Serenity House, The Retreat

Serenity is a beautiful house in a beautiful setting, large garden, and is very clean.

The kitchen is equipped with everything you could possibly want. Unfortunately there isn’t any comfy seating. There is a beautiful lounge but there are only bean bags in there. There is a sofa and two armchairs in the snug but it’s a tiny room and not enough space for twenty people. The dining table only seats 14 at a push. We were lucky with the weather so we could sit outside and eat on most days.

No doubt, a wonderful property with ample space both indoors and outdoors, making it ideal for large family holidays and get‑togethers.

However, the customer service overall was very poor. Sykes were not responsive, and it was incredibly difficult to connect with the property owner. We were informed only one day before check‑in that the property was not ready for us and that our check‑in date had to be moved back. Moreover, the property lacked basic necessities such as toilet roll and hot water in some bathrooms. There was also damage, including, but not limited to, a broken toilet and broken door handles.

Generally all was well; the main issues were that many of the bathrooms lacked sufficient hot water, and the electric showers were only operational in a few instances.

Additionally, the bedrooms were inadequately heated, which was particularly problematic during the cold nights. That said, we are otherwise pleased with the cleanliness, comfort, and overall experience.

Nice spacious house and large bedrooms.

Plenty of parking. Some unusual things though. The kitchen didn’t really suit us as a family and friends group of 16. We managed to cook evening meals in there but seems more suited to cooking breakfasts. The oven didn’t work very well, needed turning up full to cook everything. More of a commercial type kitchen than domestic. Some of the electric showers were very poorly performing, either cold or scold! A real issue was the lack of comfy seating. Mostly bean bags or bean filled low “sofas”. 1 TV in a smallish living room and only 5 or 6 seats in there. We had 5 older members who took up the 5 “proper” sofas/chairs and the rest of us had to sit in the larger living room which was pretty much all uncomfortable seat or sat on bean filled seating nearly on the floor! Also you can’t fit 16 around the dining table (14 at a push with 2 on a high table to the side) but the house sleeps 21! Some of the rooms didn’t quite match the description (eg. Room 2 has a king in one room and a separate room with a single in it. Had we known this we could have invited an extra family of 3). Needs some general maintenance (eg. Room 1 has 1 curtain tie-back missing and one end of the wardrobe rail had been ripped out, therefore no rail to hang clothes. The power button on the heated towel rail wouldn’t stay on so we had to improvise a solution with an elastic band and a nail polish bottle!). One other thing: I was the organiser and sent a text to both the mobile contacts provided by Sykes to arrange key collection. NO REPLY. One of the other group members phoned instead and eventually got someone. He was told we couldn’t have the Keysafe code and that someone would meet us there. Some of our party arrived at 4pm and no one was there so they phoned both numbers. Eventually got someone who reluctantly gave the Keysafe code (all a bit odd as we did what the instructions said). Overall a great holiday though despite the above.

This is a beautiful property.

We loved staying for a retreat with our group. The bedrooms were clean, and each room had an en-suite bathroom. The towels were big, white and fluffy. The dining room is stunning with its beautiful dining table. Most of the beds were king-size or doubles, with just a couple that had single beds. We did have a problem with the stove. Firstly, the gas lighters left by the cooker had no gas, so make sure you take matches or a lighter to light the gas hob. The oven is a catering oven and takes a while to reach temperature, so be sure to take that into account when in use. Take tea towels, as there were none there. The fridge is enormous and plenty big enough for our party. The gardens go down to the river. It is a fantastic setting and we look forward to going back there next year.

We had a great long weekend here.

We were 22 people including teenagers. Everyone enjoyed the stay. Beautiful decorations throughout the ground floor and very nice furniture sets. Very clean and tidy too. Only problem we noticed that the electric showers have got their own mind, the flow of water and temperature variations are all over the place at times especially when more people showering the same time. It didn’t stop us from doing anything less. We have already spread the words to our friends and colleagues about the ‘Serenity’. We would love to come back again ! Thank you !

Booked through Sykes 2 months in advance.

Day before travel contacted owner for key collection and owner informed he didn’t received the booking!! After few failed attempted to call the owner picked up and offered to prepare as much as possible prior to 6pm late check in. Advertised as 12 bedrooms, BBQ facilities, etc. But, once we arrived owner said one room is not accessible, no BBQ machine available. Rain water leaked through doors in both living and dining rooms. Mentioned about compensation due to the inconvenience they caused, however, even ten days after the check out no progress or update made. We are grateful for the last minutes prep according to the owners text. However, it was absolutely shocking to face such awkward mis management and ots of uncertainty. Our long prep for the holiday ruined badly at the last minute.

We went with friends and family it was a wonderful experience, it would be nice if there were things such as pool table or additional tv in another hall.

It is a very nice house with lots of space and large rooms.