My husband booked this very expensive cottage as a surprise for my birthday. He had chosen it based on the photos and reviews.
The day before we arrived, he looked at the most recent reviews and was concerned - they were 1 and 2 stars instead of the 5 stars he'd read when he initially booked it several months ago.
He contacted the owner the day before our visit to confirm approximate arrival times, so they were definitely aware that we were coming but when we arrived, there were no lights or heating on - the building was absolutely freezing as was the water which is heated through solar panels, all of which took quite some time to get warmed up. There was no welcome pack of any kind - not even a pint of milk for us to have a cup of tea - we have been to much cheaper establishments which supplied bread, milk, butter etc. just to get the guest started upon arrival. Fortunately, we had the foresight to go shopping prior to arrival, we usually get settled in first and then go shopping locally.
After such a long journey to the cottage, we understandably required a bathroom break - between the four toilets in the building there was only half a toilet roll! I understand that this was a self catering break but surely there should have been some preparation prior to our arrival. When we asked for more toilet rolls we were supplied with two (between seven guests including four adult males).
In the kitchen I tried to prepare a meal in the gloom - only one of the light bulbs out of 5 was working - the others had clearly stopped working a long time previously and were full of cobwebs and flies. This was a consistent issue throughout the building.
There were dust balls on the floor which consisted of long blonde hairs - only one member of the part was blond and that was short cropped and couldn't possibly be the source of the dirt!!
It was clear that there had been a party there previously as there were bits of streamers on the chandeliers in the dining room and bits of balloons and rubbish under the table. There was rubbish under the sofa (although the lounge was the most pleasant room of the cottage).
I understand that we arrived in winter but there were dead plants everywhere outside, the shed was dilapidated and in a state of total disrepair, and the hot tub... :(
My husband only books accommodation with hot tubs as he feels that as we work hard to earn our holiday money, we should be able to relax when away and the thought of a romantic, log burning hot tub won him over when planning this surprise gift.
The hot tub was cold when we arrived - yet another example of the lack of preparation prior to our arrival, (it apparently takes three hours to warm up), and it was full of scum. I was embarrassed to mention this to the owners but my five year old son had no such conscience and complained that it was disgusting. The owner's son came over and added more water to it, explaining that it was probably just the chlorine tablets which hadn't dissolved but when we switched the water off, the scum remained and none of us were prepared to enter the water due to this.
The views and the animals were another reason he chose this venue. The views were spectacular there is no denying but the alpaca bit my son on the leg when he tried to pet it, and spat at and chased anyone who went near it or its compatriot. Maybe there should have been warnings not to approach the animals if they are so vicious?
The farm dogs were great and we did spend an hour playing with them. We couldn't reach the horse field without climbing over the garden fence as there was too much vegetation covering the route to the field.
There was only enough hot water for one bath per day - one couple shared bath water which was luke warm by the time the second person got in. I spent the morning of my birthday having a strip wash because the both showers were freezing cold even though we had used the solar power "boost button".
By this point, we were all so disappointed with the place that we decided to leave a day early. The owner sent a text to my husband saying that she hoped that we had enjoyed our stay - he was so upset at the state of the place that he did not reply.
We complained to Sykes Holidays the following day and sent them photos to back up our complaint. Sykes were mortified but did say that they had had other similar reviews. They put our complaints to the owner who said that because we hadn't complained to her at the time, she would not refund any of our money (just under £1000 for a weekend). It has also taken two weeks for her to reply to Sykes.
Sykes were more gracious and did refund £100 as a goodwill gesture due to their embarrassment that their reputation had been so tarnished by association
This venue did not live up to the photos on the website which were clearly not taken recently and was definitely not worth the extortionate amount of money charged.
Pros: Beautiful views, clean bedding.
Cons: Dirty house, poor lighting, no preparation or any kind of welcome pack, disgusting hot tub.