“I am a professional, middle aged, well travelled individual, and have much experience of hot tubs.”
Whilst the lodge itself was pleasant and clean, unfortunately I came home a day early with appalling Hot Tub Rash, diagnosed by both a qualified Minor Injuires Nurse AND my GP, and have been placed on high dose, of strong antibiotics (Docycyline and Fucidin cream ) for a week. When I complained, I have been told Sykes Cottages take no responsibility and offer no good will gesture as this is a Health and Safety issue, and the owner wil be informed and take it from there. I have heard absolutely nothing, and am unable to get through to anyone in spite of sending photographs etc. SHOCKING! Hot tub rash occurs because of DIRTY WATER and POOR HYGIENE, and a lack of chlorine and chemical balance in the water. To add insult to injury, the Hot tub is actually out of use on the last day, as allegedly the water is changed and cleaned. Given my rash was developing, we left a day early, unsure of the exact cause at the time. Noone expects to pay a premium for a Hot Tub and have this experience. I STRONGLY ADVISE YOU THINK TWICE ABOUT BOOKING WITH SYKES COTTAGES AND THIS PROPERTY, AS THERE IS NO COMEBACK WHEN UNFIT FOR PURPOSE. APPARENTLY AN OWNER HAS TO ADMIT FAULT, AND THE POLICY OF THIS LODGE IS TO IGNORE YOU. DISGUSTING. SEE PHOTOS. I HAVE BEEN IN A TERRIBLE STATE FOR A WEEK. SYKES ALSO CHOOSE TO IGNORE ME AFTER THEIR INTIAL RESPONSE THAT IT IS A HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUE, THUS CANNOT OFFER A GOODWILL GESTURE. AGAIN DISGUSTING. SEE PHOTOGRAPHS, AND DECIDE IF THIS IS WHAT YOU WISH TO RISK. WE WILL NEVER USE EITHER SERVICE AGAIN.
Dear Lizzie, this a very unfortunate thing to have happened but please do not rush to judgments about our hot tub care. We have the tub emptied and replenished after every guest by an experienced technician who checks the chemical balance and makes the necessary adjustments. He sends us the photograph on each occasion showing the water clarity. Cleaning needs to happen on the Thursday because he services 10 other tubs on Friday and it simply cannot fit into his schedule. After running this tub for nearly two years now we have had no other complaints. Our contact number is included in the guest information and we did not hear from you during your stay. Sykes position is that it is up to the owner to deal with the case, rightly so, but we would rather have spoken to you at the time than receive this barrage of upper case feedback. Our position is that the water was clean. We sincerely hope that you have made a speedy recovery.
Regards, Richard and Vanessa.
Property Owner