School Holidays 2017 Cottages In Portland

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Amanda - Verified booking

  The cottage is a decent size but I found it to be quite poorly equipped in the kitchen.

  Please get a cork screw that isn't just a pull out one (I actually was unable to use this) and invest in a cheese grater that is bigger than 2" x 4". More bowls are also needed as 5 for people when there's a dishwasher isn't acceptable (e.g. there are 12 dinner plates). No tubs to put any excess food in so, if you don't bring any with you, I recommend using the excellent Chinese take away early in your stay so you can use their containers. The sofas could also do with replacing now. When you sit on them, in the optimal tv watching seats, you tend to sink right into the corners which isn't pleasant. And as others have said, no recycling facilities! The amount of rubbish 3 adults and a teenager produce when nothing can be recycled is crazy! We were only left with one spare bin bag. Also the cleaner must have had an off day - the back of the tv cabinet was thick with dust as were the shelves underneath. And the duvet cover on the king size bed hadn't been put on properly so I spent the week with about 6" of empty material and no actual duvet down my side of the bed whereas the other side had the duvet folded double. The bathroom has no mirror over the sink yet there's a pull cord LED light above it. Instead, you're forced to lean over to look in the mirrored cabinet over the toilet... Unlike the twin bedroom, the main one has absolutely no furniture on which to put your toiletries. It only has 2 small bedside cabinets. I was forced to carry one of the trio of small lamp tables upstairs to use but this wasn't big enough for me to keep everything out so I lived out of my washbag for the week. Not ideal. Also, be aware that the cottage is only 3 houses away from the main access road to the island. The noise from the volume of traffic in the evening and early morning is something I wasn't expecting. Re the parking space - great that one is provided (it's about 100 yards or so away) but other people parked immediately outside the living room window on the pavement for most of the week we were there! Is this actually allowed as it would be a lot more convenient if it were! Be careful of the blinds at the windows - there's a warning in the welcome folder about lifting the bottom with your hand when using the pull cord as the cords are liable to fray! I was too scared to attempt this so spent the week poking my hand through the slats to open the windows. My son pulled the ones in his bedroom up on day 2 and they jammed so we were forced to call the office to come and fix them. Oh, the welcome folder - it says if there is anything you think could be added to the property to improve it, add it to the back of the folder. But there's nowhere to do that! For dog owners there is a field at the bottom of the road when you turn right out of the cottage with an enclosed area which is great for letting your dog off. Overall, just disappointing. All domestic properties have massively ramped up their prices due to additional demand following Covid but you can't just charge £1,200 for a week without increasing your standards. And cleanliness should be a given! In case anyone is wondering I did call the booking office during our stay and told them all this but I've heard nothing since. I won't be back. Which is the first time I've ever said this about a domestic holiday.

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• Robert - Verified booking

  The cottage delights and the photos are representative on first arrival.

  Lovely beamed living room with woodburner, well equipped kitchen etc. Stairs to top room are steep. (Very common in Portland cottages) We were a little disappointed in the cleanliness when we arrived. We could see that the cleaner had vacuumed and cleaned surfaces, made bed all fine, however it was obvious that a spring clean is well overdue. Lots of cobwebs, furniture had not been moved to clean so very dusty in these places. (eg behind TV), cobwebs on books on bookshelf, and a Christmas Tree left under the bed covered in dust. We had to clean the windows ourselves in order to be able to see out! On the plus side the cottage is warm (it was quite cold outside for the time of year) , beds are comfortable, TV good. There is no oven glove which is tricky using the oven. There is no mobile signal and no wifi available. (sometimes sporadic at front of house eg BT Broadband). The location is excellent for the Chesil Beach, Quiddles Cafe which is lovely , and the unique Cove House Inn. Both of these a short walk and Dog friendly. There is no sea view from the cottage, only the back of the sea defence wall. Parking can be a nightmare. Our group had two cars. We found that parking in the afternoon was usually OK, but come back in the evening and often very difficult to find any space near the cottage. Cottage well served by public transport, bus stop, regular services just metres away.

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• Sarah - Verified booking

  All the facilities and equipment was good and functioning.

  The house and furniture was very neutral and pleasant. The outside patio area might need a bit of TLC before the summer really gets going as it was a bit untidy and needed a good pressure wash and weed. It’s a seaside house so windows are bound to get salt water marks on them but they didn’t look like they’d been cleaned for a while. The bathrooms were clean and nice. We couldn’t get really hot water in the first floor bathroom so showers and baths there were a bit lukewarm. But the top floor shower was boiling hot and couldn’t seem to turn it down! On the ground floor there is a problem with ants which I discovered after leaving a packet of mint humbugs on the shelf in the hallway. They were crawling over and inside the packet so I had to throw them away. I think this is a known problem because there was ant powder under the sink to use. The bedding and pillows were soft and clean but we found the beds a bit uneven and ended up sleeping in separate beds to avoid rolling together! Lots of cupboard space for clothes! Overall we had a lovely week exploring the local area and the house was a nice place to have a base to do that.

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• Maria - Verified booking

  The cottage was in a great location, however, it was in need of a good clean and maintenance.

  The inside of the oven was very dirty, there was lots of dust everywhere, spider webs, dirt between the sofa cushions, paint coming away from the walls in places, and the stove didn't work properly. If you had the stove door closed, then it didn't give out any heat, so you had to leave the door open, which then meant that the logs burned extremely fast - which of course is expensive. The carpet upstairs is stained in places. A pint of milk would have been handy - most other places we've stayed at, they do have a few basics waiting for you to welcome you when you arrive. The icing on the cake was my parents arriving at the cottage after a day out to find the front door open and some random bloke in there checking the electrics. They are elderly and this was quite a shock for them. The electrician said he come in and thought there was no one there, so got on with his job. We are angry about this. We had booked the cottage for a week so would expect at the very least to be asked our permissions before you sent someone in. Any works should gave been completed when the cottage was empty.

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• Nicholas - Verified booking

  Lovely little clean and tidy cottage which was fine for our needs.

  Its located within walking distance of takeaways and the local pub restaurants. But with the co-op and a few other shops quite a hilly trek away. The cottage itself is on three floors with a lounge exactly as shown in the photos. The kitchen diner is well appointed and has all you need to self cater. There's a small yard out back with steep steps to a waste land area which was good for a last thing/first thing visit for the dogs. The cottage was warm and cosy with decent central heating, there's also a fireplace in the lounge with a log burner if that's your thing. There's no WiFi (as stated) and mobile reception isn't great on the ground floor but it's much better higher up. I used my phone as a hotspot for the kids as I have unlimited data. TV and DVD player is there but there's no decent films so take your own if you like to watch a movie at night. The furnishings are comfy enough to spend time in. Parking is available outside, we took two cars and managed to get a space for both, just not always the same one. The location was perfect for us and we would stay again.

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