“6.5/10 cottage
The location was great.”
Lots of things to do and see on both foot, car and train. There’s a fast flowing stream 2 metres from the front door which was lovely - the dog loved her morning paddle and you could hear it slightly when sat in the lounge/ kitchen.
Parking outside was easy - we managed to unload everything on the doorstep and then park on the shared off-road driveway.
The log burner was lovely (and much needed in a cold March) and they provided a bag of large logs. The only negative to the house being upside down was that it was absolutely freezing downstairs (particularly the hallway, but both bedrooms too) as all the heat from the log burner rose. The heating was good but obviously would not come on if the log burner had been on as the temp gauge was upstairs (very cold mornings).
Lovely kitchen - plenty of cutlery and plates provided, and washing machine was good. Comfy bed downstairs, and the shower was great. Lots of storage for coats and clothes. TV was good too, Netflix on there - just don’t forget to log out!
The little garden was perfect for our small cocker spaniel that doesn’t jump, but if you have a dog that likes hopping short fences, I’d be wary!
We had to contact the cottage owner over a small query and he was very helpful and informative - lovely man to deal with if anything were to go wrong!
The reason we wouldn’t give the cottage anything above a 6.5 was it’s cleanliness. Normally, I overlook reviews about how dirty a place is but they were not wrong. The sofa cracks has mountains of crumbs in (which lifted onto the main cushions when you sat down), the floor had not been mopped nor hoovered properly and was incredibly dirty, under the sofa wasn’t pleasant - our dogs toy got lost under there and it was not nice retrieving that! The kitchen pans had not been cleaned properly either and were lined with sticky white grease which we had to clean ourselves (bring your own induction pans as they were really bad - food getting stuck onto it even with a lot of oil), the log burner had not been cleaned (we cleaned it spotless ourselves) and soot went all over our clothing the first time we lit it.
If they provided a hoover (which they need to!) we would have hoovered the place ourselves to make it more bearable. The cleanliness is not what you expect for a Sykes cottage, especially for the money you pay.
Overall, it was a good stay and a lovely little cottage, it’s a shame a lot of the positive qualities were overshadowed by the dirt but if they upped their cleaning (considerably!) we’d stay here again.
Thank you for your feedback.
I am very sorry to hear of the issues you experienced during your stay. Should I have been made aware of this at the time I would gladly have sent a cleaner to put things right.
Please be assured I am investigating this with the cleaner to avoid these issues for future guests.
Property Owner