Michelle B
May 2024
The property was warm and had been cleaned, but it was downhill from there.
It is obvious that this was once a lovely house with nice things, unfortunately a gross lack of maintenance and neglect means you share the house with spiders, woodlice and ants. They probably crawl in through the cracks in the bottom of the ground-floor bedroom wall, the leaking conservatory door or any of the ill-fitting doors. The table cloth on the dining table was too small to cover the table and despite being washed and ironed it had what appeared to be rust stains on it. The cupboard in the dining room is tied together with ribbon and wool and upon opening it one finds spider-webs akin to a Halloween film and some copper pipes. The furniture is terribly stained especially the conservatory furniture and even the loose cushions and the living room pouffee look dreadful. We had rain during our stay and quickly discovered the conservatory roof and doors leaked. The glass roof is also covered in algae. The downstairs bedroom carpet must have once had a leaking radiator this is evidenced by the brown staining spreading out across the room. The seal on the shower screen has red/black mould in it and during a shower the water backs up until you are standing in 3-4 inches of water. This was remedied when my husband pulled out enough hair and slime out of the plug-hole to fill a pint pot. The basin is cracked and bathroom cabinet is old and the MDF is swelling. The paint is peeling down the side of the sink and the toilet flush broke whilst we were there. However, this was fixed quickly by a plumber. Beware the pan rack that has been hung in the bathroom, it is broken and has arms that when down can be walked into causing painful bruises to the shoulder as one of our party discovered. The shower is powerful and hot, so has presumably been fixed since previous guests stayed. The second bathroom is not fit for purpose, its essentially a brick built shed in the yard with a corrugated plastic roof and a mirror so rusty it should be sent to mirror heaven. It is accessed from the house via the kitchen, through the lean-to porch, into the yard, past the builder's debris (the house next door is being renovated by the same owner). Many of the doors didn't close, the book case looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and should probably be decluttered and fixed to the wall. The standard lamps also lean precariously and the shades have cracked and split. The light and fan inthe conservatory doesn't work at all. There are way too many bibles in the house, one of which had a cover that was no longer attached and dated back to 1832. The house accepts dogs, but be warned they cannot be let into the garden unaccompanied as this is not a secure garden and despite it leading out onto a small road cars, quad bikes and tractors do travel quickly along it. One of the upstairs double rooms has a wooden cot in it. This cot is a threat to life, it is falling to bits meaning the bars exceed the width recommended for an infant to safely sleep in it (i.e they could get their head stuck through the gaps). I have advised Sykes of the issues and they are awaiting a response from the owner. The single room with the hot water tank has a chipboard shelf that is falling down on one end, it still has rail and coat-hangers clinging to it. This room also has a curled rug (trip hazard). The washing machine, dishwasher, cooker and heating all work well and there are sufficient pots and pans.
Sykes initially appeared helpful, but closed my complaint after not getting any response from the owner and have not answered my request to escalate the complaint. Sykes continue to advertise the property on their website, despite seeing my photographs.