Hakuna Matata

The cottage was overall really lovely, beautifully decorated and well kept.

The surprise bonuses of a freezer, beach things (although not used) and WiFi were brilliant. The close proximity to the beach was brilliant. Shame the weather wasn’t up to much for us. Definitely try the Owl pub if you are staying as it’s a 5 min walk away. It’s worth booking up early. The other place we loved was in Rye, called The Globe Inn Marsh Rye - once again, booking is essential. Khanz Indian on the main road in Camber had lovely food. Just check the reviews online before you go, so that you were prepared. The tv reverts back to German each time you log out of the settings, so unless the majority of your users are German, it may be beneficial to have a generic login for Hakuna Matata guests so they don’t need to use Google translate to convert it to English, or at least provide instructions on how to do it. The mattress on the bed in the front room was far too hard for both my husband (who likes a firm bed) and I. My hips/top of thighs are still tender from the stay 24hrs later. The back bedroom mattress which was much softer, was ‘just right’ according to my teenager daughter. These are obviously personal to us, and others might like the mattress as it is. I was ready to go and sleep on the sofa, but persevered with it. I wish I had taken up residence on the sofa now

Lovely little cottage in excellent position to Camber Sands.

Nicely kitted out & decorated & very clean. Very good facilities in kitchen, utility room & bathrooms. Some minor maintenance issues eg. Broken chair, broken tap, tired decor & fittings, internet didn’t work & no up to date information. Would definitely stay again if internet connection guaranteed.

We stayed at this same property last year, and since then the standard has deteriorated.

The curtains were stained, the downstairs lavatory door did not close (looks like there has been a leak and the floor needs attention), the back bedroom window was very difficult to open, the back door was very difficult to close, the oven made some very strange noises (sounded like an electrical fault in the clock), and last but not least, when we survived we could not access the door lock code because the system did not recognise the booking number sent to us. We phoned Sykes Cottages and only after approx. 40 minutes did we speak to anyone who could sort the problem. We were in our car, on that very hot Saturday - with our pet, and we were offered no apology for the system error or time it took to answer our call.

Absolutely loved this cottage, lovely and cosy spotlessly clean with everything you need.

Fabulous location , 5 mins walk to a beautiful beach and a short drive to Rye which was buzzing. We would definitely recommend and will be booking again!

Fantastic little cottage, perfectly located for trips to the beach.

Cosy, clean and comfortable. Had an amazing stay.

As I have stated all the faults with this property in the many messages and emails I sent during my holiday, taking time out from my leisure time.

I don’t expect to have to clean the kitchen and filthy bathroom as soon as I arrive at the cottage. The window in our bedroom would not open more than an inch making the room extremely hot at night. But also a health and safety issue if there was a fire then we could not escape. Light bulbs not working. A large spiky plant across the path and front door a danger to eyes. This was only cut back two days before the end of our holiday. The wardrobe doors and drawers were so close to the end of the bed it was very difficult to open them and to get to your clothes. In the front bedroom we were unable to use the hanging space in the cupboard as there was bed linen and towels all piled up on the floor . So we couldn’t reach the hangers. In the kitchen the kick board under the sink was heavy wood and kept falling down on our feet. The back door was very difficult to open and lock. Also very dirty. As were all the windows. None of these issues were dealt with during our stay despite my phone calls and emails with photos as proof. Obviously Sykes have a very poor duty of care to their customers. We shall not be using them again.

Very satisfactory and clean.

The TV in the lounge stopped working, but this was probably only because The Remote Control needed new batteries.? However the TV in the bedroom was working, so not too much of a problem. More rubbish bags would have been useful.

The hot water was temperamental and no clear instructions.

There was rubbish in the garden and the bbq was full of cigarettes. Toilet was badly stained. Kick boards repeatedly fall off in kitchen. It was odd not to have any table light (only big overhead light) in living area. Given there is little room for table more trays would help. On plus side great location, comfy bed and nice welcome pack.

Great property.

Amazing location and area . Well recommended . Thank you for a brilliant holiday

Really lovely house.

I was expecting bare essentials but the kitchen cupboards were fully stocked. We found ourselves spending more time indoors than planned due to the horrible weather, but we still had a good time, the house is well equipped for rainy days with lots of dvds, books and board games. Beds were comfy too. The only issue if I'm being super pernickety is that I wasn't too sure whether I was using the correct recycling bin, there was one through the garden gate but it was technically next door so not too sure if this is a shared one or if we've been putting our rubbish into next door's bin? Fab stay though, thank you!

I've repeatedly told you we had NO hot water the whole of our stay, nothing was done, the response was zero, i would not use your company again, don't keep messaging me, yours Mr P Mechen

Excellent holiday cottage with everything you could need.

Very comfortable beds & furniture. 5 mins walk to the beach & easy access to Rye & other local spots. Very good value for money. Only slight negative was poor TV reception.

Lots of positives but a few small things that could easily be fixed.

The house sleeps 4 but there were only 3 mugs & 3 chairs with patio table. More mugs & glasses needed. The boiler broke down so no hot water but this was fixed within a few hours. All the coat pegs by front door are broken so nowhere to hang coats. Overall nice & clean & warm & quiet but it was Nov!

Hakuna Matata is a nice cozy little cottage in a calm area nearby the lovely beach Camber Sands, the bus station is also not far away.

The cottage was very clean. When we arrived, some small welcome gifts, like cake and orange juice from a farm were there for us. The garden is small more like a terrace with wood and stones but in october it was too cold sitting outsite anyway. The negative thing was that the doors from the bathroom and the restroom weren' t easy to close. And there weren' t not enough hooks for jackets in the entrance area and for the towels in the bathroom. And the folding table had to be reassambled again and again, because it wasn' t enough space in the living room for a dining table, but that didn' t bother us. We were a family with three people, that' s why we didn' t need much space. We couldn' t cook with normal tab water because it was chlorinated but in the cottage were enough bottles with still water. Overall we felt confortable in the cottage.

Poorly maintained.

Missing light bulbs and garden tiny and ramshackle. Beds and, linens perfect. Close to beach. Out of season visit not recommended. Left 3 days early due to no water. Southerners water issues not the property itself.

So many things need addressing it would be impossible to list.

The property is not fit for purpose and needs serious work. I have passed photos to Sykes Cottages but they apparently leave it to the owner to sort any issues but they do not check. The images on line are 10years old!

Very disappointed and have raised a complaint with Sykes.

We had one key(instead of two),the televisions do not work - no signal so needs a new ariel. Back door dificult to open, close and lock. Two coat hangers out of three broken, back garden light not working, no light in the utility room. The table and chairs in the garden in poor condition, garden decking all rotten and large weeds in the garden. Please give this feedback to owner. I would recommend that Sykes cease advertising this property which is clearly not up to standard..

Everything was lovely, a couple of things, the baby gates don't fit doors or stairs, and the cot was broken.

But that didn't dampen a lovely few days, would definitely return, and would highly recommend.

We noticed in the customer reviews that certain things were caput or at least wrong in the property but thought the owner would have attended to it .

Sorry but still no hanging of outdoor closing in the entrance hall, light bulb in bedroom2 missing. defective lighting in Kitchen,Difficulty with badk door key.Not very clean.Problems with heating and TV. The owner of the propertyy should be informed.

The ground floor was old en worn out.

The couches were dirty en sticky. We put our clean dog blankets over them before sitting on them. The carpet was full of stains and dirty. Kitchen facilities poor. We bought a frying pan en scissors. Shortage of cups, no wine glass etc. Several light bulbs broken (in utility room, outdoor light, cupboard). Upstairs Ok.

Had a very lovely holiday.

It was a very peaceful and clean property. I would certainly recommend it to my friends.. The interior deco had a very calming effect on one’s mind. Would love to return again. Thank You.

I am sorry and disappointed to have to report the following: The back door catch and lock need attention Very difficult to shut the door and to safely lock it The blind in the back bedroom once unlatch to lower the blind for the night had to remain lowered all the duration of our stay because the short amount of cord that remained was too short and out of reach to be able to pull the blind up and let the air in from the open window.

One of the front bedroom carpets has a stain which looks like a dog has spend a penny on it. Not nice Both TV kept failing with a note appearing on the screen reading No aerial connection this kept causing the channels to ‘break up’ Garden is in a poor condition with loose screws and holes in the wooded slats where a small paw could become stuck in No evidence in the property as to where the nearest medical centre is. Necessitating me do drive the hours journey back to our home town, when my granddaughter became ill. No instructions for dealing with bin waste. So i felt oblige to take our rubbish/recycling home at the end of our stay

We were very pleased with Hakuna Mata, well equipped and in a great location.

Loved the welcome gifts, thank you. Some things need a little attention, dripping tap in downstairs loo, back door key is a bit tricky, some crockery has chipped edges. Sorry to be a bit negative but just saying. Would definitely stay again.

LATE AFTERNOON WAS COLD.

A FLAME EFFECT FIRE WOULD MAKE IT MORE WARM AND COSY. WE WILL VISIT AGAIN. THANK YOU

This is a lovely property close to the beach and very comfortable in almost every way.

Pretty much everything is included. Nice and cozy for the winter. Great bed linen and towels provided as is one tea towel and a nice welcome pack. Very pet friendly. The only major point to watch is the thin curtains in the front bedroom which let in light. Next door have a security light which went off randomly in the night, and this with street lighting meant it was never fully dark which affected our sleep. Bring an eye mask and you’ll be fine. Could have done with a dustpan and brush, as not provided. The key safe does not work so should be fixed. A lovely stay despite these minor issues and I wanted to stay longer!

mostly ok but no lock working on toilet and bathroom doors.

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Although we had a lovely stay we were disappointed as there was a few issues at the property.

The cold tap in the utility room did not work, the tap in the downstairs cloakroom was broken, the shower screen seal was falling away and dirty/ green. We felt that the property was tired and needed some maintenance. The hook on the bathroom door was not attacked properly with screws hanging out. I have taken photos of the shower and door hook. The garden front and rear needed some attention as well.

ON OUR FIRST NIGHT WE WERE DISMAYED TO FIND THE MATTRESS IN THE MAIN BEDROOM HEAVILY SOILED ON BOTH!

! SIDES . MY PARTNER DAWN PHONED YOUR OFFICES ON SEVERAL OCCASSIONS TO DISCUSS THIS MATTER . WE ALSO EMAILED PHOTOS OF THE MATTRESS . THIS WAS IGNORED . DAWN ALSO TOOK IT UPON HERSELF TO WASH THE MATRESS PROTECTOR THAT WAS HEAVILY SOILED AND SMELLED . THE SOFAS IN THE LOUNGE AGAIN WERE VERY DIRTY. IM SADDENED THAT THIS AS OUR FIRST HOLIDAY IN A WHILE WAS SPOILED.

We loved our stay, perfect for us with a dog, only problem we had is the garden, the decking was rotting and garden was full of weeds with no plants to brighten it up

We were unable on several occasions to get the TV downstairs working on terrestrial TV and other applications such as iplayer.

After a lot of fiddling around (often having to switch the TV on & off a number of times), we were able to watch something every other day. The TV in the bedroom did work but the signal was very bad, the picture and sound kept breaking up. The rest of the cottage was nice, though the double bed mattress was far too soft and could do with replacing. Given the price we paid, we don't believe the TV service was of a satisfactory standard. We would therefore like some financial recompense for this element. Very thin blinds in the bedrooms meant that we were woken very early by the light; blackout blinds would be recommended. The cold tap in the utility room didn't work at all. Some maintenance is required on this property.

We had read some negative reviews for this cottage & I was quite concerned.

Please ignore them! The house was lovely, perfect location, clean and had everything you needed. I am a clean freak and the white towels & white bedding were perfect, smelt lovely and the rest of the house was as clean. Recommend it.

Great location, very short walk to the beach.

I stayed at that property with my 3yr old son and my dog. The property had everything to offer and more for a self catering property. The fact that it has a dishwasher also made things a lot easier. A few more extra utensils and a decent frying would’ve been handy. Also towel rails and bathroom hooks in the upstairs bathroom would be an idea to install. Other than that. I would happily visit again.

Just three small things I think would make it perfect and that is :- 1.

A non slip mate in the bath (very slippery). 2. A towel rail in the bathroom to hang wet towels on. 3. A bread knife - Very hard to cut fresh bread with a carving knife. Otherwise we had a brilliant holiday. The cottage is an ideal base for the beach and surrounding points of interest, it is very nicely decorated and very comfortable with all mod cons. Would definitely recommend to family/friends and would not hesitate to come back again. The welcome pack was much appreciated and delicious.

- Your email of the 23rd with departure instructions could not be read until after we'd returned home because THERE IS WI-FI OR BROADBAND SERVICE AVAILABLE at the cottage: no access to emails.

- The cottage may have been cleaned but there was nothing to indicate it was Covid-Safe - no hand sanitizer was provided. - 1 small toilet roll for 2 bathrooms is unacceptable. - No light in understairs closet. - Frying pan scratched, worn and filthy beyond use - and far too small for 4 people. - Ground floor W.C. extractor fan broken. - Extractor fan in wash room at rear door broken ; it runs 24/7 and cannot be switched off. - Patio light broken. - 2 kitchen lights broken. - No light in extractor hood over cooker. - No towel racks in first floor bathroom. - No coat hangars in small bedroom. - Hot tap in first floor bathroom broken. - TV in double bedroom receives a signal for 1 chanel only - it's obsolete. - 3 TV remotes, upstairs and down, were so filthy they couldn't be touched until we'd cleaned them with out own sanitizer - and they all need new batteries.

Had a fantastic 5 nights away.

Stunning beach and really close to Rye and Hastings which we loved exploring. Camber Sands itself is pretty quiet but being a 10min walk to the beach was wonderful and the Owl pub served great food. Perfect for a staycation and enough to explore to keep us busy for 5 days with our 14 month old daughter!

I am going to write a totally honest review based on our stay here from 28/9 to 3rd Oct.

First the positives: Camber Sands is a nice area if now a little dated. The beach is gorgeous with plenty of area for dog walking and the fact that we were out of season meant it was pretty quiet, which was nice. We would thoroughly recommend The Owl pub just a five minute walk away which although a little pricey is very nice. The food is lovely, the ambience of the pub very nice and the staff lovely. Rye itself is very pretty and quaint and would also recommend the Simply Italian restaurant. All in all a lovely area. Now to the property itself; it isn't a "cottage", it is a 2 bedroomed house (like a starter home) on a residential development. It is in a terrace of 6 or 7 with most of the houses being holiday homes. When we first arrived we thought it seemed quite nice, perfectly adequate for a 5 day stay with pretty much everything we needed. From that point on unfortunately that changed. There are many maintenance issues with this property; missing lightbulbs with no replacements, taps that don't work properly in the bathroom, the garden is weedy and not suitable for small children and dogs with nettles being an issue. A hoover that doesn't work, a dirty oven. We had a nightmare situation with a burglar alarm that went off in the middle of the night, no alarm codes to be found, woke all the neighbours, a stressful situation that was not resolved before we left. It turns out the owner lives overseas and there is no maintenance contract on the property. Sykes suggested we pack up and go home. My recommendation to Sykes is to remove this property from their website until issues are resolved. My advice would be don't book this property, you will be disappointed.

The house was very clean, tidy, comfortable and had all that we needed to help us enjoy our weeks stay.

The single beds are a tad narrow for adults though perfect for children.The garden was a small space, however we found that we hardly spent any time in the garden. The house was around the corner from a short cut through that took you directly to the dunes and a short walk to the local dog friendly pub "The Owl". Lovely food and pub; the staff friendly & helpful. The house is a great base, not only for visiting Camber Sands and it's amazing beach it is also perfect for exploring the surrounding area. Beautiful Rye is a short drive and other places of interest are also fairly easy to get to and generally 25 - 45 mins by car. We visited several places while we were here including Battle & Bodiam Castle & we took the light train from Hythe to Dungeness. None of us a train spotter but we all enjoyed it non-the-less. Had we realised how close we were to a good water sports venue we would have booked a SUP course in advanced. The property would benefit from having wi-fi as its become the norm to offer this facility in holiday lets/rentals. We all had a great time & would definitely recommend visiting this part of the world.

We had a great week at Camber Sands and our family of four were perfectly comfortable in Hakuna Matata.

We all slept extremely well and appreciated the games, books and really great selection of DVD's. The house is located in a lovely development and it felt very safe - our daughters enjoyed reading on the bench in the small communal garden just in front of the house and it was safe for them to cycle. The beach is just a few minutes away and we particularly enjoyed going there to see the sunset in the evening. We had great weather and swam in the sea on three days. The beach is huge so even when busy we were able to stay safe - a windbreak is good to have for shade and privacy. Also a shout out to E:Bikes, a local business who provide great service. We hired bikes on two separate days - cycling to Lydd and Rye along the lovely countryside cycle paths. Do bring a picnic if going to Lydd as nothing at all was open, but it's a charming place and worth a visit. Downsides were that the kitchen could have been slightly better equipped ie a wooden spatula, chopping board, a measuring jug and couple more oven proof dishes. Also the housekeeping wasn't the best - there was an empty coke bottle and sweets under the bed, however as we wanted to spray all surfaces with anti-bac ourselves this wasn't the issue it might have been. The decor is a little tatty in places and the cottage could do with a coat of paint and some minor plumbing repairs to really realise the potential of the great location. On another note we travelled from London via public transport from Victoria and the journey was safe and efficient. We used a large taxi outside Rye station but there is also a bus (only once an hour so check timings). The local food shops weren't great so we were glad we had an Ocado delivery. If you do come by car or take a trip to Rye we recommend Jempsons supermarket near Rye station which is really good.

We went to Camber car-free and had a fab week.

We hired bikes from eBikes just over the road and enjoyed exploring the beautiful (and flat) local area including Rye Harbour and Dungeness. The cycle paths were great. On rest days we got the bus to Hythe and Rye. A great base to be car-free.

We had a really lovely time.

Place was very tidy. However, I think there may have been a dog there before us and there was a lot of dog hair on the floor and rug. My baby who was crawling everywhere kept getting it in his mouth. Also, the bins hadn’t been emptied before our arrival. I would have liked a few cleaning products under the kitchen sink like a kitchen anti-bac spray. There were no cleaning products for us to clean with apart from fairy liquid. Lastly, I think it should be made more clear on the listing that the house was in an estate. A lovely estate but very close quarters with the neighbours with a tiny garden. We thought we would have more space around us. Al minor points but worth pointing out. We enjoyed ourselves though and felt safe in the cul-de-sac with our small kids. Thank you.

We had a lovely time in there cottage has everything or I could say even more than what you would expect from a cottage Baby facilities high chair travel cot was a big help in our case Has books and family games for the nights I could highly recommend it very family friendly house

When we arrived at the property, last weeks rubbish was on the front step, which was there for all our stay.

Unfortunately, we had to add to it when we left as we had no information on refuse collection. There was no information pack in the property with useful numbers etc. The property was described as a cottage but in reality was a terrace house on a housing estate. The "courtyard" was tiny and very unkempt. The mattresses on both beds were extremely uncomfortable and desperately need replacing. In our opinion the property is barely large enough to accommodate four adults. The pipes on the boiler were leaking. All decor was very tired. The lightbulb in the downstairs loo was not working and we could not find any spares. Although some effort was made to make us feel welcome by providing cake etc, it is not a very cosy and welcoming holiday property. In our opinion the whole of the property would benefit from an update and re-decoration. Although the property itself appeared clean, the fixtures and fittings were grubby and worn out.

Would have likes to see more host's input regarding the cottage.

Also we were unsure how to handle waste & rubbish The bin was quite full on arrival & not emptied in the week we were there. This in no affected our very enjoyable stay in this cottage very comfortable & great ;location. Thank you.

Lovely house very warm and only 10 minutes walk to camber sands

The bin was full when we arrived which made dealing with our own rubbish very difficult.

..we left two tied bin bags in the back yard as didn’t feel it was appropriate to leave it out the front. There didn’t appear to be any re-cycling bins although other properties did. WiFi would have been nice. There was a mop bucket but no mop so bought one and also no hand towels for toilets so bought those too. I contacted Sykes prior to holiday as it was my daughter’s birthday on the 1st Nov asking how well stocked the kitchen was and listed specific items so we could bring anything needed. I was in communication with Molly who was very polite and helpful. She contacted the owners who said that of the things listed all we needed was weighing scales. When we arrived there was no mixing bowl and no lasagne dish so had to buy these too which was disappointing. Other than that an ok cottage, clean and 10 minutes walk from the beach; very small but ok for a short break. The only other niggle was the washer/drier which washed but didn’t dry so we gave up in the end and used the airers that were on site.

Thanks for the welcome gifts of cake, biscuits and apple juice.

Much appreciated!

We loved our stay at Hakuna Matata, it was very comfortable and ideally located for the beach, the development is very nice and quiet , and we would recommend.

A really good experience.

Excellent for the beach and local sightseeing. No Wifi. A suggestion: It would be a great help if the information pack included a sheet listing such matters as: Day to put out the dustbin Nearest Accident and Emergency Doctor Dentist Police Post Office

Lovely property, very clean and comfortable, really appreciated the cake, biscuits and apple juice on artival.

Few minutes walk to the beach, which was very quiet (exactly what we wanted) although in summer and school holidays I’m sure it would extremely busy due to Holiday camp around the corner!) We would return. A couple of points that would have made a difference: there were no trays for the oven, we had to pick up numberous dog poos in the garden from a previous visitor before letting our dog out. There wasn’t an information booklet for house details, local amenities/services or a guest comments book. March 2018

Our stay at Hakuna Matata was exactly what we were looking for.

The cottage was clean and comfortable. We would defiantly book again.

no dishes for oven!

wi-fi would make this property excellent

Plug in bath needs fixing had to prize it to drain.

It was beautiful!

Everything appeared very clean and the extra touch of juice, cake and biscuits was a lovely surprise. The only slight issue I had was when we moved the table out it was very dirty behind. There was a lot of short dark hairs on the bedding too. The bedding and towels were lovely and fresh and white. Also for your info the bathroom door needs attention as the lock is broken. Overall a really great stay and very much looking forward to coming back. Perfect time away from the treadmill of family life. The sand dunes were AMAZING for two mischievous boys. Thank you.