New Year Breaks In Cornwall

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Faye - Verified booking

  Really disappointed.

  The property it’s self is located great (just no car access but we knew this before booking), right in the heart of Polperro. The property had loads of character but was a little dangerous in places; stairs narrow with sharp edges, nails sticking out. We stayed for a week and there were only 4 adults (2 out for be 4 only stayed 3 nights) and one baby, and it just wasn’t enough. The rooms were fine, but living space is just not enough, especially for 6 people. The kitchen is also just not equipped for 6 people, you need more than 6 of everything to make it liveable, there were not even 6 bowls. The pans for the cooker were just a nightmare, and meant rather than eating in most nights, which was the plan, we had to eat out. As per previous comments, there was absolutely nothing for the fire, and I wasn’t willing to buy some and never be reimbursed! Another issue was the car park, although there is a parking space, it’s only one. So for a property for 6 people that’s doesn’t really help. We had two cars and meant the others had to pay for parking, £40 for the week. We had a few accidents, one person catching the piece of sharp wood going down the stairs, someone catching themselves on a screw sticking out going up the stairs. However my main issue was the cleanliness of the property, as long as it’s clean I don’t mind! I had seen this mentioned in previous reviews but we had already booked so too late. The coffee machine was dirty, washing machine was half full of dirty water, Cob webs in the cupboards (with the plates), wooden spoons with visible mould on. I do fully appreciate the age of the property, but if you are to rent the property out the standard of cleanliness needs to be at a certain level. It may be worth looking into a new cleaning company. Lastly and a rather big issue was the keys. We had a set of keys, one for the front door, the second lock on the door simply didn’t work; meaning if one of us went out, they would either have to lock us in, with no way of getting out, or we lock ourselves in but would have to let them back in. For example 2 of us went out one evening and the others in the property had to wait up to let us in, as there were no other ways. We had another key which we assumed to be for the back door in the bedroom (?) but that didn’t work. So location great, to be honest, property not so much. Real shame. I have given two stars purely for the location.

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• Sharon - Verified booking

  Unfortunately a week or so before our holiday we’d had two emails to say there were changes to our accommodation.

  There was no out door space and the car parking was a 10 minute walk away from the cottage. We decided to not let this deter us and plan accordingly. When we arrived in the car park there was already someone in our allocated space so we were advised by the owner to put a note on our windscreen and park in another space which we did, we then had to move the car the following day. The walk to the cottage from the car park is just under 1 mile so be aware of that if you are booking Spindrift, there is a luggage taxi in the village but unfortunately he did not respond to my message so we soldiered on with our wheely cases and backpacks. First impressions of the cottage were good it’s very quirky, spotlessly clean and well furnished. The dishwasher hadn’t been emptied however it was clean. Unfortunately we had huge issues with the Wi-Fi which was not working, compounded with the fact there is no phone signal this meant we had no means of communicating with anyone and as the smart TVs and radio all requires Wi-Fi to work we had nothing until day 6 of our weeks stay. The owner tried his best to resolve the issue but unfortunately it required a BT engineer to come out to sort it. All of this did spoil our stay somewhat and we were given a £100 refund for the inconvenience however we would much rather just have had a the holiday without the hassle. Polperro is lovely, very quiet in January with most of the shops closed but that suits us and the cottage without the Wi-Fi and parking problems problems is a delight although the stairs are steep and there are lots of them which would definitely be a problem for anyone with mobility challenges or small children.

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• Kerry - Verified booking

  We love Polperro and stay there every year for our coastal hikes.

  Spindrift cottage is in a lovely position but there were a few things that marred our experience on this occasion. The cottage is very damp. We started off in the larger double bedroom but our clothing stared to feel damp and smell musty so we relocated to the upper double bedroom which is very cramped. We aired the cottage with windows open whilst in situ, it didn’t make any difference. The lounge was lovely and really the only room pleasant to be in. When we left we stripped the bedding as requested and saw how badly stained the mattress protectors were which made us feel horrible. One of the protectors even had pubic hair stuck to it. Having holidayed with Sykes for many years this isn’t the standard I’d come to expect. Due to the moisture levels in the cottage black mould has started to grow in grouting around the kitchen sink and bathroom window. This will not prevent me booking with Sykes again as this was one bad experience but I feel it’s important to convey what we found. We had to contact the caretaker, Donna, on one occasion as an alarm started sounding and she was extremely helpful in resolving the issue promptly. Unfortunately we broke a glass water carafe whilst washing up. The neck of the carafe was thin and I knocked it on the tap which caused it to crack so will need to pay for a replacement if required. There was only one wine glass do we had to use champagne flutes instead. This was just a small thing but counts. Kind regards Kerry O’Prey

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• Gemma - Verified booking

  We stayed at Mill House in May 2024 with my elderly parents and our four young children.

  The bedrooms are a great size, two with ensuites and a main bathroom with bath. One double room also has a dressing room by the ensuite which has a single bed and room for a cot - which was perfect for our baby. There's also a door from this room out into the garden. The upstairs is lovely, with gorgeous wooden beams and an aga, which was lovely as it was a bit chilly. Plenty of seating and a small balcony for warmer mornings or evenings. Possibly the best equipped kitchen we've had during a UK stay too. The garden is gorgeous with views over the farm and fields of horses. If it had been warmer we would have enjoyed BBQs every evening and a cuppa on the deck in the morning. The garden is secure and our dogs were able to roam free - though we recommend supervision as one did get under the gate a few times. The owners and people at the farm we're incredible and made this holiday! They couldn't do enough and even drove me and the kids around the entire farm to meet the new calves and lambs. They got to feed lambs and calves every day with bottles as well as feed the chickens and collect eggs (which were available to buy too). My daughter got to help with some horses and even had a ride and jump (she's an expert rider). The location is great, 20 mins to the nearest beach, 30 mins to most others. We did some lovely coastal walks and the owners had great tips on eateries and places to go. We cannot recommend Mill House highly enough!

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• Julia - Verified booking

  We have stayed here before with another company (who I must say were more attentive than Sykes) that aside, we knew what to expect.

  A lovely surprise with the opening up of the additional bedroom, my son used it and was very pleased to have somewhere to do his work on the spacious desk.But, no thought has been given about the quantity of crockery, cutlery, cooking vessels no that the house can sleep 8, with the opening of this lovely bedroom. We tried a 'toast' on new years eve and there were only a few champagne glasses. This house is so right in so many ways but I do think that the kitchen inventory needs updating. My only gripe was the nasty neighbour, who had a go at my young son last time we stayed in 2020 for being out on the driveway, (he was aged 19!) this time we put balloons up at the end of the drive for 2-3 hours so that my elderly parents could find the opening between the hedges in the dimming light, he not only knocked on the door to ask us to remove them, when we asked if they could stay until mid afternoon, he agreed then promptly removed them! I consequently stood at the end of the drive for a hour in the rain waiting! it was unhelpful, and unnecessary, we were a family not a bunch of hooligans. He also annoyed us bringing his digger down to where our cars were parked and scaring all the moss off the parking areas, he worked away for ages churning up all the mud as it was very, very wet, we couldn't get from car to house without trampling it everywhere. A very thoughtless gentleman indeed who obviously does not like holiday makers.

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