New Year Breaks In Cornwall

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Christina - Verified booking

  Despite having made a phone call to Sykes/the owner before booking to ensure the described rear courtyard was secure for our dogs, and been assured this was the case, on arrival it was clear this was not for two reasons.

  One, the gated rear entrance had no lock as it was in fact a thoroughfare for the next door property, and the courtyard belonging to the cottage was dissected by this alleyway. The courtyard for the cottage is off this thoroughfare which had no gates and was open to it. You have to come out of the cottage which backs onto the alley, and cross it to access the garden. Two, there was dog excrements (three piles of!) in the cottage courtyard when we arrived late Friday. A call to the managing agent was made and message left requesting a call back. As this was out of hours I expected a call first thing Monday. However no one called despite having described the problem and asked for a return call. When I called on Tuesday late afternoon the agent said they had not got the message and said they were surprised as they had checked the property themselves. That being the case it can only have come from someone using the alleyway and entering the open courtyard. This renders the courtyard not secure and clearly open to the public. I have seen the owners response to another review saying the courtyard was not secure. They suggest that house rules are dogs are not to be left alone in the property and this includes the courtyard. To be clear we are happy to, and did follow this rule, however we cannot sit and relax where our dogs are off the lead and anyone might open the gate and walk through the alleyway as they are likely to run to see who is coming into their space (a natural instinct) and be at risk of getting out onto the road. If I have to sit in the garden with my dogs on a lead I may as well be out in public. This is what we did in the end. We didn’t use the courtyard and made it clear to the agent that we would not be doing this or cleaning up members of the publics dog foul. Other feedback is generally more positive. Cottage is pretty and compact. Great log burner for the damp conditions in both the cottage and the weather! Kitchen generally well equipped. A bit stingy to only say that one black bin bag of rubbish will be collected, for a weeks stay this felt very impractical. We ended up walking rubbish down to the bins at the long stay car park where was parked, there are large public bins there, included in the £55.10 per week parking fees! Bed was comfy, sheets clean and well made.paint work and carpets looking a bit grubby in places. Floors downstairs needed a good clean when we arrived as they were still gritty presumably from sand tracking in on previous occupants footwear. Nice touch to leave spices for use, however many of these were out of date and as the cottage was quite damp the powders had solidified and they would be best thrown away. Overall I’d give this stay a 3/5.

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• Stephanie - Verified booking

  Unfortunately the cottage was not as expected from the description.

  Which was sad as the cottage was lovely for the right people and small dog not large dog(S). The plus side was we got to see our daughter, Son-in-law and granddaughter who live in Helston. The cottage itself was a fisherman's cottage as described, but there is no mention of ceilings in the downstairs of the house being so low which caused an issue for my husband who being 6'2". The property is pet friendly and two well behaved dogs are accepted, We have 2 doberman's so as these are not small dogs and due to booking in the summer months dogs are not allowed on many of the beaches between 10am and 6pm, especially Marazion. It was difficult to find walks for them that where not in the sun, or which attracted horse flies. The court yard was quite small and was not private and was not fully enclosed. The garden was gated but the courtyard was actually seperate from full garden and the outer gate serviced both Penhale and adjoining cottage and courtyard, this cottage used this as the main way in. The dogs would obviously bark, despite being supervised at all times. This wouldn’t be ideal for anyone in the other property having dogs or being afraid of dogs. The kitchen despite having enough utensils pot, pans and herbs it was very limited with space. It only had an undercounter fridge and has 1 shelf freezer, the cupboard door of this integral fridge is extremely stiff and hard to close, hence in heat we have been having, food quickly goes off or freezer shelf melts as door is not correctly closed. Then all other food must be stored on 3 available shelves on a trolley and in a vegetable and egg baskets, encouraging flies and looking very unsightly. I normally take cleaning products with me but on this occasion, I had forgotten, I have found in previous properties items have been left or limited clean items are there for you to do a general tidy, in this instance there was no cleaning solutions to even clean tops when cooking. Then nothing even to clean bath, toilet or shower if you needed to and unfortunately the shower water pressure was extremely low.

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• Marilyn - Verified booking

  We have visited Porthcurno for many years and it was great to return in September this year.

  Seascape is clean and comfortable with easy access car parking but it is the little things that let it down. Every property I have ever stayed in over the years provides the bear essentials but we were very disappointed to find just half a toilet roll, a quarter of a bottle of Carex soap in the bathroom, just ONE bin liner in the cupboard, very basic tea and coffee sachets and no salt/pepper. I think for the price paid it wouldn't have been too much to expect a couple of loo rolls and perhaps a nice little wrapped bar of soap? A few biscuits in the welcome pack? The milk in the fridge was appreciated but considering the nearest large supermarket is a 20 mile round trip, I feel a little more effort could have been made. It felt like we were being told: "Here, don't expect any more than THAT!" I certainly never think to pack salt and pepper and also there was no cork screw so, when we sat down to relax with a glass of wine the first evening, we couldn't uncork it! The apartment is in a lovely position, the bed was comfortable but larger people would struggle with the tiny shower. Also we would have liked a lamp in the living room because you either sit in the dark watching television, or in bright light! We actually moved a small lamp from the bedroom to make it cosier. So overall the property is very clean and comfortable but no effort was made with the little things that, to me personally, mean a lot!

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• Philip - Verified booking

  It was a real shame that there were two things that partly spoilt the holiday.

  Firstly even though previous customers had mentioned online the softness of the mattress on the bed, the owners had failed to do anything about it, be warned. To say it was uncomfortable was an understatement and led to seven very uncomfortable nights. Secondly the tv in the bedroom doesn't work as no signal can be achieved, again as previously mentioned online on your website and the one in the lounge you need a degree to configure the set-up. I know a tv isn't everything on a holiday but when it's advertised it should already be set up and working. The apartment is well equipped although there was a feeling of end of season about the place and a little maintenance wouldn't go astray, given the six hours between the property being vacated and new clients being allowed to gain access. I'm afraid to rate it as a 4 star holiday accommodation is far of the mark, perhaps a two would be better? Apart from that Porthcurno is a lovely place and it's a shame the edge was taken off our holiday. Hopefully these comments will be passed to the owners for some sort of action!

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• Russell - Verified booking

  The stay at Penhale Cottage was exactly what we both needed.

  My wife and I took our two dogs (German Shepherd and Lurcher). As had been outlined in the advert prior to booking that parking nearby can be a challenge, given there is no allocated parking. We were fortunate for 3 out of our 4 days and parked outside, but that is predominantly due to the time of year of booking. The cottage itself was lovely. I do not have any fundamental negative feedback to provide. The only thing I would say, is that I was constantly putting coal or logs onto the log burner fire, but without feeling the benefit of the heat, which I found bizarre. Recommendations I would suggest for future clients are as follows: 1. Turn on water heating on the morning prior to the guests arrival, as we had to wait hours until we could have a hot shower. 2. The courtyard is fit for fresh air but not for exercise for your dogs. It is very small. Notwithstanding all of the above, we would be delighted to stay at the cottage again in the future. Thank you so much, you've allowed us to create some wonderful memories.

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