Beach Villas In England

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Rachel - Verified booking

  From the photos it looked like a typical mass market holiday challet and we expected that it would be fine, clean and functional and perfectly adequate for a short break as a base to tour.

  When we arrived the site strongly marketed it as a luxury holiday home for a disabled person. That changed our expectations and left us feeling utterly annoyed as it was basic, not that well maintained, pretty impracactical and not in any way luxury and not suitable for a person with a disability except that it was on one level. However, when I re read Sykes' property description on my return home, it was accurate and had only given 3 stars which was fair. It was very attractively set in a private dip in the wooded valley. We enjoyed sitting out in the evening, alhtough it was next to an unmaintained area of weeds and deteriorating decking and damaged steps up to the lodge. The beds were comfortable and the bedding clean and fresh, the fabrics were nice in the unit and it was nice to be able to order food if we wanted it. Other than that it was not great. The kitchen provision was very basic and minimal, with a low powered microwave, cracked ceramic hob, feeble extractor and all quite cramped, especially the dining room table. The toilet was not pleasant being directly off the living room and facing the door and the floor got dirtly easily and was not cleanable. There were insufficinet surfaces to put toiletries on or have contact lens or toothbrushing facilities on hand, few places for 3 people to hang wet towels and the fittings were a bit rusty. There was one bin and no provision for recycling in the cabin. We only found out that there was recycling as we were leaving by which point it was too late. The guest information was not that usefull it was more of a marketing pack for luxury accommodation. It would have been helpful to have a sweeping brush to get rid of the sand inevitably picked up from being on the beach. My daughter got a splinter from playing in the playground as child friendly bark had not been used and the windows of a cabin running along the path opened out onto the path a head height of my daughter and a risk for passers by to walk into. My husband mislaid his keys and asked reception to lock the cabin for us whilst we were away that day. They said they would but forgot and it was unlocked when we returned at the end of the day. We also did not have hot water one of the days. It was definatley not quality - basic equipment, small TV's, cheap fittings, neglected bathroom, no wi-fi except a the bar etc and not for a disabled person who having wheeled themselves in would have to navigate oddly shaped carpet edges then would not be able to reach the pegs to hang their coat, no seating to use the shower and good luck with the WC! - not the welcome I would want if I were a wheelchair user. These comments are only applicable to the owner though as Sykes do not say that it is luxury and do not say it is for a disabled person.

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• Neil - Verified booking

  We have stayed at Heron four times.

  The location is lovely and the parking is a bonus. However this year we were disappointed with how dirty the apartment was. We had to clean the fridge before we could use it. The oven is in desperate need of a clean. We used it once but the smell of old burnt food was overwhelming. There is a desperate lack of kitchen utensils, no decent frying pan for example, which along with the dirty oven made self catering a challenge. The bathroom is mouldy ( a point picked up in previous reviews) and has gotten worse over time. The furniture is also tired and the sofa was quite uncomfortable. The curtains are ripped ( as they were last year ). The rug is a trip hazard. As I said, a parking space is a bonus but this year the signs were all broken and it was unclear where to park . We returned one day to find no space which was really frustrating. I reported all these issues to the holiday company and in fairness they offered to redo the cleaning but we declined. I also reported the main issues again when we returned home, but no response hence this review. Heron has been our ‘go to’ place in St Ives and has represented good value for money but we shan’t return until there are improvements, but if you value location and lovely views across the harbour above all else this is probably the place for you.

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• Mr Graham - Verified booking

  Really good location, 5 minutes walk from Porthmeor beach to the North, and 5 minutes to the main town/harbour area to the East. No parking provided, but there is enough space on the street to unload the car for 5-10 minutes without blocking access. After unloading we parked the car at the Trenwith car park - this is about a 10 minute walk away, down and up some steep hills but only costs £26 for a 1 week pass. Always managed to get a space (may be harder during the summer holidays). The flat itself is on the ground floor, few steps down from the backdoor / few steps up to the front door. The main living area and ktichen is really nice and there is a sea view from the window. The main bedroom is quite small, 1x double bed and some shelves. It is attached to a large en-suite bathroom. The flat also has a seperate WC and a small room with bunk beds and a wardrobe. The flat was a decent enough size for the 2 of us and the dog, it would probably be quite tight for 4 people though. Would definitely stay again as it is great for getting to the best parts of St Ives quickly (coming back up the hills might not be as swift though!).

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• Mark - Verified booking

  A charming flat which overlooked st Ives in possibly the best location you could ask for and only a few mins walk into the village / Town.

  The apartment was well equipped for our stay. Including bedding and fluffy towels etc. Parking was a short 10 min walk from the property. Their are a few things that need to be addressed in the property for improvement: - the bed, the mattress is awful :( the bed is a small double (I believe) so we both ended up sleeping on our sides. - the WiFi (it only work in the communal corridor) the problem is the signal strength does not cater for the property and needs its own connection to a modem. The WiFi boosters simply do not offer any form of WiFi to the apartment. - final night of our stay the battery to the smoke alarm was going off ALL night - intermittent beeping (battery went). - bathroom mould on the ceiling, bathroom could do with a lick of paint. We do understand there is no window hence the reason for this happening. But requires addressing as a “luxury” apartment / flat. Overall a pleasant stay ( apart from the last night with the smoke alarm). “What 3 word” location ///cobbles.liberated.able for anyone who finds the property hard to find as couldn’t find on Google.

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• Michael - Verified booking

  We had a lovely stay at Heron but there were a few things that i think need addressing.

  Firstly the parking space, im not sure this should be advertised as including a parking space tbh. I was unable to use the parking space all holiday (BMW 4 series gran coupe) since the space left by the cars either side simply didnt leave enough space. Personally i dont think this is the fault of the drivers in either space. The allocated bay is next to an end space which is next to a big hedge. If they parked to leave enough space they wouldnt be able to manoeuvre their vehicle. I had to pay over £60 to park in a public car park for the week which unfortunately resulted in a dent in the side of my car, so not great. I normally select properties based on having private parking so this was disappointing based on the listing. The only other feedback point would be the bed. The mattress needs replacing asap , it slopes to one side and is not comfortable. On holiday a good nights sleep is a must so this needs sorting for future customers. Everything else was as expected.

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