493 Little Wakering Road

Cosy, well equiped holiday property situated in a rural area, away from the bustle of a busy town centre.

Easy access to beaches and sea front of Southend and to quiet country roads for walking. Welcoming, pleasant, discret owner. Most enjoyable stay.

There is no Wi-Fi and the mobile signal is abysmal, almost non existent.

The property was clean and modern but quite small and therefore limited storage space by which I mean there was no vacuum cleaner nor mops etc to clean the property so we felt quite guilty not being able to leave without being able to clean properly. There is a smart TV which is quite strange seeing as there is no Wi-Fi but it was quite satisfactory for us. Perhaps an ordinary Freeview TV with DVD would have been a better choice. We did make some suggestions to the owner for ways to improve such as provide a space with table, mirror and chair for ladies to do their make-up. Also a new mattress because the present one is past its best. There is a washing machine but nowhere to hang out the washing. An airer on the patio would have sufficed. We also suggested an information pack would be a nice thing to provide listing of services, attractions, bus routes, etc. We took a bus outside the property to go into the city. It went 4 miles to Shoebury then turned around and came all the way back to where we started before going on in the opposite direction to the city centre. It would have been helpful to have known that! The property was clean and tidy. A parking space is part of the property. The property is in a quiet rural area which suited us perfectly.

Very well equipped.

The property had everything we needed for our stay. Very comfortable and we had a view of the owner's beautiful garden. The owners were very friendly and helpful. Looking forward to staying there again next year.

On arrival we were told that the annex had been sanitized, clearly it had not.

After a nightmare journey of 7hrs all we wanted to do was to have a shower and relax. Sadly this was not the case, the bathroom was filthy, the toilet was covered in hair and there was human waste around the rim, the shower tray was filthy covered in hair, soap and shampoo scum, the shower surround was little better. The floor was thick with dust and hair. We do not think that this had been thoroughly cleaned in many weeks. The heated towel rail which only came on between 6 and 7 am was thick rust and had clearly leaked in the past. It took us an hour to clean through the property using our own spray and wipes as there was no cleaning materials in the property, not even a hoover. Your information states there was a fridge/freezer in the property, not true, just an old fridge with a small ice box that was thick with ice. The internal door fixings were broken so there was no lower storage area for things like milk etc. The cooker was in a dreadful state along with the pots and pans as well as the kitchen cabinets, and we did not cook anything that week. The cabinet next to the cooker is scorched indicating a possible fire risk. Although there was a washing machine, a iron and ironing board there was no where to dry any washing. There were radiators in the property however there were no heating controls in the property, again they appeared to come on between 6 and 7 am and nothing thereafter, even though the evenings were chilly and the property was cold. There was no information pack in the property, no gas safety certificate for the cooker. We were very surprised there was no wi-fi/internet connection in the property, your property description omitted to inform people of this issue. Over all a thoroughly disappointing week which has cost us a lot of money, rest assured we will not be recommending this particular property. This is the first time we have used accommodation through Sykes Cottages and we certainly will not be using you again if this property is representative of the quality of those on your books.How often do you inspect the properties on your books, to make sure they are maintained to a high standard as this does not do your company any favours. This property needs complete refurbishment to bring it up to an acceptable standard.