Beach Cottages in England

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Barbara - Verified booking

  Roebuck Retreat is a nice bungalow with a lovely modern kitchen and a range of comfy chairs in lounge area.

  There is an enormous patio with good views over the countryside. However, it was let down by the fact that the combi boiler hadn't been checked, it had lost working pressure( the gauge was showing zero pressure) and needed repressurising (a 5 minute job). Sykes only give a landline phone number for contact with their emergency team, not much good if you are deaf like we are but we texted my son at home to contact them but apart from saying they would contact the owner and providing a mobile number for the housekeeper ( which we sent a text to but no reply from her) NO ACTION or prompt help was done. In the end as we have a combi boiler ourselves and know how to set the pressure we did it ourselves so we could have hot water. We are home now and its eight days since we texted the housekeeper and still waiting a reply. If we had not known how to reset it we would have been without hot water for the whole weeks holiday. We were initially reluctant to reset boiler as it is not ours and did think of asking my son to call out an emergency plumber as we had not heard back and still haven't from the housekeeper. The lack of WiFi and the very small tv are unusual as most holiday lets we have stayed in in the past provide a full sized TV and WiFi. The arrangement of the way one bedroom and bathroom doors open into hall while the other two open into the rooms takes getting used to. The bathroom has a shower over the bath running off a mixer tap, the taps were difficult to operate to get the shower running at the right temperature, in fact all the bathroom taps could do with replacement washers if not outright replacement. The external door locks could do with a shot of WD40 so they operate smoothly while the front door handles look ready to pull out of their housing. There is an infestation of ants under the patio doors. The duvet on the double bed was winter weight and that on top of the memory foam mattress made for hot uncomfortable nights. The bedroom curtains could do with black out linings as the sunrises early and floods the bedrooms with light The roads leading to the property are unmade and make for a bumpy ride especially over the speed humps. The property is also quite remote and there are no local shops within walking distance, not even a general store on the site. Finally, there is a lack of storage for suitcases, not a problem if only 2 people staying as they can use the second bedroom. The owner has stored large bags on top of cupboard in hall and bedding on the top of the "open" wardrobes in the bedrooms. To sum up, Sykes need to get their act together regarding emergency repairs, the owner needs to leave a mobile contact number for the same reason. It does not help that currently check in times are after 5pm ( a hangover from Covid, in theory properties needed to be cleaned, disinfected and aired ), a check in time of 3pm would give more time to fix any problems found upon arrival.

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• Su - Verified booking

  After travelling from Inverness to my native NE several times a year for the last 19 years to visit family and friends, we have stayed at dozens of holiday lets, but this is our favourite and the best by far.

  Communication with the owner prior and throughout was excellent. So friendly and polite. Earsdon is a lovely little country village and perfectly based for visiting the coast. Having the best of both worlds was especially wonderful as we could take our little dog, who was spoiled for walks. We booked the cottage for 2 weeks over Christmas and it was lush walking in to see it decked out with a gorgeous tree, a garland running up the stair, a wreath and cute little decorations. All very tasteful and in keeping with the stunning decor. It smelled/smelt (never know which it is!) gorgeous too. It was immaculate, and so warm and cosy. This meant so much to me as we’ve walked into some places rated 4&5 star and they’ve been filthy and run down! They left a very impressive festive hamper on the table for us which was so thoughtful and kind. Got tucked into the cheesy crackers straight away. Such a warm welcome. The kitchen is so well kitted out. It even has a crock pot, which we used once to do a curry. We ate out mostly though as there are such nice places to eat nearby (the beehive along the road and 1910 at the Spanish city). I can’t even tell you how great it was to have a tumble dryer! God send. All high end appliances. Lovely comfy beds. So quiet at night! I can’t recommend this gorgeous little cottage enough. Will defo be booking again, delightful. Thank you so much to the wonderful hosts, it would be nice to meet you guys one day! X

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• Benjamin - Verified booking

  Problems with the property on arrival were that I needed to find the hoover to get rid of the hair on the floor.

  The floor had been moped but hair was left everywhere. Fortunately the hoover did the trick. In addition, the windows were very dirty. During the stay things that became annoying were, 1, loose flooring in kitchen, step on it wrong abs it hurts your foot, 2, patio doors don’t open as they hit the slabs outside, 3, loose and wobbly bath, 4, doesn’t effect use but has a poorly fitted kitchen. The worst thing to deal with was the ant infestation, we had ants coming through/around the patio doors even when shut, and I put any powder down that I found under the sink. I don’t expect to have to deal with ants running through a property that I’m renting for 1 week. Whilst I have no negative feedback for Sykes, and none of the problems above are massive, added all together that property is a mess and should be sorted properly before charging so much for it. Not impressed. I will not recommend staying there.

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• Elliott - Verified booking

  Our stay at Taylor’s Cottage really exceeded expectations.

  We stayed for a month as we needed a temporary base close to family and Northumberland to relax, having just moved back from Europe, and couldn’t have picked a more welcoming place. Check in was super easy, contact free and the owner made sure everything was provided upon arrival. The kitchen was a dream, well equipped, the interiors were extremely tasteful, it was warm, very clean and the bedroom was so comfortable with plenty of wardrobe space. There are plenty of good walks around the area, really nice pubs close-by, groceries can easily be delivered if needed, it is close to Newcastle centre and everything is within reach. It’s rare to stay somewhere that feels like a home, but Taylor’s Cottage did. Every detail seems to have been thought of to make your stay hassle-free. It was very peaceful there, we didn't want to leave and we can’t thank you enough for your hospitality!

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• Paul Betty and - Verified booking

  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Taylor’s Cottage.

  It is very well equipped and the local area is surprisingly quiet and peaceful. It was the best Sykes cottage we have ever stayed in. The owner responded very quickly to a problem - there was no rubber mat to use when showering in the bath, but she delivered one within hours of our request, thank you! Our main concern was the rear patio is not enclosed as described and therefore we could not leave our dog out there unattended (she loves to sit in the garden). The patio opens onto neighbouring gardens and our Labrador took a fancy to the neighbour’s tomatoes! Also, as someone else has previously mentioned, the pillows are much too big. Luckily, we brought our own having read previous feedback. Despite the garden issue, we would probably stay at the cottage again because it was so clean and well equipped with nice quality furnishings etc.

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