Pheasants Hill Farm is a family home, not a hotel. We are offering bed and breakfast accommodation, in a farmhouse, on a working rare breeds farm, run by a real family. This reviewer has failed to mention the fact that these guests told us they would be arriving at 1pm. Being a family run B&B we have a 4.30 pm check in rule to allow us time to shop for food after cleaning the rooms. In this case we made an exception and agreed to allow these guests to check in early because they had travelled so far. We waited for them for 3 hours, from 1pm till 4pm cancelling two appointments with care homes - my daughter and myself were trying to find sheltered accommodation for my 87 year old father with dementia following the death of my mother at the end of April. They turned up 3 hours late - we had had to rearrange all our appointments. We don't leave milk out all day because it will go off, but we provide it fresh on arrival. I had gone ahead to visit the care homes, leaving my daughter at home to wait for the guests arrival. After the guests finally turned up three hours late my daughter had then to go out to keep the rearranged appointments with the care homes. The hot water central heating system is timed to come on at 4.30pm to accommodate the normal 4.30 pm check in time for guests. The guests asked my husband to switch on the central heating early. He was in the middle of feeding 150 pigs, in his working clothes, so it was difficult to respond instantaneously with 150 hungry pigs biting his wellingtons. However, he interrupted the feeding to accommodate their request. The comment about the room is not true - the room is 23foot long by 13 foot wide, with a 13foot by 6foot bathroom. It is a family room, so it does have extra folded sofabeds, and also has two armchairs. Most guest like the fact that they have a kingsize bed and a single bed to use, plus 4 armchairs - usually guests find this sitting area is an extra and a comfortable feature. The comment about the towels is true, it was an oversight, but this shows that we do actually provide completely fresh towels everyday - this is unusual in a B&B.
The comment about being refused permission to use the internet is untrue - I offered them free access via WIFI which we have installed for guests use - these guests wanted to use our private business computer, which we could not allow due to the security risks this would open us up to. In the early days of operating this B&B I did allow another silver surfer from New Zealand access to our business computer - instead of simply checking his emails he decided he knew best and rearranged the operating system - we had to buy a whole new computer system and lost all the data. For this reason we cannot allow guests to use our business computer, but we offer free WIFI instead.

I welcome the opportunity to respond to Mr John Gilmore's review. Mr Gilmore seemed to have unrealistic expectations of his stay. We offer guests a chance to stay on a working rare breeds pig farm. Guests see animals they probably have never seen before, and are unlikely to see again, as they are rare and unusual - breeds of old fashioned pigs, sheep and hens, living in a natural way, reared in a free range setting. This is not a boarding house, and as a family we don't live in 'quarters' - we live in our own home. It is our place, our farm, and we are happy to share it with guests who understand that it is a farming family's home in rural Northern Ireland. . If Mr Gilmore was looking for a 'Shangri La' we suggest he travel to more exotic locations - his trip was in November and County Down is beautiful but chilly at that time of the year. Every farm in the country is muddy, and the trees are bare. The house is not claustrophobic - it is a modern farmhouse, lived in by our family, with three guest rooms. It is not a purpose built hotel, so the rooms are not as large as they would be at a Holiday Inn, however, we have tried our best to make them comfortable (and spent most of our savings doing so). The comment about 'cheap chintz' is incorrect - the fabrics are all Designers Guild or Liberty. The comment about a 'gross fry-up' displays little discernment or palate - we are one of the only producers of our own rare breed Tamworth bacon and sausages in Ireland and have twice been Northern Ireland Local Hero finalists - our pork has been used on the Great British Menu. In our breakfasts we offer guests the chance to sample home produced food - home cured and smoked bacon, home reared pork made into our own sausages, free range eggs gathered that morning from our hens. Mr Gilmore didn't enjoy this, but 10000 other guests have over 10 years. Mr Gilmore didn't personally like the layout of the dining room. We provide individual tables and also group size tables, so that guests can either sit on their own if they prefer, or sit with their travelling companions. Once again, we have provided this in response to guests likes and dislikes. It is cheaper to expect all guests to sit round one dining table, but many people don't find this comfortable, although Mr Gilmore may prefer this layout. The picture of the dining room on the website is actually a picture of the dining room. The AA award for Best Breakfast, and the 5 Diamond award were awarded by professional hotel inspectors, using a detailed marking system, in many categories, and is robust, fair and systematic, and compares B&Bs in an objective way.

The reviewer wrote the review 2 years after he stayed here. Why? What was the point? How could it be an accurate and fair?.