“I will start at one end and work my way to the other.”
The towels provided had a very strong mildew smell. We were 3 adults and 1 child staying for 6 days. They provided just one extra roll of toilet paper.
Hand soap was provided on the sinks of the two bathrooms. For the bathroom off of the big bedroom, no soap was provided nor was there a proper place to put it. We bought bar soap from Tesco and I balanced it on some of the pipes.
Wasps kept trying to come in and make nests and that might be why the bathroom vents have all been taped up on the outside.
The hot water was powered by gas. The instructions for the cabin said is the gas run out to change the tank if we felt comfortable with being able to do it. It did not say what to do if we were not comfortable doing that. Even when we had not been using it, the hot water would sometimes not be hot.
Staying in an unfamiliar place, we wanted to leave the light on in the hallway bathroom. Unfortunately, there is no way to have the light on without the exhaust fan also running. It was annoying having to hear the exhaust fan all night.
The hallway bathroom did not flush properly, but we were able to fix that. It simply had not been set up properly.
The kitchen was a place of multiple problems. There were no instructions on how to use the oven. The oven knobs had the numbers 1 through 8 on them. No temperature markings. No idea of how to know when the oven was up to temperature.
Many of the dishes and silverware provided to us were dirty. Most of the knives were dull and flimsy. The only sharp knife was a little paring knife.
There was a spoon in the drawer with old milky tea dried in it, as if it were used to stir a drink and then just put directly back into the drawer. Also, one of the bowls on the kitchen shelf has several dried hardened on spots of mystery splatter in it as well as an aged, gummy candy stuck to the inside of it
The inside door latches were difficult to operate. We had to tape over one door because my grandson got trapped in a room and was unable to open the door.
The sliding glass doors in the living room are not properly sealed on one side, so there was a steady stream of flies coming in.
Thank you for your feedback, which is highly unusual. The towels are always both hung on lines for freshness and then are also tumble dried, we do leave everyone a card with the welcome pack, saying if any concerns or help needed to contact us personally, we include our number and would have immediately changed any towels for you if we had known. Your booking was for 5 nights and the bathrooms has a toiler toll each plus a spare, so three in total. There are hanging shelves in the shower , and both bathrooms always have hand soap, which where new.
I have never seen wasps but of course an occasional one may be around as the property is in a rural location, the area has been fully checked by me and none were found There is a gas bottle which is for the gas oven not the hot water, as the hot water is powered by electricity. The gas is stored in a field with a spare and would only ever rarely run low as it is checked regularly, we leave a message that if does ever run low, guests can of course change if they prefer and if convenient for them or we will of course do it if we are contacted that it is running low. We would have assisted straightaway if we had needed to explain on how to get more hot water if needed.
The fan is of course for ventilation, which due to regulations comes on whenever the bathroom light is switched on. There is also a light on in the hallway which both lights up the hallway and also the way to the bathroom, so the bathroom light/fan extractor does not need to be put on unless the bathroom is being used.
As the oven is gas which is quite usual in the UK, it would not have any electric temperature dials, but we would of course have explained how to check online for the equivalent temperature rating that you are used to so that you could select the correct gas mark temperature.
Our cleaning company is usually very good which is reflected in our usual excellent reviews and top scores and any oversight would have been addressed immediately.
The indoor latches will be checked straightaway, all indoor doors are also rolllable so can be pushed from the other side, I'm sorry if you weren't aware of this at the time and that your grandson was not too distressed. The sliding glass door would have been checked immediately had we known of any concern.
We do give our contact number out in the information inside the property as we are always approachable day and night and Sykes Cottages also have a dedicated helpline for guests who need any help at all during their stay, indeed Sykes helped advise you on where to find the property location etc, guiding you to the address information on a previous email and you also advised them that you had arrived. I am truly sorry that neither Sykes or myself were given the opportunity to help you during your stay itself, as it does not seem any concerns were raised by you until your feedback came through, a few days after your check out date.
Property Owner
