Mill House, Maiden Newton

For the price I paid out of season I was really disappointed. The place is shabby without the chic. The rugs in front to the fire were dirty and burnt, the floors were grimy after walking in socks the sole of them was black. Whilst the kitchen was large and had excellent facilities the cupboards needed a good clean and tidy, but possibly the worst thing was, that the windows and hinges were so badly rusted that one of the upstairs bedroom hinges snapped in the breeze and broke completely. I understand the age of the house, and the need to keep it's integrity but general maintenance is required especially if you are letting it out and taking money from visitors. Some of the windows of weren't even able to close! A worry if everyone is out for the day. I have never been to a holiday home where there wasn't a single hairdryer.

Beautiful looking charming cottage, in a very nice location. As we arrived the crazy Karen from next door came rushing out us screeching about the parking, we'd barely slowed down let alone parked, she continued coming back as we were making a 3 point turn. The property was freezing cold, for winter bookings someone need to turn the heating on at least 12 hours in advance. Some rooms hadn't had towels left out, there were no bath mats or hand towels in bathrooms. During the first night the bed in Bluebell Room collapsed so we slept on the floor on the mattress, we fixed this ourselves on Saturday. The kitchen was grubby, we laid the table for breakfast and found plates had been put away dirty, not just specks several plates were like they just been taken off the able and stuck back in the stack, all the pots and pans had a greasy film. The property could be stunning with a little more care and attention, luckily for us it was about the company of our friends, we rent large properties several times a year, normally our December rentals have made an effort with some Christmas decoration, nothing at Mill House. As I have said its a nice location, the Chalk & Cheese pub is lovely and the landlord was brilliant, we would totally recommend. The house needs just a little more thought with regards to making guests more welcome, obviously there's not much that can be done about the aggressive neighbour, luckily we were able to laugh her off, all we ask for is clean, well equipped and warm.

Beautiful old property everything was very clean and in good order. Some of the mattresses could perhaps be upgraded but we loved staying in this special house. The village was great highly picturesque in parts but also with useful amenities.

Whilst the Mill House was a lovely building, with plenty of character and a beautiful setting, I can't help but feel that for the price we paid, there could have been more done in preparation for our visit. Little things add up. Overgrown rear patio, covered in cigarette butts, and a left behind bag of dog poo. Non of the TV remotes in the superking bedroom worked. Several lightbulbs missing or blown, Some exploded beer bottles in the freezer, rusty pans where they had been put away wet. Dirty plates and pans from lack of cleaning. I don't mind that there was mould on the window frames that goes with an old building, but the little things, as I said, do add up. The biggest problem, by far, was that we were unable to run a bath in either of the bathrooms on the first floor, as there was no hot water, even though the ground floor water was hot. The shower in the ground floor, likewise, had no hot water. The only reliable hot water was in the electric shower on the first floor. There was a problem with the electrics on the Friday, which I had to fix, although an electrician did turn up there was nothing he could do. Finally, you might want to look at your Maiden Newton guide book. The advertised fish and chip takeaway had long since closed down, the menu for the Chalk and Cheese was wildly out of date, and in fact had no chef, so no food and Le Petit Canard was nowhere to be found. This meant that we had to leave the village to get something to eat, not fun for the driver! Over all we had a pleasant stay, but for 2400 for the week we expected a bit more polish.

It is a beautiful house in a nice location, but the decor and cleanliness are very poor. Most of the furniture is way past its best tatty, tired and grubby. Windows and frames filthy and mouldy. Bathrooms were clean to be fair. Just dust everywhere and way too much old furniture and not in a good way. Kitchen a bit grubby ovens etc. Even the info pack was dirty! Fag butts in garden. Pool table room way too small to actually play pool, no chalk, split cues. No shower curtain in middle floor bathroom. No hand towels in downstairs loo, or a cleaning spray or cloth just a sponge and washing up liquid. Countless signs everywhere were off putting. House was very cold. Storage heaters couldnt be turned on, we had to use a combination of the Aga, blow heaters and the fire. There were logs provided though why not set a fire ready to be lit for guests? Area is lovely though and a good jumping off point for beautiful Dorset. The owner needs to invest time in a declutter dead dried flowers in a frying pan? and properly cleaning the place. Behind the furniture is disgusting, as well as updating fittings. All these points were mentioned before.

The property itself was lovely and immaculately clean, however a few negatives such as one of the windows was nailed shut in a front bedroom which made it stiflingly hot. There is no WiFi although it says there is and lastly, the shower outside the bluebell room is either scalding hot or freezing cold, no inbetween at all. That said the property can easily accommodate 12 people with everything they could possibly need. Big thumbs up for the pool table.

We all loved Mill House! Full of character and lots of room. The children loved the garden and The Snug which they commandeered! The rest of us enjoyed the spacious kitchen. The house was clean and tidy when we arrived. Well placed for lots of local attractions and good local facilities. A couple of minor issues which do not affect our 5 stars but which need some future attention. One bulb was missing in the kitchen which we replaced. Could do with coasters for mugs and glasses to prevent marking the lovely kitchen table. The worktop behind the sink is starting to deteriorate and some of the older windows need attention to the woodwork.

This house is nowhere near as scruffy as some past reports would have you believe. It's a super place for a group to stay and use as a base for exploring Dorset. Maiden Newton itself proved a very interesting place ona two hour or so walk. We were surprised how little the flowing mill water disturbed us at night. The mill owner got really stroppy with our smoker who threw his tab ends into the leat! The upstairs shower needs a non slip mat. I managed to stay upright but didn't dare repeat the exercise. Our member who had the misfortune to pick one of the front bedrooms complained rightly that she could not open a window because the one opener was screwed shut from the outside. It's a good job she didn't need to escape that way. We all slept well with no compalints about the rooms or the beds. With a group of our size a second key for the house would have been welcome. Lastly, we were very disappointed at the lack of a welcome pack. I don't think a loaf of bread and a few tea bags enough to qualify for the name.

Lovely house with great facilities for a large family gathering

Lovely old, quirky house ideal for 10 of us walking the Jubilee Trail. Many happy meals around wonderful long, large table in the comfortable, old fashioned kitchen. Bedrooms light and attractive and everything clean and OK.

Lovely property. However could do with a bit of TLC.

Lovely property, however needs some TLC , along with a new fridge and microwave also oven has seen better days. .

The house was really lovely, however it was a bit run down and dirty and in need of a bit of TLC. The two most disappointing things were the shower situation 1 out of the 3 worked sufficiently and the fact that the bedding was not particularly clean when we took the bedding off at the end of our stay we found horrendous staining on duvets and mattress covers and one bed didnt even have a protector on pretty disgusting and definitely not Covid safe Im sure! We didnt raise issues with the showers during our stay as previous guests have mentioned this for over a year so didnt see the point, and the duvet mattress situation only really fully came to our attention at the end of our stay. The Mill House is really gorgeous and we had a great time as a large group but probably wouldnt recommend the property because it really needs an update and thorough clean. Little things like the pool table were great but most of the cues were broken with no tips one of the group bought some and we left them there for future guests. The owners really need to spruce it up a bit and then it would be an AMAZING place to stay!

The cottage bed mattresses are old and need changing. Spring cleaning is very much needed.

The downstairs shower did not work, despite many attempts. Entry in Visitors Book in July also mentioned this. There was no shower screen on the bath in one of the other bathrooms, so again unusable. The third bathroom shower had insufficient for six adults, this is unsatisfactory and irritating. The hot water tap in the kitchen was scalding and the water near boiling, while hot water flow to upstairs bathrooms was very slow and sometimes not worth waiting for, so, often a cold wash. There were previous guests dirty sheets in the laundry basket. There was a broken window latch in one of the bedrooms and could not be opened, so bedroom not usable. Broken mug left on shelf in kitchen sitting room sofa coverings dirty. We had a good time nonetheless, and enjoyed Corfe Castle, Durdle Door, Maiden Castle all in the rain! and Kingston Lacey in the three days we were there. The Mill House needs an overhaul as it could be excellent. The house is big and has sufficient equipment and could be great for families.

Everything about the Cottage was just what we were looking for

There were 9 adults, 2 children and a guide dog and we all had a great time. Took a while to warm the house up but once we got the fires going it was lovely and toasty.

Interesting house, full of character, in a beautiful setting. However, much of the house needs a face lift. Heating system complicated to operate and insufficient on cold days

The house is situated in the middle of the village with proximity to pub village shops garage plus an excellent restaurant.

Great venue and location, liked the big kitchen, garden and views. Thank you

Mill house is absolutely beautiful and was the perfect place to stay for our friends wedding! Dream cottages staff were super friendly and quick to respond to any queries!

House was not very clean but tidy unable to cook for us as range was set to low ... House was not very clean but tidy unable to cook for us as range was set to low only half of the grill worked no starter pack for fires and Sykes did not phone me back when they said they would on several occasions

Mill cottage is beautiful. We loved it