“Thank you for a pleasant stay and Happy New Year!”
We found the setting beautiful and enjoyed the size of the bedrooms, especially the upper room, the setback location and the ease of walking out for a large number of local walks. However, there were some parts of the stay that were below our expectations.
Firstly, upon arrival, we discovered the dining room was not a separate room as the photographs had made it appear. Instead, it was part of a larger communal area. As this is a Hall we did expect, as the photographs had eluded to, to have an oak-panelled room for our festive dining and games to bring in the New Year. This was rather disappointing as we selected the property in part for this reason. I would suggest, to avoid this for future guests, that some more photographs be included in the advert to illustrate this.
Secondly, the overall finish of the property was frustrating. Advertised as a luxury stay we didn't expect the premises to not match the high-end quality of the description and photos. In several places, ceiling lights and chandeliers had been removed and instead, we saw lots of what we hoped would be temporary expanding foam in their place, the downstairs front room had a makeshift budget heater thrust into the centre, chairs at the dining table were either broken or roughly superglued together, the curtains in the common area had large chunks of material missing and were threadbare from frequent rough use, the floors were covered in dirty stains and the throws provided for guests were stained and fusty. It was rather underwhelming and again didn't match the standards depicted online, it felt rather miss-sold. I feel any guest would be disappointed with this standard, especially when all the photographs display a high-end stay. I appreciate that as a rental flat there is footfall and things get used and worn, and indeed some items are expensive to replace, but some of these things were either totally removed and not replaced ruining the aesthetic or well well well beyond a reasonable level of use or condition.
Finally, although we were appreciative of the cleaning pack compromising of bin bags, a rag, a sponge and some dishwasher tablets, there was nothing else on-site to help with the general cleaning of a large flat. We had to go out to purchase hand soap (as none was present in two of the bathrooms), general fairy liquid washing up liquid, multipurpose surface cleaning spray, disinfectant wipes, kitchen roll and toilet roll. This was relatively inexpensive but again for somewhere showing a high level of service and luxury we felt let down. I would really expect some if not all of these things to be available to use. As guests are asked to clean before leaving, it begs to ask the question of what they were expected to use for this cleanup?
Overall we had a memorable stay from what we made of it ourselves, but the premises just didn't add to that overall. One guest actually left early. It felt quite knocked about and used and the lack of basic cleaning items was the straw that broke the camels back. I don't know if the servicing, cleaning or managerial team are to blame here, but I will say it could be a wonderful place to stay if refreshed and better serviced. Certainly, for me, it was not worth the expense paid.
Thank you for your feedback. We are glad you enjoyed the property and its wonderful location. We are sorry that some aspects of your stay fell below your expectations and appreciate your frustrations. We have been unable to visit the property ourselves for nearly two years due to the pandemic and sgree there has been some wear & tear. The curtains were flagged up by the Visit England Inspector in November and we are taking actions to sort this out. As you can imagine this is not a quick or cheap business. We were unhappy with the deterioration in the finish of the dining chairs and have new ones on order. We are sorry they were not in place for New Year. Likewise the two chandeliers had to be removed for health & safety reasons as the old 1900 era wiring was not safe and could not be accessed without removing the beautiful moulded ceilings. We will be getting the ceilings made good in due course. I am surprised that there was no hand wash. There was plenty when we were there in December. We will address this along with a supply of cleaning products for future guests. There were no dirty stains on the carpets when we were there in December, so I can only assume these occurred over Christmas. I will flag this up with Lakelovers housekeeping. The rather excellent DeLonghi heater is supposed to be in the under stairs cupboard in case of any super cold weather or power cut. Sorry if its presence offended you. It is not a "Budget heater" and certainly should not be a centrepiece! I am surprised that you did not appreciate the beautiful oak panelled room. It is the main reason we bought the house because of its wonderful atmosphere and all the original Arts & Crafts features. I really do not feel that the Lakelovers brochure sets out to deceive on this count. I am sorry you did not feel the property was worth what you paid. We do not run the property as a profit making business and we could not afford to let it out for any less. We make a loss on it every year but keep it on as we love it ourselves. Overall the Visit England Inspector was comfortable with our property in November and was happy to award it four stars with a Gold Award but despite this we are not complacent and do respond positively to constructive comment and your observations have been taken on board.
Richard Vowles Property Owner