“The cottage is a lovely, quirky cottage as listed.”
It is in fairly peaceful grounds with fields. We did enjoy our stay, but there were some factors that put a downer on it and things that were either not as listed, or not made clear:
- Right next to the cottage (on either side) is a very run down old caravan (so close the car only just got through the space) and on the other side is the owner's workshop (corrugated iron/scaffolding etc.), plus the site is actually a caravan park, meaning there is potentially more than the odd camper (not a problem, but not made clear). The listing also mentions 8 acres, but we couldnt tell the full extent of the grounds went, this is also because a large portion of it seems to be housing old sail boats, so it looked a bit like a scrap yard. This didn't affect us too badly, but again is not referenced.
- Facilities: I noticed on the reviews nearly 2 months before we were due to stay that the shower was broken (the only shower in the property) and that they were only informed two days before their stay. This also happened to us, and the message was very nonchalant and did not go anyway to address compensation or concerns you might have. They did mention there is a "new shower block" in the caravan park, but 1) we did not want to use this when we had paid for a self contained, functioning cottage, 2) it did not look "brand new" and so we couldnt have a shower for the entire stay, which was very disappointing and frustrating. One shower is also not ideal for 6 people.
There is a washing machine but no dryer. Given the British weather, and likelihood people are going to go the beach, this isnt ideal. All our clothes were wet through and damp for the entire stay, as it rained torrentially 6/7 days.
- The listing mentions eco heating, but none of the documents that are left for you tells you how to work/locate the heating (only one small radiator in the upstairs bedroom) so if you are going to let your property out in the autumn/winter, this is a problem. There were days/nights when we were cold/wet and couldn't do much about it.
- There is a beautiful bathroom downstairs, but given it is jacquzzi bath and shower, but the jacquzzi and shower arent working, it seemed a bit of a waste.
- Cleanliness: in a lot of ways the property was clean when we arrived, but given there is supposed to be extra cleaning because of Covid, we weren't convinced anything but the standard had been done. There is a lot of dust and cobwebs, and there was actually a feces floating in the upstairs toilet (we hadn't even noticed until 2 days later as we were using the downstairs bathroom until then).
- The property is lovely, but could do with updating. The sofas are ripped and weathered, the mattress in the master bedroom was rock solid, has a massive dip on one side, and no bounce - we had to flip it over and turn it upside down to get it bearable. The antiqueness/quirkiness of the cottage is nice, but do feel the facilities should be kept up to scratch.
- The property says it has wifi, which is misleading. For the first two days the light was on red, and thereafter it went off frequently and is not strong enough to do basic web browsing at times. This is an issue if you wanted to 1) bring your own device to watch films etc. 2) if you planned to work, which we did.
Lastly, the information that you get on arrival could be updated. There are years old leaflets in there rather than specific information that might be more valuable from a local, like what takeaways operate near by (which is crucial when you have dogs and are told you cannot leave the property without them), what restaurants etc, and maybe some information about the site. There wasn't any personal touch about recommendations from the owners which would have been beneficial to people new to the area. Also, a local warning siren sounded on the first day of the month (which apparently is a security thing to confirm all is safe) but we werent told about this and were alarmed when we heard it.
Whilst we are highlighting the above, it is more to give a true reflection of things as we wish we had known a few before we stayed. But we did have a nice time and made the best of it, but we wouldn't stay again.
- Ms Dickinson, September 2020