“While the description of the holiday accommodation was accurate, it was slightly disappointing that the owners/ caretaker could not make that little extra effort to welcome you to the property.”
As previous reviews have already stated, a lot of other properties leave a personalised note, often accompanied by a welcome gift, such as some Welsh cakes, a few tea bags and a pint of milk in the fridge, or even a bottle of wine, etc. As also pointed out previously, there is usually at least one lot of complimentary dishwasher tablets left out, which was not the case at Cable Cottage (I am used to washing by hand, and although a lot of properties that I have rented also leave washing-up liquid and a sponge/ brush, Cable Cottage was not the place to find any thoughtful or helpful extras). Reading back on previous comments about this issue, the owners replied, stating that a ‘welcome pack’ would be included for future visits. This obviously never happened, which is a great shame.
I found the property to be generally quite clean, well presented, and maintained, although there were some very large and old cobwebs to be found under shelves, lamp shades, etc. (This seems to be quite a common problem in holiday cottages from my experience, and to be honest, I have seen far worse). Compared to most other holiday cottages, which usually have a selection of books relevant to the local area and a cupboard crammed with activities, there were minimal extras to entertain you, other than a jigsaw, a pack of cards and a handful of old paperback books, which weren’t very interesting.
The lighting was disappointing, with no bedside lamp provided for the downstairs bedroom, and the floor lamp in the lounge having no bulb. (This has been pointed out previously in a review back in October). It is also surprising that a few spare bulbs have not been left in a general maintenance cupboard somewhere, which is often the case in most cottages.
The heating was problematic. I found that during my stay it only really came on very briefly during the afternoon and never got really hot. At night it stayed very cold in the cottage. I tried all different settings on the heating panel/ temperature settings, and nothing I did made any difference. There were no instructions to be found anywhere for the heating system. (I am not too bothered by the cold, so it was bearable for me, but I know that this is unusual and that most people would hate it).
The oven and cooker were very old and could do with replacing. The main oven didn’t work very well, and the touch controls on the electric hob were very hard to use, as they had lost a lot of their sensitivity. The extractor fan needed cleaning, as it barely made any difference when on, and the cooker hood lamp did not work (with the ceiling lights too dim and inadequate for cooking purposes).
The washing machine looked like it could do with a good clean, the rubber seal around the door was heavily stained with dirt and grime.
The owner asked for the beds to be stripped before departure and placed in the bags provided, but no bags were provided. (I stripped the bed anyway, as I always make the effort to do).
A few personal requests which would have made my stay more comfortable/ enjoyable would be to have some curtains for the main window/ patio door in the lounge. It’s a great view during the day, but at night it’s very dark out there, and coming from London, I value my privacy. It would also have been nice to have a basic DVD player, which can be purchased quite cheaply these days (although I do admit to being a little ‘old school’ in my viewing habits).
Some may ask why I did not contact the caretaker during my stay if experiencing problems. I have been down that route in the past, and it all becomes slightly intrusive and impacts in a negative way on the short time that you have.
All in all, Cable Cottage is a nice place with adequate facilities (if you’re not too fussy) in a great location with great views, but don’t expect any extra effort to make you feel welcome, or you will be disappointed.
