Romantic Cottages on the Isle of Wight

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Karen - Verified booking

  Following 2 weeks of storms, the track is now only 4 wheel drive friendly.

  The hot water tap in the kitchen cannot be regulated and goes to full power unexpectedly. The bathroom tap was loose and leaking. A plumber was called and the problem solved efficiently by Sykes. 1 guest slipped and fell on mossy pathway at rear of house, probably not a normal issue but gutters did not cope with the rainfall. We had read reviews of a small kitchen so were prepared, however, it was the lack of storage space for food that was a problem. Only 1 small cupboard in the kitchen was available for storage, all the others were filled with an unnecessary abundance of crockery. There was a lack of storage space in 2 of the smaller bedrooms. The ground floor bedroom only had a small understairs wardrobe, a bedside cabinet with 2 small drawers and a small dresser with 2 small drawers, difficult for 2 adults. A lot of our clothes had to be stored on the window ledges. The small upstairs bedroom only had a chest of drawers which we couldn't access because we had to put up a travel cot in that room. All toddlers clothes were laid out on the spare bed which wasn't too much of a problem, but might not be quite as acceptable for older people using that room. We loved the space both inside and out. The location was quiet and close to walks. Contacted Sykes re the possibility of an external washing line rather than using the tumble dryer, with 8 people this would not have been environmentally friendly. We were pleasantly surprised to find, on our arrival, that a line had been installed, plus pegs. We were staying for 2 weeks and were pleasantly surprised that after the first week, someone came in to change bedding and towels. The only thing that would prevent us from using this holiday venue again was the narrow lane that leads to the track because there are few passing places and there were often bottle necks where we had to spend a lot of time either reversing or waiting for other people to reverse. Whilst this was frustrating, it wasn't as frustrating as coping with people who didn't seem to appreciate that you have to slow down on small country lanes when you cannot see around a bend.

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• Ian - Verified booking

  Overall we had a nice stay, the cottage is very comfortable and well appointed, but a few things are worth mentioning… There is one pub in walking distance, any other shop or pub/cafe is a drive away.

  The cottage is very close to a main road which is part of an upcoming motorcycle road-race. So at weekends the road is very busy with noisy tuned motorbikes and cars constantly passing, making sitting in the garden a little unpleasant. The Wi-fi is so slow as to be almost unusable. You cannot stream iPlayer for example, we contacted the representative about this on day 2 but received no response. The photos on the listing are very old, there is now a high bush around the cottage garden and you cannot see the sea without standing on the chairs. You cannot access the other garden areas or the coastal views from the property. There is no parasol that we could find (as pictured) which is essential in the sun-trap garden. The owners (or their children) held a drunken all night party in the main house, culminating in raucous tennis at 4:30am keeping us awake. The cottage was clean. Ish. We had to clean any plates and cutlery before using and the kitchen in particular felt like it had not recently been deep-cleaned. While the cottage is lovely it feels like it is starting to need some love. The blinds in the bedroom, despite appearances, keep out little light meaning in mid summer your room is very bright by 4:30 am. But at least you can enjoy the tennis… All in all, we enjoyed our stay but probably would not return due to the above. I also need to say that we saw some absolutely stunning sunsets from the upstairs lounge window. A real treat…

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• Sarah - Verified booking

  This is the second year we have stayed at the coach house.

  Last year being the first during lockdown. We had a lovely time but the cottage was getting tired and needed some updating. However it had beautiful views and perfectly located. So we booked again for this year thinking that now restrictions had been lifted the TLC it needed may have been done. However there is now more damp on the walls. The stairs carpet is coming away, there is rust all along the radiator in the bathroom and the bathroom needs a really good clean. The dishwasher, top rail is broken so everything you try to fill it comes out and I'm glad I took my own dishwasher tablets because the ones they provided were moulding. My daughter lost a small toy while playing so we took the blankets off the sofa to look for it and the state of the sofa under the cushions was awful, definitely not been vacuumed for a good while. We stayed for 2 weeks and our mid holiday clean consisted of clean bedding and bath towels (not tea towels) No new toilet roll which meant we had to go and buy. Yes only a little thing but as I had paid the same amount for the second week I expected the same amount of cleanliness and set up. We are really disappointed, we thought we had found our perfect spot in our favourite place. Definitely not 5 stars and we won't be returning again. However very comfy beds and beautiful views.

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• Amy - Verified booking

  We loved the house however there were a few issues that we feel should be raised.

  1) the photos were misleading, it looked like we would have access to a garden that had a sea view. We didn’t. The small enclosed garden had a large hedgerow around it that prevented you seeing the view. 2) the view from the house was stunning however the window were absolutely filthy both inside and out. 3) the owners dog repeatedly entered our garden and the house. 4) the standard of cleanliness (especially in covid times) was under par. Sticky handles on kitchen cupboard, dirty door handles etc. The decor was very tired. 5) clothes aired was very flimsy and couldn’t withstand the sea breeze. 6) undoubtedly the biggest issue is that this house sits yards from a very busy road. The road is used as a bike route and as such there is a constant stream of VERY noisy bikes. This makes it impossible to sit outside and enjoy the garden. The house would need to deliver more in terms of cleanliness etc to compensate. Positives! The grounds were immaculate and very pleasing. The house was well furnished and kitchen well stocked. The views from upstairs were stunning. We loved this location of Chale, such a shame about the road noise.

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• Emma - Verified booking

  Generally we liked the cottage and were very comfortable there.

  Upstairs was spotless but the kitchen lacked a bit of attention to details. For instance there were bread crumbs in the bread bin and scattered granola in one of the cupboards, so we did not use those and we left the debris there. The fridge kept icing up and had spiders living in it and the floor was sticky, so I think a bit more cleaning in the kitchen would have been nice. It was a perfect size and the facilities were good for three of us including a 5 year old. One bit of feedback for advertising, and we admit we did not check before booking, was that the photos on the website show the beautiful views of the trees, a field and the sea, so we thought we had access to go running on the field or see the sea from a cliff edge, but this was not to be. The photo, we felt, was misleading as you had no access to that garden and on the Friday night, our first night there, we had to close the windows when hot as there were a load of lads shouting and playing rugby till 8pm ish. We also found it hard to locate as there is no sign on the gate saying Coach House, only 'Chale House'.

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