Our 4-night stay was unfortunately cut short and ruined by the neighbouring property’s cockerel which began crowing at 2am the first night and 3am the second night of our stay. The crow was extremely loud and incessantly crowing throughout the very early hours through until the morning, approximately every 10 seconds or less. This meant that we had no sleep, so were exhausted and frustrated, and were therefore unable to go out and enjoy our holiday as planned. It was on New Year’s Eve at 5am (the 2nd morning into our 4-night stay) where we decided we simply could not and should not have to put up with the noise, so packed up and drove 4.5 hours home.
The owners are aware of the noise issue, as they left earplugs with a sign about the cockerel on the bedside tables. These were insufficient in blocking out the noise. There was no prior, explicit warning about the cockerel waking at 2/3am. There was merely a note on the Sykes Cottages advert page stating we ‘may hear animal noises’. This was an understatement, and we feel did not properly warn us of a loud cockerel practically outside the bedroom window. Moreover, we have stayed on working farms before and are used to the expected farm animal noise, but at a reasonable hour after sunrise – certainly not constantly from 2am. We believe the owners of this property seriously need to address this noise disturbance as it is likely an environmental health issue, and will not be surprised if other paying customers expecting a peaceful holiday find this to be a problem.
We were only refunded less than half of what we paid to stay here, which was disappointing. Not only was our New Year’s Eve holiday ruined, but we felt under-compensated for our disappointing experience. It was not the peaceful, pleasant holiday and start to the New Year we had so hoped for, especially after a very difficult year. It’s such a shame, as the property itself is lovely and well-equipped, but is overshadowed by a terribly loud noise disturbance. Avoid staying here if you expect a good night’s sleep.