“The cottage itself was lovely and very well equipped and comfortable, one of the best I've stayed in.”
It was very clean and clearly a lot of thought has gone into guest comfort. The location is beautiful.
What I didn't like was the lack of privacy. CCTV recording video and audio at the front. CCTV on the back garden. Neither were declared in the listing even though Sykes say it should be disclosed. Fortunately the hot tub is around the side and not covered by CCTV. Over zealous and very bright security lights made sitting outside in the evening with a glass of wine to enjoy the fading light impossible as they come on at the slightest of movements. This was a disappointment as it's a great spot for night sky gazing. Ditto for enjoying the hot tub after the kids have gone to bed. No screening between the neighbours conservatory which abuts the boundary so the neighbours were sat a few feet away looking straight into the garden.
There was an odd and seemingly unnecessary mention of sex offenders in the guest information folder which my daughter read. I hadn't expected to be explaining to a 10 year old what a sex offender is on the first night of my holiday. The information on wild boar was interesting and informative.
The hot tub almost certainly was not serviced during our stay. It had reasonable use as there were 5 of us but despite diligent showering beforehand by the 5th evening the water was cloudy and it had a very unpleasant smell. We left on day 6 so no idea if it was serviced after this. We pretty much only ever book properties with hot tubs and have never previously had issues with water quality or smell. It was too cold to use on the first evening presumably due to a change of water so don't expect to relax in it soon after arrival. When usable it was a great addition.
On the whole what should have been a wonderful stay in a beautiful cottage didn't feel particularly relaxing particularly when using the outside space. I'm aware I could have cancelled on arrival as the CCTV was not declared however this wasn't a realistic option after a 7.5 hour journey with three young children.
It's not particularly clear from the listing whether there's a dining table which almost put me off booking as we always eat meals at the table as a family. There is dining table with two benches and a fold up chair which was perfectly adequate for dining.
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback, it’s much appreciated… as you’ve recognised in your feedback, we have put lot of thought into the facilities in the Holiday Let to endeavour to make our guests stay as enjoyable as possible.
Based upon your feedback and the mention of potentially finding an alternative location at the last minute, we were surprised and disappointed that this wasn’t raised to us via Sykes on the first day, where we could have addressed the majority of questions and concerns early on in your stay, as opposed to you staying the week, and then raising your concerns post-stay.
Please find responses to each of your points in-turn below:
CCTV – We were quite surprised that you raised the question in relation to the CCTV when you appear to have read the Welcome Pack thoroughly, where we explain that cameras are not routinely monitored and only used by exception, with the front camera enabling us to assist guests on arrival with key access, and the camera at the rear of the property is to enable us to check that the ground maintenance has been completed. CCTV has actually been welcomed as additional assurance by some of our guests when storing their bicycles at the rear of the property, not that we have had any security related issues to-date.
When installing the CCTV cameras, we queried with Sykes as to whether this should be added to the listing (which Sykes manage), and were advised that most properties had CCTV of some sort, therefore was not required. CCTV signage is clearly displayed at relevant points around the property, and further detail provided in the Welcome Pack, however following your feedback we have asked Sykes to ensure that CCTV is mentioned in the listing details, and we are reviewing the CCTV camera location at the rear of the property, although as mentioned, some guests have welcomed them.
Hot Tub – The Hot Tub is cleaned and refilled in readiness for every guest, and as a result the temperature is sometimes not fully up to the setting of 38 degrees on your arrival, albeit this doesn’t appear to restrict its use for the majority of visitors, most of which recognise the Hot Tub as a bonus, on the basis that we provide the Hot Tub at no additional cost. We have tested “hot filling” the tub, however due to being in a “Hard Water” area, the hot-fill increased the limescale deposits in the water, so as a result we unfortunately need to cold-fill. In relation to hot tub maintenance during guests stay, we typically check the water and add hot-tub chlorination and cleansing tablets on a weekly basis, as the hot tub has a “Pool Mushroom” which manages the dosage, which suits the majority of our guests, albeit this very much depends on how guests use the facility.
Welcome Pack – We are pleased that you enjoyed much of the local information contained within the welcome pack, but were sorry to hear that the mention of certain types of criminality in the wording caused discomfort in needing to explain this to younger members of your family. The wording used is relatively standard and similar to that which we have encountered in welcome packs when staying at holiday venues across the UK. However, we appreciate the feedback and have amended wording to hopefully avoid future issues.
Lighting – We personally love the location of the Holiday Let, where guests can enjoy the beautiful night sky, unspoilt from light pollution such as street lighting, and we have had astronomer guests specifically select the holiday cottage to study the night sky, which is why we designed all of the external lighting to be controlled individually via switches in the kitchen, so we were surprised at your comment regarding “over zealous and bright security lights”, on the basis that they can be turned off as /when required.
Facilities – We are constantly reviewing, adding or enhancing facilities at the holiday let to endeavour to provide guests with the best holiday experience possible, and will ask Sykes to update the listing, to include details of internal and external dining arrangements and smart-tv functionality.
Property Owner