School Holidays 2017 Cottages In Brixham

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Mike - Verified booking

  The cottage generally was let down by its "scruffy" appearance, whereby upon arrival to the property our first-impressions were of almost abandonment from outside.

  The wrought iron front gate was in a state of disrepair and little more than barely usable (not helpful with a family of 5 with a 2yr old toddler and a dog), the front garden was generally overgrown and unkempt which was very disappointing. The same comments can be made of the rear garden, this was woefully overgrown and the patio area at the top of the garden should be condemned due numerous paving slabs being loose and susceptible to trips and falls which could have considerable consequences! The lower part of the garden immediately as you exited the back door required over two hours worth of manual labour, sweeping and cleaning patio furniture to make it usable.......not exactly what you want to be doing on the first day of your holiday! Inside the cottage was better and generally as expected and we felt comfortable spending our evenings either around the kitchen table or in the living room, the beds and bathroom linen were fresh and comfortable but the general level of cleanliness in the cottage could have been better, lots of cobwebs and dust on and around all the ornaments and nick-nacks and not enough cleaning equipment to deal with available or a "contact this number XXXXXX" to allow us to either resolve ourselves or get someone in. There may also be some room for improvement on the description of the local amenities, in particular the the public house that was mentioned being just down the road. The Bell Inn is NOT for families neither should it be suggested as a place to go, it was probably one of the roughest, tattiest and worst public houses I have ever had the misfortune to patronise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *******Owner Response******* Firstly may I thank you for taking the time to give me feedback, as owners we genuinely take onboard what our guests impressions are and where appropriate improve our facilities to ensure comfort of future guests. Now if I can comment on the main points of your feedback. 1) "scruffy appearance, overgrown & unkempt gardens" - We were shocked by these comments however once we had spoken to our gardener we understood fully what had occurred. Our gardener had broken his arm and had not been around to the cottage in a few weeks, so quite rightly it was overgrown, we sorted this out immediately and going forward put procedures in place for the new gardener to send us pictures of completed works. We have also bought a stylish brand new 8 seat rattan table and chairs for the patio area. 2) Front gate not shutting - This has been repaired, so too has the side gate which was a bit stiff so a new handle has been put on it. 3)The 3 wobbly paving slabs in the garden have been re cemented in. 4) Our cottage is historic and so full of character, however we take on board the "nick nack" comment and removed many of the "dust collectors". 5) We also had too much crockery which may have looked a bit mis-matched so the excess has been removed so it looks less like a 2nd hand car boot sale stuff and more appealing. The Bell pub, which does have very friendly publicans and locals, is undergoing renovation & is now tatty and scruffy this has been removed from recommended places. 6) One of the toilets is off of the kitchen however as a grade 2 listed 16th century property we have to work with the rooms we have. The W/C door is on the left and one step down of the kitchen. I'm sorry that you could not find my number from the welcome pack as we always advise our customers to contact us day or night if you have any questions or issues. As I would much rather arrange for housekeeping or gardener to come and sort out any issue immediately rather than be unhappy at the end of stay. I have now pasted my Phone number on the top of the welcome pack. We do love the cottage and really want everyone else to enjoy it too.

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• Fiona - Verified booking

  It's a beautiful spacious house and the views are stunning.

  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay but it could have been even better. A few feedback notes: Parking - not a problem off-season, but could prove tricky in the height of summer. You just have to be flexible and park where you can. Wifi/Broadband - wasn't a problem for us and our 7 year old managed to use his ipad without any issues. I imagine live-streaming a film would be challenging though The bed in the room overlooking the port is a small double bed, not a standard and should be listed as such. A decent set of knives (as previously mentioned by other guests) would be useful. Other welcome additions to the kitchen would be a garlic press and oven gloves. Also a washing up sponge with scouring pad. There's a fault with the ignition button on the gas hob that needs sorting. It lights ok, but the ignition sparks continuously unless you switch the oven off at the wall. This solution however is no use if you're also using the electric oven at the same time as the hob! If you're providing a dishwasher and a washing machine then it would be thoughtful to provide a handful of dishwasher tabs and washing machine tabs or failing that, ask guests to bring their own. Likewise with black rubbish bags. Access to a hoover or the provision of a long-handled soft broom to sweep up crumbs in the kitchen would have been good. There's something loose on the roof or the chimney and in windy conditions there's a banging/rattling noise that kept anyone sleeping in the attic bedroom awake. We'd advise the owner to investigate this because if it is something like a loose tile then it needs repairing. Obviously if it's something on a neighbouring property then there's probably nothing that can be done which is a shame as it really was loud and we wouldn't return again (as a group of four) as the top room became unusable and my son had to share with his gran downstairs which wasn't ideal.

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• Bethan - Verified booking

  Overall, we had a lovely stay, and the property is very charming (the comments below are nit picking but could be easily fixed!

  ) the area is lovely and a perfect base to explore south Devon! The house is on a relatively busy road, with cars and motorbikes driving through quickly (and noisily!) This isn’t the fault of the owners but the listing could make it clearer. The general cleanliness of the property needed improvement. Much of the cutlery needed re washing as it was dirty, there were areas of the house which clearly hadn’t been vacuumed/dusted in some time. The shower in the main bathroom was covered in lime scale and water marks so clearly hadn’t been cleaned in some time (also couldn’t use the shower as it didn’t drain - to be fair, we didn’t report this as only discovered towards the end of our stay, and there were other showers to use). The twin room on the top floor is unusable (in our opinion) by small children/people with mobility issues as it’s at the top of a very steep and windy stairway - again not the fault of the owners and is part of the charm of the cottage but could have been made clearer. The bed on the ground floor (off the living room) was very comfortable however the double bed on the first floor is in desperate need of replacement. Despite staying at the end of June, the garden furniture had not been cleaned. There was also an issue with parking as one of the two advertised spaces was occupied by the owner of the neighbouring property. There appears to be some confusion between the two property owners over who is entitled to use these spaces - luckily the issue was very quickly resolved during our stay but can see that it would be a possible issue, particularly if the neighbouring property is occupied (currently not lived in but is being renovated).

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• Natalie - Verified booking

  We have stayed in numerous Sykes cottages but Blue Buoy cottage left us feeling extremely disappointed.

  The cottage needed a thorough deep clean. There were thick cobwebs in every room. On arrival my daughter went to sit down in the kitchen and walked into a cobweb. A dead spider fell on to the kitchen table! Dust covered all surfaces and especially under the beds in the attic room. Dirty patio cushions had been left in the corner of the kitchen. The fridge was dirty and needed a good clean as did the cooker and cooking trays. The sofas in the lounge have certainly seen better days - dirty and uncomfortable! The towels were old, worn, smelt musty and were as rough as sandpaper. The attic bedroom was very poorly lit with lightbulbs not working this could be a problem for anyone with poor vision. Also a lamp was not working in the front bedroom overlooking the street. However Blue Buoy cottage has got the most beautiful views across the bay, a very good heating system but extremely noisy at night. The hot water got extremely hot and could be a burn hazard for a young child! Blue Buoy cottage is in a great location to get into Brixham town centre. Unfortunately we wouldn’t choose to stay in this cottage again or recommend anyone too whilst it is in need of repair and cleaning. It’s tired, worn and needs a makeover before the summer season begins because it doesn’t warrant the price (overpriced!) that is charged.

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• Lynn - Verified booking

  Fabulous location, right on top of the bustling harbour, felt a but like being on a ship looking down on the water.

  The property is on 4 floors with quite a few steps that I would not recommend to elderly or infirm but it kept us fit, as did the 130 steps up from the town! No complaints, just a requirement to take ones time and be careful as its quite dodgy if its been raining. We liked the house and facilities but felt it could’ve been cleaner, as we spent the first few hours scrubbing the grease off all of the kitchen door handles, oven, fridge and microwave: there was no cleaning wipes to use, but luckily, we had brought some with us. The decking is a bit precarious, its suffered with damp and the lack of exposure to the air and sun. It could do with a good clean, as does the whole of the ‘outdoor area’. Best thing about this property is the view, but can’t really think of any other redeeming features that would attract me back, which is a shame as with a bit of attention to cleanliness and a tidy up, it would be lovely.

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