The Stables, Roughton, Norfolk

The Stables are part of a cluster of barns at Primrose Hill Farm. The location is lovely and there is lots of green space outside and space to park. However once we got inside the barn things went downhill very quickly. The place was freezing and the storage heaters pumped out very little heat and then packed up over the coldest weekend of the year. When we asked for another electric heater the owner simply came over and twiddled with the broken dials on the storage heater, told us that they would kick in after midnight and no, we couldn't have another heater. A very cold bedtime ensued. The log burner in the living room pumped out smoke rather than heat to the point where a visiting friend who is a GP was worried about carbon monoxide fumes and advised us not to use it. We ended up buying a winter quilt and thermals as there were only summer duvets on the beds (two of which had really uncomfortable cheap mattresses). The radiator cover on one of the storage heaters fell on top of my one year-old daughter. When I pointed this out to the owner she didn't apologise but just pushed it back into place against the wall where it was held up by one loose dowel.
One of the lamps on an occasional table had a broken bulb with jagged shards of glass in it. The saucepans were clearly very old and the non-stick coating had come off so we couldn't cook properly. There were mugs which were the free ones you get from drug reps, chipped plates, no child cutlery or crockery.
The website (nnch.co.uk) boasted a play area but we found the trampoline was broken as was one of the swings and some steps on the climbing frame were missing. All in all, our stay was marred by the shoddy accommodation, particularly the cold. It wouldn't have cost much to give us another heater or provide adequate bedding.