“We were looking forward to staying here for the weekend for my birthday.”
The advert showed a cute cottage in its own grounds; however, the stay was really disappointing, as the accommodation is not as advertised by the holiday company.
It is listed as a single cottage in its own grounds, which is not true. The property is part of a larger home which the owners live in. While the cottage is not accessible by them unless coming through the front door, it is not as remote as we were led to believe.
The house is small. It does not have a ground-floor bedroom as stated in the listing; the bedrooms are located on the first floor. It also does not have a king-size bed as listed. It is a small double and not overly comfy.
Heating is via electric wall heaters, so it is impossible to regulate an ambient temperature. It was cold when you arrived back in the evening, as I didn’t feel comfortable leaving them on while we were out for the entire day.
There is only one shower room (advertised as a bathroom and shower room). It is tiny and cramped, with a toilet seat that doesn’t fit the toilet (or is incorrectly fitted) and has no heating safe to use. There is a small electric wall heater, which is rather dubiously placed next to the shower.
Towels provided are also very small, more like hand towels, and only one each.
The living room is small but well presented. It was really off-putting having the toilet/shower room practically in the living room, though.
The kitchen is fairly well equipped, with essentials, decent units, and cute duck-themed décor. The washing machine refused to cycle, saying it didn’t have sufficient detergent no matter how much I put in. This was a minor inconvenience but not a big issue.
Views from the windows are stunning, and it was lovely to see the sheep and lambs in the morning while making a cuppa.
Downside: there are no window furnishings in the kitchen, toilet, or upper-floor landing, and as people regularly walk past the property this was also off-putting, especially when we returned from a day out on Sunday to find cars parked in the drive of the property.
Such a shame, as we rented this for my birthday for a relaxing weekend away, and it was anything but.
The surrounding village is lush, with plenty of shops, etc., and Newtown isn’t far, which has lots of takeaways and coffee shops.
The property feels like it has been put together as cheaply as possible and feels somewhat unfinished in areas, but this could be because it feels new to the rental market with inexperienced owners.
Not many positives, sadly. Prosecco was a nice touch, the owners left us alone, the views are lovely, the sofa was comfy, TVs were decent and easy to navigate, and it’s dog-friendly.
Sadly, all the negatives ruined our weekend away, and for that reason we wouldn’t return to this property and gave it a low rating.
Had the letting company been honest, we would not have booked.
Wouldn't use Sykes again for this reason.
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review and provide some feedback. It is tough to know where to start with a response to this feedback. We are indeed inexperienced owners in this sector, however, we care very much for the area we live and the beautiful cottage we have available to us, leading us to want to allow people to enjoy it by starting the holiday rental.
You have booked a 200+ year old cottage, things such as layout of rooms and central heating is very limited in options. The electric wall heaters work very well when you set the thermostat to your desired temperature, and the bathroom heater is a specific shower room heater, made to be used in wet rooms.
As for the parked cars, in the welcome folder, there is a notice in there that the farmer who is responsible for the sheep and lambs you stated you loved seeing, may park there from time to time to look after his animals. Also, canal maintenance volunteers may park to keep the area around the locks in a lovely condition.
Nonetheless, we are thankful for the feedback, we will take the points onboard and do our best to rectify for future guests.
Property Owner
