence of our aim: to ensure your stay at Dalesend Cottages is as happy, comfortable and memorable as possible   We asked her if we could post it as a ‘Guest Blog’ here. India  agreed and so hope you enjoy reading this rather special written account of her romantic weekend in Hayloft with her husband Richard. Thank you India.

Some Images: courtesy of India Woof

Read India Woof’s blog

“Absolutely ages ago (and by ages ago, I mean in July 2015), I decided that it would be nice to plan a weekend away for near to my husband’s birthday. I wanted to find somewhere luxurious and romantic, not too far away from home, and in a place we could get out and about to nearby towns or go for good walks pretty easily. I hit upon Dalesend Cottages – if you look on their website you will see exactly what drew me in, the design of their cottages is just beautiful. I decided to book the Hayloft because I loved the idea of the open plan space and the high vaulted ceiling.

Fast forward to February 2016 (a pretty long wait!) and we were getting ready for our trip. There was a bit of confusion and uncertainty about which day we would actually be leaving on because my husband only went and got a new job starting directly after our weekend away (haha I’m joking, I’m so proud really) and our hosts Emma and Charles who own the cottages were so patient and helpful. We changed our mind about the arrival day about three times and they just stayed calm and collected and super helpful the whole time.

In the end, we headed up the motorway to the cottage on the Friday lunchtime. When we arrived we were given a tour by Charles and then settled in. Honestly, I expected that the accommodation wouldn’t live up to my expectations because the photos online were awesome so I thought it might let me down in person, but no. It was just as good, if not better. Basically the Hayloft is upstairs and when you go in, there is a kitchen directly to you left which is one long unit. Then in front of that is a big L-shaped sofa which faces a partition wall which houses the TV. On the other side of the wall is the (massive) bed, a standalone bath, and then the actual bathroom is separately off to the right hand corner. The ceiling has the old beams and is really high which gives the whole place a New York loft feel but with a sense of Yorkshire charm.

The loft is decorated to perfection. I mean seriously, on the beams there is old ironwork and whoever designed the interior has picked up on that and put accents (in the feature wall in the kitchen, the colour of the table and chairs, the colour of lamps) subtly all over the accommodation. It is so beautifully decorated and every detail has been thought of. From underfloor heating in the bathroom which runs through to the main room underneath the freestanding bath, to champagne flutes in the kitchen cupboard, this place has everything. I basically want to buy a barn and make a house exactly like this. As soon as we got home I was making suggestions for extension ideas which would include ‘the kitchen like at the Hayloft’. And the experience of lounging around on an L-shaped sofa has done nothing to dampen my want for one in our house…not the best fit for a typical terraced house, though.

The thing that really makes this place amazing isn’t the decor or the location or even the architecture. All of those things help, but what elevates it above other places we have stayed is the attention to detail. Everything was spotlessly clean. There were umbrellas provided in the entrance way for us just in case. There was a Betty’s bag with a box of Valentine’s French fancies in it on the counter when we arrived, and champagne chilled in the fridge. There was a small bottle of fresh milk in the fridge as well, and luxury toiletries in the bathroom. The standalone bath had the most amazing Champney’s bath melt provided with it. Honestly, there wasn’t anything we needed or wanted that wasn’t there.

There was even a logburner, so we stoked the fire and settled into the sofa with pizza, garlic bread and champagne (a bottle was left in the fridge for us by the owners) on our first evening and just relaxed. It was bliss. I even had a bath and the Champney’s bath melt is now on my ‘must buy’ list because seriously, it is awesome.

The Hayloft is so beautiful and comfy that we hardly even left. I had visions of us going for long walks, but in fact we basically just watched DVDs and lazed around. We were there for a shorter time than we originally expected, and if we had been there for three full days we definitely would have done more walking. But instead we popped to a nearby town, Northallerton, for a mooch around the shops and some hearty lunch, and then came back to our sofa and lit the fire again.

On Sunday I was so sad to leave. We had planned to go for breakfast and a walk near Thirsk, but with heavy snow forecast when the flakes started falling thick and fast on our car we decided to abandon that idea and head back home. I did feel as if we hadn’t made the most of the amazing surroundings, but given it’s not too far away from home we will definitely go back for day trips – we can’t afford to go back to the Hayloft every time, otherwise we definitely would.

All in all it was such a lovely weekend and the perfect way to relax and unwind before my husband started his new job this week. We know the next few weeks are going to be hectic as he is up and down the country and I’ll be on my own alot, so it was great to spend a block of time together just us before the chaos began.”

This post first appeared on www.indiawoof.com

We say: “thank you to India and Richard for being simply charming guests who  we appreciated and can’t wait to welcome back in the future -and will make sure we find some more special ways to spoil them again.”