Dog Friendly Cottages in South East

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Emma - Verified booking

  He property is very difficult to find, as the Sat nav will not take to to the house which is a fair way down a very rough pot hole track.

  The owner gave us directions but did not give any prominent landmarks like a nearby school and Abbey to know you were heading the right way. We were informed the farm track was marked by a no though road sign but the sign is set back 10 meters from the road and not visible from the road you are travelling on. We were told by the owner that the name plate of the farm had fallen off and not been replaced. On arrival there was a nice welcome from the owner with a bottle of wine and lovely home made brownies, all very nice after spending an about an hour driving in rough back lanes trying to find the address. The second bedroom of the property is very small although it is advertised as a double. Also regarding this room there is no hanging space for clothes only a small drawer unit. Walking around the bed is very tight, really this room is only suitable for two small children. (The twin beds zip together to form a double.) In the main bathroom the shower over the bath does not have a wall fixing or shower curtain or screen, not sure why this is. However the main bedroom is lovely and roomy with a lovely en-suite but this again lacks shelving to store anything, toiletries etc. The whole sight around the cottage is very untidy, weeds and brambles every where. As a holiday home business, on first appearance the whole plot looks uncared for and the garden area run down. We made allowances as it was termed as a farm but it is not a working farm, just three horses, which are stabled right opposite the front door of the cottage. We felt the whole area could be made to look better and more appealing especially to sit on the outside areas. These two areas were not clean on arrival and very basic, so we did not use them. The floors on arrival, throughout the kitchen and lounge area were very sticky so we cleaned them again, as we did not want to make a fuss on our first night. The kitchen and lounge area is nice and adequate for four people, but it would be nice to have four chairs at the dining table and not two and a bench, but that’s just a preference thing really. This was not a cheap property to hire but we took into account the summer time of year and the surrounding south east area. On reflection we did feel with the things we have listed above, that it was not really worth what we paid as the cottage did not meet the requirements for two couples, as listed in the cottage description. We are sure at Sykes cottages you would like to be informed of our findings so you can discuss any changes with the owner that need to be made to the cottage information for any future clients.

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• Sharon - Verified booking

  Lovely period cottage, parking a little tight if you have a large car.

  We decided to leave the dog behind and are glad we did as the 'garden" is where you park the car and has limited space, it has a small shingled area which is split level to the car parking area. I think it would be helpful to include a photo but understand why they don't as it would have put us off if we had our Labrador with us. We had to ask for glasses to be delivered as there were very few in the kitchen - this happened promptly and the management company were very responsive. I fed back that it was difficult to dry the towels as only one small towel radiator in the downstairs bathroom which requires the heating to be on. Hooks on the back of the door don't really help as there is a slight dampness to the property (old property with thick walls) and despite opening windows when in the property, we resulted to putting the heating on downstairs which isn't ideal when its hot outside. The bedrooms are a decent size but no wardrobes, just some hooks on the wall and a few coat hangers, but plenty of drawer space. It has a good location, but a busy road. There is a well stocked local store and the pub had good food. enjoyable stay but it shouldn't be given 5 ticks, 3 to 4 would be more appropriate.

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• Hazel - Verified booking

  Overall we had a lovely stay at Castle Cottage.

  The place was tidy and clean, and the owner very helpful. There has obviously been a lot of thought gone into the design of the cottage as a holiday home, and our dog was also made to feel very welcome with all the little extras. On a personal note, I found the property quite cold and the bathroom very cold at night. The heating was managed by the owner and was restricted in both time and temperature. Again, personally I didn’t find the beds comfortable and slept on top of the duvet to help with comfort. Also, the sofas look lovely, but are quite hard after a while. The kitchen was missing a few things, like measuring jug, casserole type dish for the oven, microwavable plates. The knives were very cheap and quite dangerous to use so didn’t bother with much cooking. Even with these small personal points, we had a lovely stay and enjoyed the quiet location and quaint village of Saltwood. The font and back gardens were enclosed and great for the dog. Parking was never an issue even though you couldn’t park outside, there was always space in the car park. Hilary was attentive and quick to communicate throughout, and I have no doubt would have resolved any issues we may have had.

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• Rob - Verified booking

  We very much enjoyed our stay here at Hollytree Cottage.

  The beds were very comfortable. The sofas were also deep and comfortable (which isn't always the case even in cottages in a similar price range). We liked that the smart TV also had a sound bar, which meant that the sound quality when watching films was so, so much better than without. The kitchen had plenty of counter surfaces for cooking. Both the fridge and freezer were large. We also appreciated that the kitchen table was large enough for 8 people and not just 6. The shower had good water pressure, although it was slightly inconvenient having to come downstairs in the night to use the toilet. If anyone in your party is elderly, then be careful as there is a step up when walking from two of the bedrooms to the stairs before descending again - so you might want to help them or ensure they switch the corridor light on and take their time. Overall, we thought the property was attractively presented and comfortable. We enjoyed our stay and would definitely consider returning.

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• Sheryl - Verified booking

  We’ve been to a few cottages over the past two years through Sykes Cottages, but I have to say that Hollytree Cottage has been my favourite so far.

  Really comfortable sofas and beds. Lovely kitchen/diner where we spent most of our time playing games or chatting while doing a puzzle. Lovely area with lovely walks for us and our dog, with some interesting historical finds, such as the old disused/dismantled viaduct in the woods or recreating photos from old 1800’s photos from different points in the village from the books in Chipping Norton museum. We stayed in one of the hot August heatwave weeks and with the curtains closed, and a fan on in the kitchen, it actually stayed quite cool. The cottage alone was interesting when looking at the photos on the kitchen shelf, and realising that it was once two cottages, and then working out where the original features would have been. Even tho it’s on a corner in the middle of the village, it was really quiet, as it’s not a busy village. We had such a lovely peaceful relaxing week. We would definitely recommend staying here.

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