Caves Farm Barns - ELY

Dave S.

Absolutely fabulous place to stay.
Beautiful setting in the Cambridgeshire Fenland with stunning views, great friendly family run farm with superb accommodation very relaxing stay

Andrew M.

'Kestrel' is a 4 bedroom very spacious bungalow with large living room, dinning room and kitchen with a large private garden on a farm 5 mins drive along a dead-end road from the A10 Ely bypass. Very clean. Good for groups or family gatherings. Great sunsets over flat open farmland. Lots of wildlife, muntjac (small deer), pheasants, etc. Ely and Welney WWT, and many other nature reserves nearby. OK internet and phone reception. No supermarket nearby, so stock up before you come. 2 smaller chalets on the same site. Highly recommended.

Nicola S.

Just stayed here for 3 nights with a group of friends for our joint 40th.

Overall, it was a nice place to stay but we do think that there needs to be more honesty about the place before you book it:

- The hot tub had no water in it, because it can't be used at the moment. This should not be on the details for the site, when clearly from other reviews, it has been out of action for ages. This is false advertising and if we had booked the place primarily for this, we would have been angry.

- Swimming pool was tepid, so we decided not to go in.

- The oven didn't work in fan made, which we planned on using for the weekend. We were able to use it at a low heat for the odd thing, but if you wanted to use it properly at a higher heat, it wouldn't have happened.

- You could barely watch anything on the TV other than BBC channels and BBC iPlayer and there were no logins for things like Channel 4 or ITV and we didn't have out personal account details with us.... it would have been good to have been given a heads up about this.

- There was no welcome folder with useful info about the property including the wi fi code, so we landed up contacting the owner and trying the owner's daughter next door. If info was in the property like most places, we wouldn't have had to bother them at all. Also no info about whether they recycle, do they want the beds stripped at end of stay etc.

- Light at front of house couldn't be turned off (unless we missed something), so had to keep windows closed at nights, as it was attracting so many insects.

- Property needed some TLC in places and a massive lack of plug sockets.

We would consider staying here again, but that's more because space wise it was great and quiet and we'd also know what we'd need to bring next time to make our stay right.

Crispin B.

We had a great stay.
Pool was fantastic for the kids.
The facilities were absolutely fine for what we needed.
It is off the track a little and the road is bumpy but the location is really lovely. Night sky is very clear when there are no clouds.
Plenty to do a short drive away.

Lisa

Where to start...
We went for a week in Aug and paid extra for a working hot tub and pool. The hot tub had no water the entire week. The pool was too cold for the adults to get in.
The accommodation itself is tired and needs a deep clean.
The television was missing a battery, even when we replaced it the TV still didn't work.
The owner's dog appeared one day jumping on the sofas and at my children (who are scared of dogs).
There was rubbish in the garden, random planks of abandoned wood, the drive so overgrown that the car kept switching off due to sensors saying something was in the way. Broken wood covering a dangerous pothole on the drive.
Insufficient electric sockets we had to buy extension leads etc. Horrific views overlooking another house to the point we kept the curtains closed at all times.
The communal areas had abandoned random objects eg. A broken table, radiator gardening tools. Not to mention the various trip hazards all over the place.
What appeared to be a cest pit close to the children's play area.
But, to make matters even worse despite contacting the owner by phone , text (the number listed in the property to call in case of emergency) and banging on her door she never responded.
She did however answer the phone to cottages .com (who we booked with) and informed them that the hot tub wasn't working as she was waiting for a part from America. However, this is the exact same excuse she used when we booked the property two years ago! Since then the property and site has gone downhill dramatically.

Tony M.

We were due to stay 7 nights (in Heron & Pheasant, as 2 families), but only stayed 4, due to the facilities. The beds were incredibly uncomfortable, everyone (including 3 children) complained of back ache, and I had to spend £50 on a mattress topper, as sleep was impossible. The cottages were full of dead insects, cobwebs etc, and lots of equipment was faulty. For example, the bin lid in Heron was broken, the table leg in Pheasant kept falling off, and the windows and door in Heron would either not open or close. The hot tub was broken, which was one of the main reasons we booked and the pool (despite the picture) was tiny and also grubby. The play area for the kids was great apart from the field of nettles you had to try and make your way through. However, they decided to cut the field the day we left!!
I have tried to contact the owner by email and text (on the number we were communicating on during our holiday),  but she has ignored us. Even when we said we were going home 3 days early, her response wasn't 'why, what's wrong', but 'hope you've enjoyed your stay' - her lack of contact really just sums up the lack of care, across the board.

Sue T.

This farm is well off the beaten track and the road is very bumpy. You arrive and outside looks unkempt. The swan were we were staying was fine, rustic and as you would expect like a farm house. The big disappointment in the first day was the pool, it was so cold the little one only lasted about 20mins and the baby wasn't going in. The hot tub was not working, so as these were two of the main reasons we booked it was a real downer to the start of the holiday. We had a word with the lady owner and she said she would see if she could turn it up and in fairness to her we thought th e second day it was slightly warmer. You have timed slots, ours was fours hours before we could check in at 5pm, so didn't get that at all. Luckily we had two of the rental properties and we used their slot. The hot tub was working on the second day. The play area is OK but nothing like it looked on the photos, the wi fi doesn't work and the TV only has limited channels. So all in all would I go again, No.

Sharon C.

Lovely cottages with great toys and outdoor fun for the kids. Swimming pool is the best facility although it was too cold for the 2 littlest ones. Great location with easy access to places of interest.