School Holidays 2017 Cottages In Surrey

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Maritza - Verified booking

  It grieves me to write this, but the cottage was filthy.

  I don’t mind old or worn. A new chair can sit just as comfortably as an old chair, but when it comes to hygiene, only one way will do. The house needs a decent spring clean and the contents needs to be reviewed. Many of the dining room chairs were very rickety and could break at any moment. Other specific issues: - Main bathroom’s bath had soap scum ring all around the bath with 3 short black curly hair in it. - The two yellow cups in the main bathroom was covered in toothpaste as well as the sink. - The taps in both bathroom sinks had toothpaste splatter. - In the kitchen behind the breadtin next to the Aga, was a piece of food, looked like a small tomato that was shrivelling up. - Whomever unpacked the dishwasher last must have had greasy/oily hands, as the “clean” plates in the cupboard had greasy fingerprints all over them. - The en-suite bathroom window’s curtain is covered in black mold. - The table covering in the dining room had a streak of what looked like egg yolk running down the side of it. - Many of the dishes in the top right hand drawer next to the electric cooktop, has cracks in them (the red one, one of the blue spotty ones and many other small ones.) We did not use these, in case they broke. - We could not get any of the radiators upstairs to turn on, no matter how high we turned the heat. - Neither of the towel bars in the bathrooms ever switched on. - We were not cold upstairs as thankfully the floorboards had so many gaps the heat from down stairs made its way up. - The fridge is dirty with bits of food remains sprinkled throughout. - The master bedroom’s bed lost one of its slats when my husband sat down to tie his shoes. - The bed in one of the kids’ rooms (pink room with only one bed) also dropped a slat. We got there early and the housekeeper was very kind to allow us in as she was finishing the kitchen floor. She made us a cup of tea and it certainly was much appreciated. We would love to stay at this cottage again. Great location! It is spacious and the woods out back a real treat for the kids, but alas it needs some major cleaning and a good overall in its contents. Not sure if all Sykes’ cottages are in this state. Rented twice from Classic Cottages before and their cottages were spotless (so it can be done).

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• Prachi - Verified booking

  The location was convenient, close to shops and the train station. Overall the apartment was clean. After booking, I received an email asking me to verify and to pay a security deposit. The security deposit is £400 as listed on the hotel page on booking.com. What is not advertised is that the company they use to hold the security deposit (SuperHog) will request an £8 non-refundable fee to hold the security deposit that the guest needs to pay. This non refundable fee is also not advertised on Guest Homes' own website. This felt like false advertising. I contacted the Guest Homes and they said there is nothing they can do about the fee, despite the fact that this was not advertised at the time of booking. Two days before check in, I received a message from the Guest Homes team via the booking.com app saying the flat I had booked has 'suffered severe damage from the previous guest and is currently uninhabitable'. And they asked if I would be okay to move to an alternative flat within the same building. The alternative was 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, the flat I originally booked was 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms therefore I asked if I would receive a refund or compensation to move to the alternative flat. The next message received said that there is no need for us to move flats. This was extremely confusing given that 5 hours earlier I was told that the original flat was uninhabitable. On clarification they explained that they were incorrectly informed and that there was actually no severe damage. On the day that we were due to check in, we received a message via the app saying 'we want to let you know that the door in the bathroom fell off. We apologise for the inconvenience, we hope this won't disrupt your stay'. We were shocked!! Through further messages, it transpired that the bathroom handle had fallen off in the main bathroom. They were not able to get this fixed prior to our arrival. The poor communication caused a great deal of stress and anxiety with regards to our booking.

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• George - Verified booking

  This was a very welcoming property and the great space downstairs was prefect for our large family gathering.

  The kitchen was very well equipped and made it easy to cater for some large meals. The garden room was delightful and the range of games stacked on the shelves a real bonus. The weather was not brilliant, so we did not really take advantage of the huge garden but this would have been a real attraction in drier conditions. There was plenty of space for badminton or any outdoor games but you would need to take those yourself. The little summer house was a nice touch to store bikes or games but was in need of a bit of a tidy. The milk and butter in the fridge was a welcome gift and the provision of dish washer and washing tablets also appreciated. We found fitting a stair gate a little tricky due to the narrow stairs. We had a toddler and a crawler, so they needed watching at all times on the steps down to the garden room and around the hot Arga but there were plenty of us to keep a watch out so that was not too much of a problem. The toddler loved the fact that there were so many books in the bedroom with the two singe beds. This was a lovely room for little ones. One criticism, the bathroom really could benefit from a deep clean. The sink was harboring mold around the open rim and the floor at the side of the bath, between bath and sink, had been missed in the clean, I think. The plane glass in the bathroom window was also a bit disconcerting. Its a difficult place for a curtain or blind for sure but maybe frosted glass would help with privacy? Although the property is not overlooked at the back by housing, there were people walking in the woods at the back, so we felt a bit more privacy when in the house would have been appropriate. We very much enjoyed our stay overall. The area is beautiful and the house is in a lovely, quiet and rural location. The bird life in the garden was a joy too.

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• Aimee - Verified booking

  The house itself is wonderful.

  Lots of space, great open plan kitchen dining living area. Rooms are all spacious and comfy, hot tub and garden are lovely. Local area is quiet but nice pubs and walks are a very short drive away. Hot water situation is quite tricky, especially with a house of 10 adults. Waiting 30 mins between everyone’s shower is unreasonable and a lot of us had freezing cold showers only despite all showers being quick and no baths. The house is missing a few essential bits, we had no washing up liquid or dishwasher tablets or normal tea bags. Lack of bins for recycling inside the house. No handsoap in the upstairs bathroom. The kitchen equipment is also a little limited for a house of this size. We had 10 people staying and struggled when cooking, lack of pots / pans, bowls etc. The aga is also tricky, mainly as the dials have no numbers on them and they get burning hot when in use so it’s hard to select temps etc. Sykes as a booking agency are extremely difficult. Website is inaccurate and unhelpful, causing a major issue with my booking that I then had to pay extra for. Their phone options are unhelpful and they point blank don’t respond to emails - I was told this on the phone. To the point where I had emailed repeatedly asking to speak to someone about my booking, had no response, and then had my entire booking cancelled.

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• Sharon - Verified booking

  The hob was marked and dirty The bottom of the oven wasn't clean All windows were smeared The bathroom light does not work unless the hall light is on The light in the main bedroom doesn't work There are no tea towels for drying up which is a problem seeing as there is no dishwasher The floor whilst looked clean was not as our feet were black after walking bare foot The single beds were very hard but the edge to the mattresses weren't supported meaning it was very easy to roll out Whilst the apartment sleeps 4, there is not enough seating for 4 either to eat or lounge There is nothing to watch on TV unless you have your own Netflix or similar account. This should be stated especially as Netflix has recently changed their viewing conditions There was no sponge or cloth to wipe down surfaces Microwave is far too close to hob and got hot when hob was in use Would recommend fitting blinds or nets in lounge for privacy. We had to keep the curtains closed making it dark as everyone can see in Whilst it is mentioned there is no parking but you can park in nearby streets, they are all double yellows. The only option is the only option is the station car park at a cost of £7 a day and each time you leave, you have to pay again when you return

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