Firstly, the house is very well located for access to Whitby (garage parking and a parking space was excellent) and was very clean with all the utensils, towels etc that we needed and is very new and well decorated.
I will now explain the reason for my low rating of our stay:
During June and July (at least) it is the breeding season for seagulls. We are very aware that this is a seaside location and as such there will be seagulls. What we were very unaware of was the lack of seagull nesting prevention - the gulls are on every rooftop and chimney in the small courtyard - chicks were everywhere, having fallen out of nests, including where the hot tub was - in my opinion any small dog or child could be in danger due to the gulls swooping around as the gulls were very protective of their young, plus 24 hour screeching, plus one gull resident on our bedroom window ledge, tapping on the glass all night (the pane of glass had scratch marks on the outside where the gull had continually tapped it). The gull excrement on all the outdoor furniture and patio during the week, we felt, was also another health issue. Consequently, we stayed 5 nights out of the 7 as we desperately needed sleep and our small dog was terrified, she is a jack russell and not prone to being scared of anything usually! The owner needs to at least try and gull proof the outside areas. Dogs also have to been taken out of the courtyard for their toilet needs as there is absolutely no grass at all.