It was a real privilege to be able to stay in the grounds of Newstead Abbey. Access to the gardens and house was quick and easy and all of the on site staff were super friendly. We had a relaxed and enjoyable time. Enough literature for adults to read and board games for children.
The negatives: no response from the house manager until we contacted VRBO directly. House was cold when we arrived after a very wet drive - it doesn’t take much to ensure a warm cottage for arrivals. We had to adjust the boiler temperature and the radiators ourselves to get warm. Don’t bother to bath - the boiler is unreliable and the water runs hot very briefly, and more often it is cold. We had luke warm showers each day.
The kitchen, although well-stocked, has no space to prepare food - it needs a console table to do so. The flat roof to the scullery leaked in the rain.
The man double bed was very hard, but the bed linen was super.
On a personal note, I do think that NCC have missed a trick here. The decor is modern and fairly cheap. Although the gardener would not have lived salubriously, there is so much reasonably priced period furniture about, that furniture could well be acquired to suit the correct period of the cottage.
No wi- fi or mobile signal, which was useful if you wanted to read, but no use if you wanted to share the fabulous photos on social media!