5 Pond View Cottages South Cave, East Riding of Yorkshire

We've recently been staying in a lot of holiday cottages because my husband came to Beverley for a last minute job. In August everything else was booked otherwise I would have left and called Sykes cottages. Only place we've stayed where there was nothing waiting for you - no milk in the fridge for your coffee, etc. Nothing here but a fridge that hadn't been wiped out before we got there. Much of the house, the kitchen particularly, was half cleaned but some things were filthy. The microwave, the stove top, the floors in the entire house...I literally spent days cleaning up dog fur, dirt, grease, and dust bunnies galore. It could be a cute place, in fact, it feels like originally some effort was put into making sure there was adequate kitchen equipment, games, an x-box, etc. but what became abundantly clear was that no deep cleaning or oversight had happened in a long time. Dirty cleaning equipment was just thrown in the cupboard under the stairs. Owner mentioned there had been other complaints about cleaning and while I appreciate her candor, here's the deal. If you know there have been cleaning problems you owe it to the guests who are paying you to stay there to go and make sure it's clean. Otherwise you've taken your problem - substandard cleaners - and made it mine. As I kept finding more and more things it became clear she hadn't really looked in on this cottage in a long time. Cabinets were terribly disorganized and hangers were just thrown around in the bottom of the wardrobe. Glasses were randomly stored (what there was of them, there had clearly been breakage and items hadn't been replaced - only two wine glasses) and lots of personal items left behind. Swim diapers? Looks like guests often leave things behind because I found several items of clothing in drawers that I bagged and left under the stairs in a closet where I am quite sure they are still sitting because I found several more pieces of random clothing thrown on the floor in there. The only thing in the house that was clean to the level you'd expect was the kitchen sink and counter tops, the inside of the bathtub (Under the bathtub was a different story), the two toilets and the sheets on the bed. Oh, and the window sills. Those were wiped out and the mirrors were clean. Someone had been hitting the hot spots that people notice the most and chucking the rest of it for a long time...I cleaned up mold in the showers that after two weeks still hadn't come back so it had been accumulating for a while. I've included pictures but they really don't do it justice. It took weeks to make myself write this review because I just wanted to forget this experience but ultimately decided that any other traveler considering staying here deserved to know. If you do book this place anytime in September and think, it's not so bad, that is because I deep cleaned the entire place. Floor boards were dirty, edges on door panels had a 1/4 inch build up of dust on them, or in the case of the downstairs, obvious dirt smears and what I'm guessing was dried dog slobber. Pillows on sofa had dog fur all over them. They stayed in the closet for the duration of our stay. Throws had dog fur on them and smelled like dog and I washed all but the wool one at the owners request. I asked her via text if I could wash them and she was fine with it but wanted me to put the wool one in the cleaning closet for her to come get later. I promise you the cleaners threw it right back on the chair in the living room. Blanket thrown across the duvet on the big bed was dirty and I washed it, too. Vacuum cleaner smells of dog when you use it. And I used it a lot. I vacuumed the stairs and could still see fur so I tape rolled them thinking I'd just get a little bit more dog fur - it can get sort of stuck in the fibers -I don't even want to know what that was that came up. On the landing outside the master bedroom, I just wiped my hand across the carpet and pulled up fur. It hadn't been vacuumed at all. The owner seems kind, and offered to take some money off the rent and send the cleaners back in but that really doesn't cut it for something like this. She wasn't going to get a cleaner back in on a Friday night and I wasn't living in the mess this house was. When I texted about the iron being broken she ordered another one and had Amazon deliver it. No other check ins except to ask if we'd take the bins out to the curb for her. No problem. The second Wednesday she asked us if we'd mind taking the bins she offered that we could help ourselves to clean linens under the stairs. We'd been there 12 days already. I'd washed the sheets and towels after a week. As I mentioned earlier, she a very nice person but she doesn't take this place seriously and if you stay here, you're rolling the dice, my friend. She was sent the pictures and her apology was sincere but this whole mess could have been avoided if she'd taken a more personal interest in the property before we ever got there.

Great stay, stylish furnishings! Lovely, homely cottage in good surroundings, with an excellent local pub! Close to the market town of Beverley, also not too far from York or Leeds with good motorway links. Safe and secure patio area for the dog with plenty of wonderful walks.

This is a lovely cottage for a couple although someone not very mobile would struggle with the steep and narrow treaded stairs. We stayed over Christmas and the weather was horrible so could not take advantage of any walks. The village is attractive and the local pub the Triton is very well worth visiting. We were very cosy and warm and watched many films on Netflix. The back yard is secure for a dog and the floors easy to clean. Be aware that the bath is tiny and the shower is one of those rain showers that drown you (brilliant water pressure). Wi fi brilliant. There were a couple of minor niggles that I am sure the owners will correct.