“The property is in need of a deep clean.”
The general work surfaces and appliances in the kitchen were OK and main bathroom amenities and towels/bedding, but throughout the house, there was a general build up of dirt and dust that has obviously not been touched in months, with cobwebs everywhere. You simply had to look at skirting boards, around window frames or under/next to any piece of movable furniture to see that these had certainly not been cleaned prior to our arrival. In the current time, it is inexcusable for cleanliness to be in question and given that Sykes sends a lengthy email prior to departure about cleaning round the house prior to departure as guests (fair enough), there can be no excuse for the house not to be spotless for new arrivals, especially at the price charged. I had text the owner a day after arrival to raise this issue and sent multiple photo examples. The response was apologetic and she arranged for the cleaner to return. However, on the cleaner's return, instead of addressing the whole property, only the specific photo examples were wiped over (this included filth blocking the extractor fan in the shower, sand and food remnants under and around the sofa and dirt along rails and the stairs). After the cleaner's visit, we heard nothing from the owner to check if we were happy with the house.
After already messaging the owner on day 2, it became apparent that the ensuite shower was blocked and again, should have been noticed prior to arrival when being cleaned. Either the cleaner did not clean properly or simply did not care about the issue. We did not wish to spend our holiday going back and forth on these issues, so made use of one shower and enjoyed the beautiful view from the terrace - this is stunning and was the best part of our stay. The house otherwise is in a nice location and has decent appliances and amenities for a family stay.
After our departure, I had a further exchange with the owner and in short, she implied it was our fault if parts of the house were dirty or a shower drain blocked because we did not specifically raise it point by point. A complaint of a generally dirty house should not ever have been required- does Sykes not require properties to be at a certain standard of cleanliness ? It was a real shame as with a deep clean, this is a cute property in a lovely area with a spectacular view.
Thank you for your comments.
We take great pride in the cleanliness of our property and we are sorry that you found some dust behind a wooden table and on an extractor fan in a cupboard with an external wall. We arranged for the cleaner to reattend as soon as you made us aware and thank you for the pictures. The cleaner also removed the crumb from underneath the sofa lip and checked the staircase spindles for the spider you saw and ensured there were no cobwebs. The threshold at the bottom of the wardrobe was also recleaned for you. We responded to you by message on several occasions and we arranged a reclean of any area you had advised us of during your stay, as soon as possible, at a time convenient for you. We of course have received the Sykes Cottages covid cleaning guidelines for properties and we apologise if due to the cleaner concentrating on high density touch points for guest safety, this resulted in some non touch points in unobtrusive locations being missed at the time. Regarding the shower drain, occasionally properties can have an unforeseen maintenance issue but as we were regrettably not made aware of this until after your checkout, we were unable to assist with this at the time. We are sorry that we were not given the opportunity to address that at the time. As soon as we knew, we reached out straightaway to subsequent guests at the property to check they were ok and to discuss if a drain clearance was required. We're glad that you enjoyed the location, appliances and amenities.
Property Owner
