Dog Friendly Cottages in Port Isaac

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Kelly - Verified booking

  Poplar Cottage is a very pretty, charming cottage which is one street away from the harbour.

  It made for a great location for Port Isaac itself. We booked Poplar Cottage, on the understanding that there was parking for one car. We weren’t aware, until receiving the check in details, that the car would be parked a few streets away, at the top of a very steep hill. Whilst the parking is very secure, it isn’t suitably located for those with mobility issues - as you cannot get close enough to on/off load items. We recommend packing light, and taking a case with wheels. This wouldn’t be an issue normally, but one of us was sporting a fractured knee and had we known in advance we may have opted to stay elsewhere. An improvement in clarity of description is needed. Having read the previous reviews, we contacted Sykes to establish if the points noted in the most recent reviews had been addressed. Having been assured that the heating was working and breakages replaced, we felt reassured. Unfortunately, on arrival this wasn’t the case - and we had to reach out to the local agent for assistance with the heating downstairs. This was needed as it was November and wet. The maintenance engineer tried their best, but could not get the Economy 7 heater to work. They returned 24 hours later with electric heaters. The house book which I understand usually has instructions has been removed due to COVID-19 protocols. Rather bizarre given that there are novels in the house to read. To help guests with their stay I would recommend these are reinstated in some form, even an online link to it would be better than nothing. This would’ve helped given the heating isn’t the typical gas boiler system most commonly found in homes. We love a fire in the autumn, and given the heating wasn’t working downstairs, we resorted to using the log burner. However, there were no fireside tools to assist us and as we couldn’t park close to the house so we had to carry logs and kindling from the local store, as nothing is provided. If a log burner is available, suitable fireside tools should be available and I suggest these are put in place to aid guests. The house itself was very clean, but it is clear that the property has received heavy use over time and therefore some of the soft furnishings are now very grubby, and have definitely seen better days. The carpet down stairs is also very dirty and definitely needs a clean or replacement. However, I should stress the bedrooms, bathroom and the kitchen are spotless. In summary, I would say that we enjoyed our stay at Poplar Cottage but there are a few minor tweaks to make this a better stay for guests - particularly around clarity of check in (WiFi code provided was incorrect), instructions for the home and cleaning of soft furnishings. In addition, there is no welcome pack such as small amount of tea, coffee or sugar compared to other rental properties in this price bracket, a few small touches may have been nice.

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• Caroline - Verified booking

  Overall a lovely cosy little cottage in a nice location, and only a few miles from Polzeath, Wadebridge, Rock (and ferry) to Padstow.

  The cottage was clean throughout, with upstairs nicer than downstairs which was rather tired looking and some of the furnishings were chipped and worn. The lounge and kitchen is separate, not at all like the bright open plan kitchen diner which is portrayed in the pictures, but once we got our heads round this it was ok. The wifi password is still not correct (as mentioned previously), so basically just use the one on the router. The written directions from Port Isaac need looking at as these are pretty confusing particularly in terms of finding the allocated parking - which is behind a 5 bar gate half way down Trewethan Lane (the small steep one), and situated on the left where the lane forks. It could do with having the name of the cottage clearly visible on the gate itself as you can't see the one inside. The SatNav tries to take you right to the cottage which isn't possible as the lanes are too narrow and steep, which we found out too late and nearly got stuck! There was no mention of steep steps up to little garden at the top which could be a problem for an elderly person, but after staying in Port Isaac we realised we were probably quite lucky to have a garden at all. All in all though we enjoyed our stay.

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• Simon - Verified booking

  Nice cottage, full of character and a short stroll to the harbour, but unfortunately let down by the lounge/dining room.

  Whilst the bedrooms and bathroom are clean and well presented, the lounge is very tired. The chairs are stained and worn, and the settee has a broken zip and the springs have sagged making it very uncomfortable. The carpet is stained and the room has a stale smell. The dining room chairs are similarly worn, as is all the garden furniture. The photograph in the advertisement is clearly an old one, showing new furniture in and outside, so is misleading (as is the statement that there is a sea view). It also felt that the cottage wasn't equipped for, what could be, five guests, with minimal cutlery, a few small glasses but no medium sized and only one pint sized, together with just one black bin liner. On a positive note, the welcome pack was a nice gesture, and it is a bonus to have an allocated parking space in Port Isaac, although it should be emphasised more that the path down to the cottage from the parking space is very steep, which makes transporting luggage difficult. We have used Sykes Holiday Cottages many times and have never written a negative review before. This just didn't feel up to the usual standard, which is a shame because it's a lovely little cottage, just lacking in some TLC.

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• Richard - Verified booking

  We liked the ‘Beach House’ very much - it was ample for our needs.

  The beds were comfortable and it had a lovely large kitchen. It was a shame that the tumble dryer wasn’t working as we got extremely wet due to the weather and it would have been handy to dry clothes quickly. We found the heating controls problematic and one night when the temperature dropped we were struggling to keep warm. I don’t think the radiator in the kitchen ever came on during our stay. There were a few cobwebs and accompanying spiders on the stairwell/ceiling corners but no real problem. It was tricky to get in and out of the shower due to the towel radiator blocking the screen. We had to manouver over the toilet to get in and out, but the bathroom was lovely and warm. The owner might want to make it clear about the rubbish arrangements. It was confusing to have a council notice and recycle options but it would appear that there was no recycling because a business contract was in place for rubbish removal. The house was ideally situated for us, central to the places we wanted to visit and walkable to the pub. I also took the dog for a walk to Polzeath which was great.

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• Helen - Verified booking

  Property in an ideal location in the heart of the village if you are able bodied and reasonably fit because the hills are very steep to the car parking facilities.

  Car parking secure and easy to access. The cottage has had significant investment in the kitchen and bathrooms which are clean and fully equipped however lack detail items such as dishwasher tablets, salt and pepper, kitchen foil (to cover cooking trays), kitchen roll and additional toilet rolls. All of which we needed to purchase. The downstairs living accommodation isn't quite like the photos which give the impression of a big kitchen / diner. In fact it's a galley kitchen. The living room leaves a lot to be desired as the furniture is very worn, shabby and to be honest grubby. We didn't feel comfortable and were cold for five days until the manager of the estate agent bought heaters. There is one heater in the hall way and the storage heater was off. At 8am on Monday morning the building work started on the roof next door but one on the terrace of cottages and the noise woke us. We were not made aware of this before our trip because we would have requested alternative accommodation. Due to all the above we cut our holiday short by two days.

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