3 Grange Villas

Fantastic location, comfortable and well equipped house, charming village

The property is in need of some general maintenance (fresh paint on internal walls and door handle repair) and would benefit from a deep clean.

Lovely place to stay nice and clean

This is a great property, really comfortable, and with every facility and amenity we could have hoped for.

We particularly appreciated the welcome pack which provided us with all the basics we needed, as well as some nice treats. All in all we really enjoyed our stay, and would have no hesitation recommending this property to anyone wanting to stay in the area.

3 Grange Villas offers good accommodation for a family, we were 2 adult couples and one child, in a quiet location off the main road through Charmouth with plenty of off-street parking and within easy walking distance to local amenities (a good grocery shop, a pharmacy and a very good fish and chip bar).

The kitchen was generally well equipped with very good size refrigerator and separate freezer. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the house at just after 4 pm, the occupation time specified by Sykes Cottages was 4 pm, we found that it was not ready for us. There were three cleaners plus a supervisor from Lyme Bay Holidays at the house, filling all the parking places so that the supervisor had to move her van to allow us to park. I did receive a missed call on my mobile phone (timed at 4.05 pm) while we were arriving at the house which was from the Lyme Bay Holidays office to tell me that the house was not ready for us. This was far too late notice as we had already arrived with a car loaded with luggage and fresh food requiring transfer to a refrigerator so their suggestion that we “go and find somewhere to have a drink” was neither practical or useful! The supervisor told me that the house had been left in a “dreadful state” by the previous occupants, who I was told were the owners of the property, and the cleaners had not had enough time to finish their work. They all worked very hard so that we were able to take possession of the property by about 5 pm, luckily before the second half of our party, including the child, arrived. This failure to have the property ready for occupation at the time stated in the booking details and reiterated on multiple occasions in emails from Sykes Cottages is not acceptable for what is supposed to be a reputable organisation. I note that I had to agree to a good housekeeping bond of £450 to rent this property, do the owners also have to provide a similar bond? The condition of the property was generally satisfactory but there were several issues: 1 There was no folder of essential information (emergency numbers, instructions for the house, information on refuse and recycling collections, etc). 2 The covering of the springs on the sunken trampoline in the back garden had decomposed/worn away so that the springs are exposed and could be a safety hazard. 3 The side gate had only a badly repaired latch and no bolt so that the rear of the house and the garden are not secure. 4 The amount of crockery was alright for four adults, with a child using our own plates and dishes, but would not be adequate for six adults and two children.

The cottage, which is spacious, is well-sited for easy access to the local shops and the beach.

However, there are numerous general maintenance issues which require attention and which, because of their multitude, tended to spoil our holiday. I would endorse all of the earlier criticisms made by previous occupants. The garden is in dire need of proper attention, both in terms of the wobbly steps, the broken garden furniture and the brambles. There were brown leaves all over the lawn and trampoline. When the gardener arrived on the final day with a leaf blower I was pleased that they would finally be tidied up but her proceeded to just blow the leaves on the lawn into the corner of the garden without removing any! The house, which can only be described as “neglected”, is in need of a thorough deep-clean and redecoration throughout. There were numerous cobwebs all around the interior of the house, dirty placemats, dusty plates, tissues and other debris down the back of the bath, dirty windows, dusty towel rails, the list goes on. The ability to clean the extensive kitchen surfaces and any dishes not suitable for the dishwasher, when one is not provided with any form of dishcloth or all-purpose cloth, together with the weak/watered-down (?) washing-up liquid defeated me. I purchased “proper” washing-up liquid and a dishcloth! The small sponge provided was no better than useless. Whilst we were provided with two tea towels, no hand towel was provided in the kitchen. Basic hygiene surely dictates there should be such provision. The table cutlery was more akin to that which one would provide for children. The spacious freezer was functioning at -24 Centigrade. Any effort to reduce the temperature failed miserably. My partner and I occupied the top bedroom. I did not consider the water pressure to be poor on the third floor. It is the shower head which requires cleaning and decalcifying. The toilet seats continue to not fit the toilets. We had several head-banging sessions, when using the toilet, flushing the toilet and getting into bed. Coming to terms with the sloping walls was not easy! Fortunately, neither of us can be described as “tall”. The bed, whilst not uncomfortable, was very low, obviously because had it been a “normal” height, one would have experienced even more head-banging! Sleeping effectively on the floor made rising in the morning difficult, when one is of advancing years. All the beds had polyester bed linen and cheap duvets which we found uncomfortable and we were extremely aware of the poor quality waterproof mattress protectors as it felt like we were sleeping on plastic sheets. Most of the pillows were as flat as a pancake and in desperate need of replacement. My adult daughter struggled to get to sleep all week as she felt so uncomfortable. The doorbell was inoperative and the provision of just one front-door key was inadequate. The dimmer light switches throughout the house did not appear to be operative. The general purpose dustbin was full on our arrival, which meant we had no means of placing our full kitchen bin-liner in the dustbin until after the dustbin men had emptied the bin on Wednesday. We declined to strip the beds prior to departure. When one considers the rental we paid for the week together with the poor general standard of the cottage, I considered such a request was almost an insult.

Open plan downstairs works well and is comfortable.

Kitchen well equipped though a folder of information would have been helpful. Found appliance info on third day! No info about recycling rules in that area. We had boiler problem on fifth day, no hot water, which was rectified by their maintenance man on same day and it worked fine for rest of holiday. Beds comfy, I know it’s used by lots of families but woodwork everywhere had lots of scuffs and scratches. Maybe it’s repainted at end of each summer season. Bathrooms and toilets were basically clean but could do with a deep clean in nooks and crannies. We didn’t mind too much but if this sort of thing bothers you then you may want to look elsewhere. Good secure garden for children to play. Bushes are growing through the washing line whirligig so can’t hang much washing out, it’s a quick maintenance job to cut them back and should have been done. I’d have done it myself if I’d had a pair of pruners. Plenty of parking. House tucked away in quiet corner in centre of Charmouth withfood store and two pubs within few minutes walk. I’m being picky here for benefit of those seeking an holiday property. and comparing to the Sykes cottage we stayed in last year which was immaculate and attention to detail was perfect.

The property is in an excellent, peaceful location close to village shops/pub and an easy walk to the beach, and its spacious, comfortably furnished & well-equipped accommodation gives it potential to be a superb holiday home, however it has not been well-cared for and requires a very deep clean plus a complete redecoration inside and out.

There are multiple maintenance issues some of which marred our holiday enjoyment and the unkempt garden with brambles, wobbly steps & broken garden furniture were hazardous for children. The welcome pack was delightfully stuffed with goodies, but it would have been more welcoming if - the phone number given regarding arrival was actually answered: the requested highchair had been supplied: the hot water boiler had been turned on: and information had been supplied about waste/recycling (plus other local tourist info). Our holiday got off to a bad start due to Lyme Bay Holidays poor management services. We also thought it was completely inappropriate to have new bed linen/towels delivered to the house for the next guests the day before our departure!

Excellent location, spacious and well equipped.

Desperately needs decorating inside and out Garden furniture unusable as covered in bird mess and one bench broken and garden needed tidying. Cleaning standard could be better, dirty tissue down side of bath and cobwebs and dust in many areas.

The property was welcoming with a nice welcome pack of local goodies.

It is situated in a very convenient location for access to the shops and flat walk to the beach. However the whole place needs a good spruce up eg paintwork in general. Water pressure on the top floor was poor and the basin in the 1st floor bathroom did not drain properly. Toilet seats were too small for the toilets. Unfortunately having arrived after office hours, we found that there had been a serious problem with the incoming water main in the area. All of the cold water supply was black and full of grit and sand and took us over an hour to flush through. It was completely undrinkable. Lyme Bay holiday, which appear to be maintaining the property on behalf of Sykes, called round the next morning with 2 bottles of water. The water company website confirmed the problem, as did a neighbour I spoke to, but no one had come to make sure that the property was fit to use for our arrival and that the problem had been resolved. Hence the poor score for the “facilities and maintence” category.