Villas In Devon

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Craig - Verified booking

  House smelt of damp.

  Sofa and armchair were both damp. Too damp to sit on for any length of time (5 mins max before own clothes becoming damp as well). This meant there was no where to sit or relax in the day/evenings, outside of the small kitchen table or bed in the room upstairs. No access to WiFi, even though listed on listing. No WIFI network registered on either our phones or laptops. We tried a few times in different locations within the property both in the evening and following morning. There was no mobile reception either, so we were unable to rely on mobile data. Had we known this upfront, we wouldn’t have booked the property, as we needed to be able to work remotely during our stay. The owner advertises the property includes WiFi, which is totally misleading, given there was no signal at all. We did speak to Gavin (the owner) as soon as we arrived, on Saturday evening, and mentioned both the WiFi and the damp sofa, and his response was “no one has been in the property in the past five days, so it can’t be damp”. There’s an adjoining door (which is not lockable, and only has a small latch on it) between the master bedroom to the owner’s property, which is next door. Again, neither of which are mentioned on the property listing, which are important things to mention upfront. Dirty - dust and spiders found in every corner of the property All of the above contravenes the Consumer Rights Act. We tried to speak to the owners (in person) before leaving on the Sunday morning, but they were not in, despite saying they would be. We have text conversations evidencing this. The owner lives next door, so had no excuse not to come round to discuss or attempt to resolve the issues. Gavin said he would contact Sykes Cottages to come to some sort of resolution. We followed up with him (and have texts specifically saying he’d spoken to Sykes). And yet Sykes have no record of Gavin making contact with them, at any point. A very disappointing experience in terms of the property and the general lack of care and consideration of the owner. We had booked to stay for a week, but due to the poor standard and property not being as described, we only stayed for one night, and found alternative accommodation for the remainder of our stay in Devon.

  Read more less >

• Rajesh - Verified booking

  This was our first family glamping Holiday and although it was only for two nights but it truly was a wonderful experience, especially for the kids.

  The hosts, Nigel and Emma in particular, were both wonderful. Since this was our first such Holiday with kids, Nigel was very helpful over the phone to answer our queries prior to our trip and gave all the information that we required. Emma, once we reached was there to greet us and took us to our safari tent and explained what all we needed to do and where everything was. The toilet in the tent we were booked in was broken so we were moved into another safari tent and it was very clean, including the shower and toilet and everything was neatly laid out in the tent. Emma had also left us lovely fresh apple welcome drink and homemade lemon drizzle cake which was just scrumptious! Following morning we were shown around the farm, including milking of the cows and meeting the lovely grand parents who also help out on the farm too. This is a family run farm (three generation old), which is well looked after with all the family members helping out on the farm. In the tents there is no electricity, however, there is provision for hot water for both, shower and sink, via gas cylinder and solar panels. The tents do not have any fridge but a cooler box is provided and ice packs could be borrowed for free from their quaint little pantry where the guests can use the farm’s fridge & freezer to store any personal food items. In the pantry there is facility to charge all your gadgets and phones. On the all it was a great glamping experience and for us since this was our first time, 2 nights and 3 days, was just about good… however, the kids wanted to stay for one more day! Thank you so much Emma for hosting us and for the added bonus to give us some home grown lovely beet roots…

  Read more less >

• Robert - Verified booking

  Booked late on with the principal criteria being proximity to our son and family.

  The accommodation was adequate for our needs , the bed was very comfortable and the shower was superb. On the downside, the property is quite dark inside because there are no rear windows and the lighting provided (except in the bathroom) is inadequate. There are no views from the property other than across the car park and the small patio, next to your parked car, is not an enticing place for evening drinks, or a meal. There is little that can be done about that, it is what it is as a former stable complex but no effort had been made to make it slightly more attractive. There were brackets for hanging baskets outside but no hanging baskets. As a result of the above, we felt that the price charged was high. Our plot also lost the evening sun earlier than the other units. On arrival, the 'welcome' basket consisted of 2 packs of biscuits, coffee sachets and tea bags. Previous stayers we noted from the guest book received the more normal Prosecco! Nor could we quickly chill the wine we brought, as we arrived to the fridge turned off and the door wide open! By contrast, our son paid less for 2 bedrooms with a nice sitting out area and views across the valley and only a mile away, also on a farm.

  Read more less >

• Tony - Verified booking

  We had a really wonderful stay at this beautifully restored wagon.

  It was definitely a romantic and memorable experience. So quiet and away from the hustle and bustle of life. A great place to unwind. The owners Nicki and Ben have thought of everything. It was quite windy one night and the wagon hardly moved it is tied down so well. We saw a family of deer including a stunning stag in the field. Also a white owl sitting on one of the posts. I loved laying on the bed with the windows open watching the birds in the hedge. We spent a night round the fire pit. The sky was littered with stars having no light pollution there. We slept so well here. They had left us a welcome bottle of wine from their own vine yard which was superb. The wagon is well situated with Ottery St Mary, Sidmouth, Branscombe, Beer and the Beer caves all not far. There is a wonderful ARK pottery just down the road. I’m so glad we went there. Some wonderful pieces of pottery for sale at quite reasonable prices. I would definitely love to come back and stay here again. NOTE: I would just like to say if you’re not a fan of really tight long narrow roads. Avoid Fire Beacon Lane. We drove down it on our first day. After that we always went the Sidmouth Road way which is much better.

  Read more less >

• William - Verified booking

  I've been staying in self catering places for 20 years and this is my absolute favourite.

  The cottage was modern, warm, very clean, comfortable and you could tell it had really been well looked after. The woodwork, bathrooms, TVs etc were all of a really good quality. Small touches like binoculars and bird spotting books on the windows or bath and hand towels being colour coded to each person so you know which towel is yours make such a difference. The owners were very kind and despite having a busy farm to look after Angela took an hour out of her day to show my young girls the resident donkeys. Despite all of our days out this experience was the highlight for both of them! The situation is just wonderful. Only 5 mins to a main road and 15 mins to a small town / the M5 so you have good access when you want it the cottage feels like you're in the middle of nowhere. So quiet. So peaceful. The hot tub out front has the most stunning view across east Devon. Sitting in the hot tub of an evening watching a barn owl hunting was a magical experience. Great property, great owners, stunning location. By far the best Sykes property I've stayed in. Will be coming back. Recommended to anyone looking for a peaceful rural Devon holiday.

  Read more less >