“Spacious, well maintained and comfortable property with absolutely stunning views towards the peaks the rear.”
Outside, while it is not entirely secluded - and the main road is sadly very audible close by - there is a reasonable amount of screening from the neighbours on either side and the garden would be lovely in warmer weather. Snow on the mountaintops at New Year was breathtaking and we enjoyed the location.
Inside everything was clean, comfortable and in good repair, and there was loads of room for ten adults and a couple of active toddlers. We were pleased in particular that the kitchen was very fully equipped (knives that are actually sharp! enough saucepans! a food processor! - we would rather have plentiful cookware, crockery and glassware than a limited matching set any day) and able to cope with lots of people cooking, feeding children etc at once. The large boot room was brilliant. Two living rooms and a separate made a big difference when there were kids running around, and although the dining room was a bit of a squeeze for everyone at mealtimes we managed at least one "sumptuous evening feast".
We were not really looking for a "luxury" property - more, something as spacious as possible and reasonably priced, which is what we got - and we had read between the lines enough to realise that the rather breathless agents' puff was probably to be ignored. The plumbing seems to be unable to cope with ten adults, unfortunately - more than one of us had a cold shower every morning. Bath towels were comically tiny and there were no hand towels. Beds were of quite variable quality and bedding was nothing special. It felt miserly not to be given enough loo roll or bin liners for a week - no one wants to have to go shopping for loo roll on holiday. There is good wifi but limited phone signal. You are asked to strip your beds and take out the bins - and if you want to recycle anything, you have to drive it to a council site. The fireplaces are sadly not to be used (which we think should really be mentioned in the agents' description). It would have been nice to see more of the interior decoration reflect the arts and crafts design of the house - it's got some original features, but the furniture is an assortment of new, repro and older stuff which has the vibe of a family home that has had a reasonable amount spent on it - but has certainly been nowhere near an interior designer.
None of that spoilt our enjoyment of the week - we think the place was a reasonable price for what you get and it would clearly be expensive if not impossible to address some of those things. Nevertheless, we've stayed in large propeties where few if any of those things were an issue, and if a property is marketed as being at the "luxury" end of the market, it is no surprise that there are complaints that it does not meet the kinds of expectations that will create.
On a brighter note, fizz on arrival was very welcome. We also appreciated the fact that the property was very well heated at a cold time of year and that we could control the radiators and the thermostats on each floor ourselves - not always the case with larger properties and made a big difference.
- Victoria, December 2021
