lindseyataylor1
February 2019
We are not regular contributors to Trip Advisor reviews but felt compelled to report our recent experience at Honeysuckle Cottage.We decided to return to Honeysuckle cottage where we had happily stayed many times over the last 25 years. Wow! What a shock! The whole place on the outside looked very tired and poorly maintained. This was just the start of our disappointment. On entering the cottage we were immediately hit by a pungent, stale, musty odour. The whole place felt damp . We were told that the cottage had not been occupied for some months but we didn’t expect it to be in this condition. We immediately opened all the windows to try to reduce the odour but to no avail. We were then further horrified to find that the whole cottage was in dire need of a good clean.The kitchen area was filthy. Grease was evident everywhere. The cooker extraction fan was caked in stale grease. Some of the cooking equipment had seen better days.The bathroom was disgusting with dirty , corroding fittings especially around the toilet area.The towels and bedding were disappointing to say the least!. The accumulation of dust on light fittings, skirting boards and almost all horizontal surfaces gave an unhealthy feeling to the interior, not conducive to a relaxing holiday!
We decided not to unpack all of our suitcases because the persistent musty smell did not go away for the entire stay. In fact when we returned home the musty smell came with us and all of our clothes, worn or not had to be laundered.
We did not enjoy our stay which was a shame as we had many happy holidays under previous owners.
On returning home we received a customer feedback request from the letting agents and received a follow up call the next day .However, both the agents and the owners referred to ‘ the small print’, stating we should have reported the issues at the time so they could have been given the opportunity to rectify them.
However it was difficult to see how the whole cottage could have been brought up to an acceptable standard within the week we were there.In any case it should not be up to paying guests to report such basic and obvious issues. We feel the property should never have been let in this condition, irrespective of previous occupancy.
We will not be returning to this property again. A very unpleasant experience!!