School Holidays 2017 Cottages In Helston

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Nh - Verified booking

  There is no doubt that Penarvon House is a near perfect setting for a holiday.

  Two bedrooms, the main living space and the kitchen have fabulous views across the Helford. And I mean totally fabulous... why go anywhere else when Cornwall is sunny! This was a week-long break for us, our adult children, plus one partner and the mother-in-law, plus two dogs. Oh, and the World Cup was on, so a good space to watch the England games was a must. Sounds stressful, but this was a perfect rental for the group. The living space is huge, with plenty of room for the footie fans at one end, and others to play cards and games etc at the other end... and that's ignoring the Games Room downstairs. The dogs were well enclosed within the garden, and there were some lovely walks nearby, we'd have done more, but our older dog finds hills a bit tough these days. It's a short walk into the village, and also to the ferry for Helford Passage. Frenchmans Creek is also a short walk away. Helford village itself with it's little shop and a delightful cafe (Holy Mackerel) is charming. To be fair, Helford, and particularly Orchard Lane, is a little bit of a challenge for drivers unused to the tiniest of Cornish lanes, but there's also a sense of delight to have grass from the hedgerows brushing both sides of the car! I would recommend hiring a boat (if you're not a sailor) from Sailaway - they operate from the jetty by the pedestrian ferry, but make sure you ring to book in advance. It was a really fun day, and even the wobbly mother-in-law managed it. Another recommendation is the New Yard restaurant at Trelowarren... locally sourced ingredients in season - delicious. Penarvon House is very much the upper end of the rental market, hence the slight niggles, I'm afraid. Towels were included, but we were only left with the bare minimum number, and there weren't any hand towels left for the ground floor toilet, the utility room or the kitchen; and we were left with no tea-towels at all. It felt a bit odd to make do with a large bath sheet instead. Lovely as it is to have fabulous east facing views from the two main bedrooms, they also get a LOT of light through in the early morning. If it were my property I would ensure that the blind in the master bedroom and the curtains in the lower bedroom were effective at blocking the light. The fact that we found a sleep mask downstairs indicates that others have had the same issue. The worst problem though, I felt, was the difficulty we had making the toilet in the master ensuite flush - you had to keep pressing and pressing the button over and over again to get it to respond. It wasn't electric, but it was extremely reluctant. I also think the cracked floor tiles throughout the property slightly spoil the luxury edge. Sorry to have the niggles, but overall we had a lovely and very relaxing week.

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• Gof - Verified booking

  We have stayed at numerous properties and this could be the worst.

  On our first evening the TV failed with a bang. Richard was really helpful and arranged for a replacement. No problem there but many issues with fitments and general presentation of the property. The main door is weak and an intruder could easily gain access. Very poor security. Two bathrooms are listed. The downstairs has a hand basin and toilet. Carpeted floor with no pedestal mat. Not hygienic. The upstairs shower is desperately small and barely adequate. Heating is by night storage heaters. These are rusty and in generally poor condition. Not a good way to heat a property, particularly at this time of year when temperatures varied from quite hot to cold. All electrical appliances have inspection dates of 2017 and are cheap quality. The kettle, for instance, only worked at times if the switch was held down. Some of the plates were chipped. Cutlery was limited. A poor selection of ill sorted items. Only four table knives for instance. Certain items missing, such as a fish slice. Old cracked non stick coated frypan. Generally poorly equipped. Table too small to spread a newspaper. Two very rickety chairs. Lighting too dim to read by. No surface to put anything down other than window sills. A coffee table would have helped considerably. Little storage space in the bedroom. Two small bedside cabinets. A small desk with three drawers. A small child sized wardrobe. All looked like random charity shop purchases. No 'welcome pack' with details of nearest doctors, refuse arrangements and so on. Some of the equipment leaflets applied to items which were no longer there. Overall, very disappointing and we were pleased to be able to leave. The low rating in the recommending category is down to the almost unreadable booking details. Certainly a format that does not work with Apple computers.

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• Ross - Verified booking

  The House. the Views and the Surroundings were fantastic!

  Getting in was a major problem as the paperwork said about a key on a hook, not in a new key box!. Getting hold of someone to give us a code (both Sykes and the Cleaner were chased) took nearly two hours and it was pouring with rain, not a good start, we were told this was because Sykes had not up rated their website. NOTE: Sykes, there is no way to contact anyone other than sales and they were not very helpful. We got in to a house smelling of major sewer spill down stairs in the main bedroom and had to pour a bottle of bleach down the shower drain to remove it, this did come back twice more, very unpleasant. We hovered up some pop corn in the main room on the first day and cleaned the moldy shower in the down stairs in the main bedroom as much as we could, it was unpleasant. The house and fittings were tired but acceptable ( the pool ques had no tips or were bent so not able to use) We had a house in port Issac last year similar in size and price which was immaculate and I am basing my feedback on this and the feed back to them was very good. Lastly I don't like the constant monetary threats that seemed to be part of this hire (£100 per half hour of not leaving on time) etc. Will I get a £100 per half hour for the time I had to wait to get in? I don't think so! The fact you are asked to take the sheets off to save the cleaners time. You should pay the cleaners more maybe? Otherwise the family had a very good time but could have been even better! and less stressful. Regards Ross

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• Dawne - Verified booking

  We thoroughly enjoyed our week at Penarvon House.

  Having not visited Cornwall prior to this week, we could not have picked a better spot to drink it all in. The views from the patio are spectacular and the charm and convenience of the little village of Helford down the hillside were exactly what we were seeking. Our only hitches were that the Welcome Email from Sykes did not specify the combination code for the key in the lockbox. We had a mild panic but after a few calls were able to sort it out with the housekeeper. The second hitch was we misinterpreted the description of the bedrooms being on the main level. They are not. We improvised and fashioned a bedroom for my mobility challenged mother in the laundry room and were able to wheel her down the yard and around to the lower level to shower, so it worked out. Just for future information if someone is not able to do any stairs, this is not the home for you. Again the experience at Penarvon was absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend it if you plan to cook any of your meals (which you will if you stay here because the Kitchen is absolutely wonderful!) I've never stayed in a vacation home with a better stocked kitchen which literally had EVERY tool, pan, knife, serving dish, etc. we needed. This is a 5 Star vacation home and I can't recommend it highly enough!

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• Karen - Verified booking

  To be honest, after reading a review posted a week or two before our arrival, we did wonder what we would find.

  As is usual, during our research when booking a holiday we had scrutinised the photos on Sykes' website and thought we had a fair idea of what to expect. We are glad to report there are no hidden horrors and all was as expected. After driving along a woodland drive carpeted with bluebells, red campion, cow parsley and so much more, we found the property set in a secluded corner of the 14 acre estate (which has mown paths around the field edges and pond for you to wander and explore - great for a dog walk in the evening after a day out). It was beautifully warm, clean and comfortable. It suited us and our dog perfectly. The whole area is criss-crossed with ancient public footpaths which lead to little villages and coast paths. There is a lovely track which starts just down the hill (to the right) from the property which will take you to Mullion village (c 1 mile). It was the perfect property for our break and without doubt we would go again. (PS. Perhaps if the author of the rotten review had researched he would have found fewer 'surprises' and maybe consider his manners and address petty issues direct with the host) "

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