Villas In West Midlands

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Alvin - Verified booking

  We stayed at the end of July (5 adults and 3 children) and had a wonderful time.

  I have stayed in many cottages and houses for breaks around the UK, and Phoenix House is one of the best properties we have experienced. It started with a very warm welcome from Pam who showed us around the house. She greeted every single one of us and interacted with our children. We loved the open planned living, and the cleanliness was very important to us. In fact this is the first property where I felt I could walk around barefooted on the clean floors downstairs and the lush carpet upstairs (I would always wear socks or slippers in other properties). The house is modern as shown in the photos, accompanied by art and decor with Asian influence to give the interiors warmth and character. I particularly like that there are many different sofas in the right places to relax on - near the kitchen, in the downstairs bedroom, in the sun room, and of course the main living area. All of them were of decent quality, and we all commented that the grey sofas in the sun room were incredibly comfortable! Another thing that cannot be overlooked is the powerful water pressure, and if like me, you like a good rainfall shower over your head, this is spa-level greatness. It's so powerful that you may have to be slightly careful if you are using the hand shower. I see that the last review said that there is no privacy. We had no problems at all during our stay, and felt we had the privacy we wanted. There were no intrusions, and owners' houses were far enough. It was never an issue that they were "on site", and it was reassuring that they were close by in case we needed help with anything. You do have to open and shut the gate as mentioned as you drive in/out, and this was a light banter in our family as to who's turn it was to do it. The beds were comfortable, and the linens were all fine. There were a few bits and bobs that can be improved, mainly saucepans that needed replacing, and Pam was very receptive to hear about them so I made a snag list for her. No need to go into detail. Most are relatively minor things, but would make the whole experience even better such as improvements to kitchen cutlery, having regular glass tumblers, and I actually forgot to mention that the can opener doesn't work. Pam said she had ordered some new furniture and a new barbeque after our stay so I'm sure future guests are going to benefit as a result! In summary this is an amazing property, and we had a brilliant family time away. Finally, I left my laptop at the house, as it had slipped down the side of the bed. Pam was kind enough to call me on the same day of our departure to let me know. She then kept it save for me at her house and I went back to pick it up. I'm very grateful for this, so thanks very much again Pam!

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• Anthony - Verified booking

  Perfect location and really well converted barn.

  Owners were lovely and responded quickly to requests. 3 generations of the same family stayed at the same time and all were asked for their input. Cleanliness : Kitchen items were filthy. Several glasses had been put back in the cupboard with lipstick and saliva on them - appalling in the current environment. Frying pan had the remains of an omelette in it, cutlery was filthy, nachos still in the crisp bowls - all put back in the cupboards. We put the entire kitchen through the dishwasher. Crumbs from previous occupants all over the worktops and table. Being generous, this may have been the previous occupants putting things back, however the owner and/or cleaner MUST check this as to not to leaves the building filthy, not to mention the health hazard component. Comfort : Beds hard (completely personal view), bedding cheap. Central heating worked well, however no ability to change this as ALL of the central heating controllers had run out of their batteries. We were out most of the time, so didn't really affect us that much. Kitchen utensils, crockery and cutlery was a mismatch of items and lacked many things to enable someone to prepare a meal (scales, sieve, measuring jug, full set of saucepans). Insufficient glasses, cups and plates for a house that can sleep 9, and again a hodge podge of makes/shapes and not a set. Internet was patchy at best - not a wifi signal issue - this is an external line issue. OK for email, but not good enough to work or carry out a zoom call as many need to, even on leave. The grounds were great and more than enough room to play football/frizbee. Hot tub looked fantastic, though didn't use it - too busy seeing local sights. Enough parking for 3 cars, again great use of the outside space. Very useful laundry and coat room with washer AND dryer. We live overseas and frequently stay in holiday homes in the UK and further afield, so do speak from some experience. - I would restock the kitchen with a full set from Argos/Ikea/Tesco/etc - matching items with enough for 9. - ensure there are the basics for cooking. - put bedside lights in all the bedrooms - there were none. - a bluetooth sound system of some sort would be lovely and is pretty much ubiquitous in these types of property. - ENSURE THE PROPERTY IS CLEAN Summary : a great location, wonderful conversion, helpful and responsive owners, but poorly executed. Just going the extra 10% would make this a perfect 5* property.

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• Kavita - Verified booking

  We stayed at Phoenix house, at the end of August, to celebrate my mums 70th.

  The house itself is simply beautiful, with plenty of gorgeous light and green views all around. This meant that when the weather was wet we could still appreciate the outdoors. Its set back away from the other building so plenty of privacy and space, but nice to know there is a family nearby a minute or two walk from the property. The owners are a super friendly family, at hand for anything needed and quick to respond. On the morning of my mums birthday the owners left a small potted plant, that my mum had commented that she liked, as a gift, with a very thoughtful message in a card. It was such a kind touch and really made my mum feel special. A couple of minor improvements I'd suggest would be to have a couple of extra tea towels, and to provide a couple of basics in the kitchen such as foil for the oven, washing liquid/scourer etc, although I know many properties don't provide either so not specific to this experience at all! Wish we had booked a longer stay as 4 nights just wasn't enough. One of the nicest hosts I've come across. Thank you for an amazing experience. Would love to come back again!

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• Andrew - Verified booking

  Just home from a wonderful week at Phoenix House with our children and grandchildren.

  The house is simply outstanding and Pam, Jonny and families are very friendly and helpful but completely unobtrusive. We couldn’t have chosen a more beautiful place to stay - the little ones loved the huge safe outside space to play, run and scoot and the vast open plan downstairs is perfect for extended families who like to eat together but also want their own space too. An additional freezer in the utility was a very welcome extra (we had Sainsbury’s deliveries twice during our stay) and with two little ones it was great to have a washing machine and dryer too. The hot tub was a great hit with everyone and Pam or Jonny came every day to check levels and make sure it was in perfect working order for us. The house is in a beautiful and very peaceful setting and the area has lots of great places to visit and see. If you are reading this review and thinking of booking please don’t hesitate just book and you will not be disappointed. Phoenix House is definitely 5 star. Thank you Pam and Jonny we will definitely be visiting again. Alison, Mark and family PS thank you for my plant Pam

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• Louise - Verified booking

  We arrived late Thursday evening and was greeted by the hosts/owners of the barn a fabulous couple that really care about your stay and experience.

  They even helped us in with luggage etc.. the barn is amazing, everything that you need, very, very, very clean and very well maintained. Ample hot water, all things you would need home from home. The barn is situated just outside Ludlow which is a fab market town, and within an hour of Worcester / Hereford etc. The gardens of the barn are amazing all very peaceful and tranquil to relax after a busy day out and about. Ample car parking. We had a dog with us that loved the barn and the driveway down as grassed area to smell and walk overlooking a fishing lake. All very private and very perfect. If you book the barn don’t use the postcode as it will take you miles down a one car track, go to cravens arms first then put the postcode in, which the host told us when we arrived, I wouldn’t worry about the track either as the track only houses 4-6 houses and you would go down the track to anywhere else, in other words you don’t meet traffic. All very, very perfect, I wish the hosts best of luck. And many thanks for our short notice stay.

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