Country Villas In The United Kingdom

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Betty - Verified booking

  The renovation of this property is stunning with many attractive features but it is sadly let down by the absence of expected up-to-date facilities and hygiene which severely and adversely affected our enjoyment.

  This lovely home is downgraded with the many and various annoying niggles that become preeminent in your feelings of enjoyment, safety, comfort and relaxation. Nothing could have been resolved by a phone call to the owners or Sykes. We took the view that our stay should not be interrupted as we were also visiting a terminally ill relative each day. In the kitchen there is one mismatched chipped mug and one large chipped plate. Some old crazed plates and bowls distract from the food placed in them. The induction hob does well with the bumpy, dirty bottoms of most of the provided old frying pans. Weak plastic utensils and blunt knives add to the frustration of cooking for 8 with several inadequate, small pans. We shopped for satisfactory implements and fly spray (see later). The microwave oven had someone else’s leftovers stuck to the plate. The fridge had a huge clump of ice with something stuck in it; it needs defrosting and cleaning. The fan oven never reaches the required temperature: meals had to be cooked using the ordinary oven. Several of the kitchen cabinet handles are pitted and uncomfortable in the hand and are ready for replacement. The door to the utility room toilet area was difficult to open at the beginning of the week as it caught on the floor and injured a guest’s chest as she anticipated it opening. The table mats in the dining area were sticky to touch so these and the table were cleaned. In the lounge unsecured rugs presented a trip hazard for several of the party. After one of the party had to be saved from a dangerous fall against the fireplace we put the rugs in the corner of the room for the rest of the stay. All the beds in the bedrooms were basic but the pillows were thin and unwelcoming. In the en-suite in the main bedroom the lock is still suspect despite notes in the log (August 2019, July 2022). The toilet seat doesn’t fit and is twisted. The extractor fan doesn’t work so towels were always damp and this was the same in the other bedroom on the first floor. The ‘balcony’ has no seating area and there are no seats in the bedroom. The floor area above the garages is uneven. On Tuesday night four of us were woken by the gate from the balcony down to the kitchen area banging. It had to be secured by a chair from outside the kitchen being placed against the gate as the lock was completely ineffective: the latch was misaligned, rusty and cannot be fastened. The outside security light constantly illuminates the bedroom window and needs attention. In the second bedroom on the first floor the hanging rail is so close to the shelf that you endanger fingers when hanging a garment up. The extent of the grounds is clearly advertised but its suitability for walking on is not indicated. Where was the boundary? Could we reach the coast? What features were worth noting? The proximity and access to prominent places of interest is exaggerated, for example, access to nearby towns as mentioned by others in the log. Outside the kitchen there are 3 rickety chairs with a small damaged and dangerous table which we cleaned as all were covered with bird faeces: the remains of the plasterer’s work is still on the wooden planking in front of you. Four chairs and an equally inadequate table rests alongside a pond. We returned each evening for a relaxing drink but we couldn’t all sit down and certainly not in the same place. We searched by the wood store where, it was promised in the folder, other outdoor furniture could be found which we were free to use: another exaggeration as this consisted of one broken chair and an unusable barbecue. When we arrived, part of the wooden porch above us lay on the entrance tiles. We were greeted by an infestation of flies and the cobwebs around the doorway, inside and out, had had little impact on the numbers. We covered all our food and fought to eat faster than the flies. It was no wonder that we ate out far more frequently than planned in adjacent hostelries which, although in the country, had no flies attacking us. We live in a listed stone building in the country with cattle and sheep as neighbours but we have never been subjected to such an onslaught with nothing to combat our unwanted and unwelcome pests. We regularly visit cottages up and down the country and at all times of the year, but we have never ever felt so let down, frustrated, disappointed and exploited as we have with this one. This was not a home from home: it was far less from than that. It was a long way from value for money and our expectations of cleanliness, safety and well-being. During the week we had killed several flies in the master bedroom shower area. Before we left, I investigated the flies’ attraction to the shower drain. I intended to clear away any hairs from our shampooing that may be there: the mess was horrific. The drain was near blocked with grey clingy matter; I felt sick that we had been using this shower all week and had paddled in this gunge. Photographs are available.

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• Gillian - Verified booking

  We would not rate this property as a 4 star, we have stayed in 2 star properties with other companies that were of a far superior quality.

  It definitely was not worth the £1237 we paid for the week. The property had single glazed windows throughout which, consequently were covered with water on the inside each morning. It was musty and damp with mould on the walls in the bedrooms, which we tried to clean this off as best we could. It was totally unacceptable to advertise this property as a 4 star rating and disingenuous if you were aware of the true presentation of the internal condition of this property. The window sills were dirty and had not been cleaned. The toilet seat in the first bathroom was loose and we tried to sort that out without success. The water in the second bathroom ran a dirty yellow colour. The top drawer in the kitchen was broken. We did draw these to the attention of the lady in the shop and all she said was they were looking for new cleaners, which was not helpful to us. You also stated that there was a welcome pack, there wasn't one on arrival. We asked the lady in the on site shop about it, she did then give us bread, coffee and teabags but we had already made a trip to a different shop to get the essentials. There were no bin bags either which we have always been provided in every cottage we have booked. We would recommend that you visit the property and inspect it without giving notice, you may then want to consider what star rating it should really have - we would suggest no more than a 2 (and that is being generous) On the plus side the kitchen was well equipped, the bedding was clean and the pool was the saving grace of the property. There are also plenty of good walks close by. We would be grateful if you could contact us directly to discuss a refund.

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• Sue - Verified booking

  We arrived slightly early and the cottage was ready.

  .. we felt extremely comfortable with the cottage and everything was spotless. The beds were comfortable and we had towels laid out at the bottom of each bed. The kitchen is well equipped and I really would struggle to say what it didn't have... We made use of the barbeque and bought kindle although they do keep plenty of stock on site and have a honesty box..great idea. Unfortunately we didn't use the pool but as we stayed during Covid we thought it best not to. It is extremely quiet and very peaceful in the surrounding area and great to go off and explore..there is a shop on site for supplies and on Saturday we had a pizza van turn up selling freshly baked pizzas...tasted good too. You need a car to go further afield and we parked up at Lakeside (about 7mins in car) to board the boat over to Bowness which is well worth a visit. As this was a family get together we really enjoyed our time here and would stay again in a heartbeat... we had no issues therefore we didn't need to contact anyone. Plenty of spaces to park the cars... The cottage was very large and as we were a party of 8 people we all felt we had plenty of space.. There is also a gym on site but again we didn't use it.

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• Glyn - Verified booking

  The description of the property on the website is accurate so we got what we hoped for.

  The cottage is spacious, really well equipped with good quality fixtures and fittings. The views from the sun room and the garden area over the road are spectacular whatever the weather. The review asks for our Sykes experience but that's not the same thing as our experience of the cottage. The latter was all positive and we appreciated the efforts of the owners to provide us with a great holiday base. There doesn't seem to be anywhere else to record that Sykes sends too many emails - too many requests for reviews of a holiday yet to be taken, too many suggestions for new bookings when the current one hadn't happened. I asked for one piece of assistance before the holiday and got what I needed because the query was referred to the owners. Sykes were fine and if you have a property that suits me I might use you again but I will be blocking your too frequent emails. I don't have a problem with my comments being published but I do not want anything I have said to appear to be detrimental to the cottage owners - they did everything required to meet our expectations.

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• Pam - Verified booking

  The Old Chapel was a delightful house with charming features and an unexpected cosiness.

  We loved the generous space within the house and wished that we could have used the grounds outdoors more but the weather was wet for most of our week. There was an unfortunate incident on the Tuesday evening when there was an attempted break-in at the property; this included two attempts to force the front door, also there were indications of two failed attempts at opening our 2 cars. The incident was reported to the police. The housekeeper, Marcel, was clearly very concerned and offered any support that we wanted. This was followed later by a similarly supportive text from the owners. We thank them heartily. You, at Sykes, did nothing. I was amazed not to receive any communication from you following my notification to your Helpdesk. I don't want discounts or vouchers but I DO want you to know that your lack of care was most certainly noted. Therefore, my likelihood to recommend you in this case is, as above, 3 out of 10. The house and its facilities and its owner/housekeepers' support, 10 out of 10. I am glad that you will be sharing this feedback with the owners.

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