Group Accommodation Cottages in York

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Julian - Verified booking

  Bathroom unusable due to extreme heat.

  Radiator could not be turned off. Shower was inside bath, so inaccessible for us both as disabled people. We washed in the kitchen sink. Many problems getting TV to work. Table and chairs in small back garden adjacent to gas extractor fan making it impossible to sit outside. Floors creaky and noisy. Steps up into and out from property steep and with no hand rails, difficult to manage. External ground mix of gravel and irregular paving slabs made getting to and from the car very difficult. The cottage appeared from the published description to be cosy and ideal for our needs, but on arrival it was apparent that the owner was not fully conversant with how things worked and had not properly prepared for our arrival. We were told, for instance, that radio was available throughout, but the owner could not explain how it worked, so we did not use it. We kept the central heating switched on throughout, as it was unclear how it could be turned on again if we turned it off. The thermostats in every room were difficult to regulate, so were either boiled alive or had no warmth at all. There was scant guidance provided on most things in the folder provided. There was very little storage space for our dry groceries, so they were mostly left on tables and work surfaces. We never went upstairs ourselves, but we gather from a friend who did so, that it was like an oven with no windows and the sun burning through the roof light. The cottage was well equipped and decorated, but more attention should have been given to detail and thought given to the overall holiday experience. When we hire a cottage, we expect not to have to keep asking for help and for the owner to have got everything working so that our holiday experience is stress free and without complication. The location was ideal for us, but I'm afraid we would neither wish to use the cottage again or recommend it to friends.

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• Ruth - Verified booking

  Basically a comfortable and welcoming property but.

  ..... Parking is only for two cars, next door neighbour was understandably irritated if you use her unmarked space. Coat hooks and boot space next to the unused front door, not the one everyone uses. A redundant dresser in the dining room means you cannot really seat eight round the table. China and glass completely inadequate. I do not expect to have a celebratory meal of miss matched plates and glasses. Constantly having to wash up mugs. In fact we had to wash pretty much everything in the kitchen as none of it was properly clean. When we arrived the cupboard contents were all over the place. Comfortable and roomy lounge, but log burner with no instructions for safe use. Cleaning had been pretty superficial, under the settee was grim, sweet wrappers in a bed side table drawer dirty flannel on the downstairs bathroom floor. One bathroom recently refurbished but not finished off. Even taking into account that this is an old building with certain restrictions, the upstairs floor plan was not adequately described. The four foot high door from the main bedroom to the nearest bathroom not mentioned. The steep and narrow staircase from the kitchen to the main bedroom .The fact that the two double rooms each had two doors, one for the other stair case, one for the nearest bathroom. The fact that from the twin room access to a bathroom was via another bedroom or downstairs to the other end of the house. Some of the upstairs doors didn't shut properly or, if they shut, were difficult to open. The down stairs bathroom was adequate but far from the luxurious retreat suggested in the description. In spite of all of this, and most of it could be rectified pretty easily, we had a very happy family week, but I would not stay at the Old Trust farmhouse again unless I was sure that things had improved.

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• Emma - Verified booking

  We’ve stayed at Sykes cottages many times, this corkage was not of the standard of others so I’m unsure how Sykes work out their ratings.

  We chose this cottage as my mum can’t manage stairs so had the downstairs bedroom. This only has a bath which she couldn’t use. It would have made more sense to have a shower with this room to suit a disabled person. It was a good location for exploring by car, but too remote to go anywhere on foot. Main B road at end of the long drive had no footpaths, Stamford Bridge about 1.5 miles away. Property was adequate for our needs. Not as well equipped as others we have stayed in. As it sleeps 6 I’d expect to find at least 6 of everything in the kitchen, but I think there have been some loses over the years that haven’t been replaced. Tea towels, dishwasher tabs & toilet rolls etc were all available. Hand towels in the bathrooms would be appreciated as once we’d packed to leave we had nothing to dry hands on. Our phone’s data allowances saw us through for internet access which is often needed on holiday to book tickets etc. we were glad there was good signal after reading no WiFi at the property. Beds are not very comfy (hard) and pillows as flat as pancakes! No spares in the wardrobes. No trouser hangers either amongst the collection of free plastic shop hangers!. That made the place feel cheap! Upstairs bedrooms are compact & don’t have much, if any windows to the outside, so can feel stuffy. No fans provided, glad we weren’t staying in very hot weather. Generally clean, some dusty spots where you can’t see!

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• Jacqueline - Verified booking

  A beautiful old property in a good location with many quirky features.

  There’s plenty of space for a family and the bedrooms are comfortable. Mostly well equipped but a few necessities missing:- tea towels, shower attachments for bath taps and bins in bathrooms. There was also no clothes horse/airer for drying clothes after using the washing machine. Unfortunately our stay was blighted somewhat by a continual problem with the boiler (on arrival a note said it was an ‘intermittent’ issue but this was not our experience!) which meant for the first night and following morning we had no hot water! Sykes were quick to respond to my call for help and we then had contact with the housekeeper/owner. She also responded quickly to try and address the problem, as well as organising the purchase of a new kettle after the one in the kitchen failed to work. A plumber came to reset the boiler but for the rest of our stay we encountered the same problem and had to reset it ourselves at least twice a day to get hot water. To be honest, I felt stressed and turned into a boiler bore (!), worrying about whether everyone would get a hot shower - not exactly what I wanted for a carefree break with my family. During my conversation with the owner she admitted that the boiler probably needed replacing so I did wonder why this hadn’t happened before I spent a sizeable amount of money on a four night break.

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• Gail - Verified booking

  This is our 2nd stay to Ford End Cottage in 6 months and it was just as fantastic as in November.

  We even got to sit in the small sunny garden this time! The views from all the upstairs windows were even better as it's late spring, so all the trees are in leaf. Probably the best view was from the en-suite bathroom as we could see horses in the field beyond the cottage. We received another very warm welcome from Lucy. She is such a brilliant, friendly and responsive host and she really does go the extra mile for her guests. We noticed a couple of people in earlier reviews requested more hanging space in 2 bedrooms and the ability to park a 2nd car on the property and she had already sorted it all out. Lucy asked us to let her know during our stay if anything could be improved but we found the cottage still exceeds our expectations in every way. Lucy is a photographer and it was a lovely touch that she has put a copy of her photography book of Ampleforth in the cottage for guests to enjoy. It is a love letter to the village and its villagers and made for a lovely personal touch. We will be back, thank you, Lucy and Will!

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