Dog Friendly Apartments in East Devon District

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Roger - Verified booking

  On our first visit to The Old Garage a year ago, we arrived to find a stylish property, clearly well maintained and with a generous welcome pack awaiting us.

  Based largely on that pleasant experience, we booked to stay there again, but oh, what a difference a year can make! This time, there was no welcome pack at all. For the first time in 30 years of cottage holidays, there was not even a pint of milk in the fridge. Evidence of lack of proper maintenance soon followed. All the saucepans were covered in a brown grease and several items of cutlery were the found to have dried bits of food still on them. We therefore spent the first hour of our holiday cleaning all the cooking utensils. A precautionary wipe of table surfaces revealed they had also not been cleaned properly, and it later became evident that the floors were the same. After a long and tiring journey, all you want to do is sit down with a nice cup of tea and biscuit, not to have to roll your sleeves up to do the owner’s work for them. What do we pay for, after all? There were numerous further observations which included mould on several window frames, stains on cushions when they were turned over, decking rotting in places and the garden clearly overdue for some TLC. We later brought this to the attention of Lyme Bay Holidays who informed us that the property had changed hands since our first visit and the new owner had brought a different approach to its management. Lyme Bay Holidays offered to send a cleaning team in immediately, but by that time, we had settled in and did not want the upheaval this would create. We advised that in our opinion, the property was in need of a deep clean all round. We can only hope the new owner realises that you cannot trade on stylish looking images alone. There are plenty of other properties about whose owners understand the importance of cleanliness and of providing a welcome pack. Need we say more?

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• Sharon - Verified booking

  Lovely property.

  The pictures in the listing don’t do it justice. It’s a lot larger than expected. Quite quirky. Fabulous sea views. Nice seating area with a shelter which was ideal for shade and would also be good in light showers. Well stocked with everything needed. Especially in the kitchen. Nice welcome bag with some essentials. The property does have Wi-Fi. The listing suggested both it did and didn’t so probably needs updating. Good location. Short walk to the centre. A couple of small supermarkets nearby. Close to the Town Mill which is worth exploring. We didn’t appreciate how hilly Lyme is. My husband struggled to walk back as he’s injured his leg, but buses were regular and stopped nearby. Only slight negatives. We’d have liked more towels as one medium and one towel per person wasn’t ideal. Especially as we also needed hand towels for the en-suite and bathroom. As per other reviews many of the items in the kitchen could do with a wash. We put all the items we’d use in the dishwasher on arrival. The kitchen trays etc were also filthy as was the hidden drawer and oven gloves under the cooker. We washed the trays etc but left the gloves as we’d taken our own. The wall cupboards with plates and cups smelt, as mentioned in a previous review. We left the doors open to air but it didn’t help. We plumped up the cushions on the sofa and it was quite dirty under the cushions. Otherwise the property was clean. There were issues from the neighbouring property the first weekend. We wondered if the property was a rental, but fortunately the occupants were only there over the weekend. Key collection and drop off was easy and the office wasn’t far from the property. We’d be happy to stay again.

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• Zoe - Verified booking

  The flat is in a fantastic location.

  It’s a good size and each room has plenty of space. It was light and airy. The kitchen was well stocked with equipment, cutlery and crockery. It needs a guide on how to use the hob - we struggled with that initially. We liked having a parking space and I would rent the property again. 2 points to make the stay easier: 1. Only having one set of keys was a MASSIVE problem for us. Lyme Bay gave us a second set but they didn’t open the ground floor entrance which was our problem door. As you share the entrance with the top flat, who independently lock that entrance door, we were finding members of our group were locked in and couldn’t get out or locked out but couldn’t get in, even though people were in the flat. Phone signal was patchy so they couldn’t even phone us! It was infuriating and would prevent me from rebooking without the guarantee of 2 sets of keys.it was a big issue for us as we didn’t all come and go at the same time. 2. Easier arrival instructions. If you don’t know that the main car park is not Underhill, it’s hugely confusing. We thought the area in front of the flat was where we were meant to park. Please amend arrival instructions to suggest people park outside the property to unload luggage and then take the car to Underhill car park , which is BEHIND the property, not in front. Having discovered where Underhill car park is, the reserved space is easy to find and we’ll sign posted.

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• Yvonne - Verified booking

  We were very disappointed by the lack of cleanliness to the property and even more disappointed of the dismissive attitude from Lyme Bay holidays to our complaint.

  We found dirty mugs, cutlery, chopping board, congealed food on a dish, table & benches not clean & dirty shower base during our stay. Yet the website states access delayed: " to allow for the additional & enhanced cleaning procedures required". Yet one email response to our complaint from you stated: "a standard clean had been undertaken at the property." It would appear that even this standard was not achieved let alone any enhanced cleaning procedures. Our complaint to you was dismissed saying we had refused cleaners and could not provide photos. We arrived about 4.15pm on 3rd June and wanted a cup of tea to then find dirty mugs & cutlery. My husband has an autoimmune condition and my first thoughts were to provide a clean and safe environment for him, not to take photos for yourselves. We also did not refuse cleaners. We told Martin we had already had to deal with the issues and clean the items in order to be able to eat and drink in a clean environment. I do not expect to have to provide the cleaning service myself. If there are Lyme Bay Holidays rules for providing proof of any complaint then they should be given to the client before arrival and not after the complaint has been made. Our complaint was not dealt with properly, it has not been resolved to our satisfaction and certainly the property cleanliness and the supposed service from yourselves was not worth the price we paid for the week. It spoilt our holiday.

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• Julie - Verified booking

  Flat extremely clean and perfect for two but has some slight quirks which need sorting out.

  The blinds in the bedroom and the lounge don’t fit the windows. They end about 4 inches from the bottom. In the bedroom the curtains are so flimsy that they too don’t do their work. This means that you can see into the bedroom and right onto the bed from the street outside even with the curtains closed. It’s the same in the lounge but that’s not as worrying. There is no room on the other side of the bed for a bedside table and the shelf provided was hanging off the wall. We did inform the owner/landlord/caretaker who took it away, leaving us with no shelf. The shower is quite old and could do with replacing and the shower head and holder don’t match so it’s tricky to adjust the position of the shower head. We had lovely welcome gifts which we really appreciated but I’d prefer money to be spent on the things mentioned above.

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