Apartment 2

Reviews (2)

• Leslie

  As you head up the drive & the house comes into view it is indeed an impressive sight. Even on entering Apartment 2, it is easy to imagine the house in it's glory days with the high ceilings, wooden floors & large fireplaces. However you don't need to be there long before the cracks begin to show (quite literally in some cases). Begining in the kitchen, the drawers in the freezer were moldy around the edges & one drawer was missing. The windows were dirty on the inside, the paint on the window sill was peeling & even where it wasn't, the finish was very poor. There were four out of five bulbs not working in one of the fittings, the lighting in the work area was terrible & although there were striplights under the cupboards they didn't work. Despite the huge amount of cupboards in the kitchen, it was poorly equipped with utensils & most of the cupboards were empty & some of the crockery & cutlery needed washing prior to use. There was also a cardboard box in the corner containing rubbish & there was rubbish still in the bin. This may have been from previous tennants but should have been checked. Whilst an AGA looks very nice & is in keeping with the style of property perhaps a Range cooker may be more suited to modern life whilst still looking the part. Quick one pan meals are not really suited to an AGA that has only boil & simmer hot plates with no control. Also a useable table/ worktop close to the AGA/ cooker would be helpful (maybe a small, wheeled Butcher's block or similar) rather than having to keep walking about 6 metres between cooker & prep area. You could use the dining table I guess but it is a bit low for prepping. The AGA also made it very hot as it is on all the time & most of the windows were painted shut. The bedrooms (formerly the Library) were large & bright but again there were bulbs not working in one of them & there were only eight wooden coat hangers plus one cheap plastic one between both rooms. The bathroom although large, had just a basic cheap bath with electric shower over. Again the decoration was poor & there was the inside of a toilet roll under the radiator in the corner. The porch leading to the front door had only a battery motion sensored light on the floor which made it very difficult to see the keyhole if entering or leaving in the dark. If you first arrived in the dark it would be extremely difficult to see the numbers on the keysafe. It is obvious (& normal) that the building has gone through a number of changes (even to the extent of having plastic double glazed windows installed in places -who, how, why??) in it's life but whether the current owners or previous ones have "converted" it to it's present condition, it needs a lot more time, effort & care (& money) spent on it to really do the house justice. I believe that the main part of the house is converted into a larger two floor apartment. This was occupied by a group of Americans while I was there & I was told that they had been before & it was very nice so maybe there are plans for improvements elsewhere although I won't hold my breath. The faults I noticed are not recent. Despite all that negativity I would consider staying there again but would want to know that significant improvements had been made.

• William Edward

  Only shampoo in the bathroom and no conditioner or shower gel or handsoap which seemed odd compared to the first Sykes property we stayed in. Also, no kitchen roll re the expansive amount of surface and counter tops this beautiful kitchen provides. Property could be noisy depending on other guest behaviour. Also it could be cold if you weren't used to lighting fires! Aga gorgeous. Rooms gorgeous Views amazing! Good directions to the location and drive a little bumpy if you were attending in a low suspension vehicle. Generally an elegant, off grid experience with amazing space and beautiful local wildlife such as Red Squirrels and friendly neighbourhood cats! In the second bedroom the light fitting did rattle when guests walked overhead and some bulbs needed replacing in the kitchen