The Stable -test run

Alice enjoying her first meal in the Stable

Well they say the best way to really test the user experience in your holiday cottage is to give it a go for yourself. So this week Alice and I packed our bag and made the long journey (approx 3 minutes door to door) to the Stable cottage for the night. Actually the proximity didn’t really matter because once we shut that door we might as well have been far away because Alice screamed ‘we are on holiday!’ and the mood was set.

We had come armed with our pizza and a tipple of choice so set about testing the facilities. Never having ‘cooked on gas’ before I was interested to see how it would compare to my home fan oven but judging from the nicely toasted pizza I can say it was a success. The integrated dishwasher was a definite bonus as clearing away was done in a trice leaving the kitchen spotless and ready for the next meal.

For our evenings entertainment we had a choice of activities. Provided in the Stable  are a range of children’s dvds, a Roku stick allowing full to digital services including Netflix (by signing in on our own contract) or an XBox 360 with a selection of games. Alice’s choice for the evening was a dvd so a trip to Madagascar for the evening had us laughing all the way up to Alice’s bedtime.

Alice opted to try out the magnificent four poster bed, and who could blame her with its pocket sprung mattress and upper memory foam layer this bed was built for comfort as well as style and a great nights sleep was enjoyed- at least until 6.30am.

The early start to the day did give us the opportunity to try out some more of the Stables facilities. Opening the kitchen blind as dawn broke provided a beautiful view of the River and sheep grazing peacefully on the other side was lovely to see. 

View from kitchen window

We had brought Bunny shaped Crumpets for our breakfast and luckily I had remembered to pack plenty of butter to enjoy these, but of course being clumsy me I managed to drop a jar right on top of two of the side plates chipping them both 🙄. I will be off to the shops this morning luckily these pieces are for sale individually in Alnwick so any breakages are quickly and easily replaced- a real advantage as accidents do happen (to me anyway!) but shouldn’t cause any upset whilst on holiday.

After breakfast Alice raided the shelf load of family games and Hungry Hippos was the game of choice, family trivial pursuit and a jigsaw followed- and all of this before 8am! 

Once showered and dressed we decided as we were on our holidays then a trip to the beach was the activity of choice for the day so heading off from the cottage just 3 miles east took us to Alnmouth Southside beach, the far quieter option than Alnmouth village but watch your car, the track down is really only suitable for 4x4s but the half mile walk is definitely worth it if you are able.

Alnmouth south side