“Well, almost met our expectations.”
The place was spotless, spacious, and very well equipped. However, there were a couple of maintenance issues that need sorting. The front (and only) door sticks, and at times we had real problems getting in and out! Also, the shower would not always fire up first go, and you had to fiddle with the main on/off switch in the loo a few times to get a result. The big problem was the Wifi. This is essential to us as we have a close relative who is housebound and not very well at all, and this is the way we keep on touch with her. The problem was that we could connect, but after a few seconds it would all drop out, and you had to start all over again. The longest I managed to keep it going at any time was about two minutes, and when it did connect, it was d-e-s-p-e-r-a-t-e-l-y s- -l- -o- -w! I also experienced messages on my computer stating that 'another computer on the network was using my IP address' and 'the name of my computer was already being used on the network' - why was I on anyone's network at all? I have mentioned this to friend of mine who hosts internet sites, and is a bit of a whizz with this sort of thing, and he states that this is not right at all!
My partner's iPad running the latest OS could not get any sort of connection at all.
Ther 'manual' for the cottage said we could contact the owner if there were any queries. I texted him one evening around 6pm - thought that was better than possibly interrupting a meal, but got no reply. I 'phoned the next morning, spoke to his daughter who said he was out, but she took my number, and said either he or someone else would get back to me .... and guess what, nobody did. I 'phoned again later the same day, and got hold of the owner, who told me that BT were having problems - but while walking the dog locally, I spoke to several residents, and they were having no problems at all, although the speed was not wonderful, but fast enough to watch catchup TV etc, so not bad. Mr. Woodliffe said he might be able to get out that evening if he could to see what he could do, so we stayed in, and guess what ........ no show. So, overall, the place was good on the whole, but the 'back-up' was very poor. Had this been sorted, or at least attended to as far as could be, we would have given it a glowing review, but under the circumstances, this side of things was disappointing. I don't wan't you to publish my feedback, but I would like it if Mr. Woodliffe was more co-operative with his guests in future. Mick Leary and Carol Parsons.
- Mr Leary, September 2019