“We were a party of 4 families, consisting of 8 adults and 9 children and 1 dog.”
Fir Trees as advertised should have been the perfect accommodation for our needs. However upon arrival we found the kitchen in a state of refurbishment, with still wet plaster on the walls, live electrical cables exposed, some of which were not adequately insulated, there was black mould on some the walls where old units/apploances had been removed. The installed fridge was very small and is not sufficient for a property advertised to accommodate 18 guests, although we did see space for another fridge, possibly due to be installed at a later date. When tea time arrived we discovered the cooker was not working, after some investigations it became apparent it had not been correctly wired up following installation of new kitchen units. This ruined our first night’s plans for tea, having purchased a large amount of food before arriving. Having no means of preparing food for 9 young children was very disappointing and disrupted our plans for the evening. We had to buy takeaway food for everyone staying at the property which was an unexpected cost we had not budgeted for. This was the same story for breakfast the following morning, where we had brought a large amount of food to be cooked but were unable to do so again. The oven was eventually reconnected by a tradesman during the second day of our stay. The weekend we stayed was particularly cold and we soon noticed there was no working central heating running at the property which meant two cold nights for our children. When this was highlighted to the owner it was resolved the following day, and the house did warm up to a comfortable temperature. The listing for Fir Trees specified there was a sitting room, but this is not the case as the only communal rooms are the dining room and kitchen. The bins for the property, although many, where all found to be nearly full when we arrived, this proved challenging when trying to keep the place clean and tidy. One of the bedrooms was found to have a very slow draining toilet, this worsened over the course the weekend and eventually blocked. The bedrooms and bathrooms at Fir Trees are very well presented and provide a high standard of comfort. The location is ideal for access to the lakes and the surrounding attractions. There is ample parking. It was very clear Fir Trees was once a B&B but it doesn’t feel that the property is completely ready to be used as a holiday rental. The guest information folder left out for us still contained all the old B&B information. Fir Trees has massive potential to be a great holiday let but it’s not quite there yet.
Hi sorry for the late reply, and we are sorry your experience didn’t match your expectations, it is difficult to improve a property on a tight schedule without having issues and things can and will be improved, big things coming next year. I’m glad you do see the potential in the house as we have, it will be realised! Watch this space. Also thanks for being sympathetic to our fledgling business.
Property Owner
