“I regret booking this accommodation as it ruined the holiday and from the moment I arrived I thought to myself " I'm looking forward to leaving".”
The place was tiny, dingy, and unwelcoming.
After driving many hours to a "holiday home" you at least expect to find the basics such as tea, coffee, and sugar, but there was none. How stingy!
Just about all of the places I have stayed have also added thoughtful little extras such as milk, biscuits, or eggs from their own chickens, etc, but not here.
There was no hairdryer.
The sofa was terribly uncomfortable, uneven, and seems to eat you up when you sit down.
I had to wash up someone else's dirty frying pan/sauce pans before I could cook myself dinner.
There was a DVD player, not no DVD'S.
It's quite irritating hearing a large fridge-freezer buzzing loudly behind you whilst trying to relax quietly on the uncomfortable sofa.
There was nothing to make the accomodation feel cosy or welcoming and I was left feeling like I was the one who should have been paid to stay there.
There is very little privacy as every window other than one is facing directly through neighbours windows, which are only metres away.
When you step outside to walk to your vehicle the nosy neighbours are watching you through their windows and making comments to one another. Being inside I suppose they don't think anyone can hear them even though their windows are open.
The morning after my arrival I had an issue with my vehicle and had to call an auto locksmith. Due to there being no signal whatsoever inside or outside of the accommodation I wasted a lot of time walking all around the village to finally pick up a very weak signal outside of the church. The locksmith could not get back in contact with me when he needed to and the whole situation was exhausting. The day was wasted!
The only thing that makes it a "cottage" is the fact that it has one beam downstairs and a log burner for winter. Other than that it has no charm, feel, or privacy. Incredibly disappointed.
Oh no: how sad that you did not enjoy your weekend in our family’s cottage. You booked a last minute weekend getaway for yourself and your dog: then had a long drive and it was not what you were hoping. (Did you look at the pictures before you booked?) It sounds like it must have been all very vexing especially if you wasted one of your two days trying to get your car unlocked and did not have time to enjoy the local walks.
There is wifi in the cottage, perhaps you did not know this is used for phone calls and in fact works in the garden and even in the car in the lane. I’ll improve the instructions for future guests.
The cottage has been refurbished with a modern feel, slate floor downstairs, shaker style kitchen cupboards, a modern oak dining table, log burner and LED lighting. It is a small cottage ideal for a couple of people or a small family but if you were wanting complete silence I can see how any appliance in an open plan living space could be noticeable. At least the underfloor heating is silent!.
The sofa is a low style sofa with deep corduroy cushions, all as shown in the photos, but it sounds like this style was not to your liking. I hope you at least slept well and found the bed comfy and the shower hot as you don’t mention you had a problem with these.
Re the tea coffee and other farm supplies you were hoping to get supplied. It's a self catering cottage : we aim to supply the housekeeping things are a faff to bring - loo rolls, dishwasher tablets, cleaning spray, bin bags etc, plus a few logs and firelighters if you want a fire. We do not supply perishables or things that can go stale, and these days people are quite choosey about what coffee or tea they like. Perhaps being a last minute booking you did not have time to read the information. The housekeeper tells me that dishwashers in general do not get pans as clean as hand scrubbing but she checks everything has been washed. I’m guessing that you are someone who likes to do their own washing up rather than use a dishwasher so may not know this.
Thanks for the heads-up about the hair dryer being missing. I’ve replaced it.
We did provide a DVD player but not DVDs as mentioned in the booking info - and we have no idea if you would have wanted: Paddington Bear or Blue Planet? Now we have fibre broadband, soon we will be replacing the DVD player with a TV that can do Netflix and other internet services so people can use their own subscriptions on the TV as well as their laptops while staying in the cottage.
I’m a bit puzzled about your anxiety about the people in the village. Perhaps you mistook friendly concern for something else when you were having problems with your car. If you'd spoken to them they would have been able to solve your phone problems at least.
Your statements about the windows I cannot understand - non of the windows except the small bedroom look towards another cottage. Main bedroom and lounge windows look out over the garden not anyone's house. From the porch or the garden it is possible to look out over the walls at other cottages in the village.
It is such a shame that you did not have time to enjoy visiting the area and the many walks and places to visit locally.
Property Owner
