“The lodge itself is lovely and well decorated.”
It had all the essentials needed for a perfect stay; hot-tub, BBQ, 2x bathrooms, comfy beds, lovely views and were very accommodating for our 10 month old son by providing both a cot bed and a high chair. We cannot fault the interior and overall stay. However, there was a persistent smell coming from the main bathroom and even with the window left wide open we couldn't work out where it was coming from. We then discovered when heading out for a walk that when this toilet is flushed, the raw sewage from the toilet is leaking down the side of the lodge and is not being disposed of correctly as the pipe is clearly not sealed. Hence the foul smell. Of course we did not touch nor go near the raw sewage, however we were exposed to it. Sewage contains germs like bacteria and viruses as well as parasites and worms that can cause stomach and intestine or liver illness. None of us have been poorly (touch wood) but it came as a great shock and concern knowing that us and our son would have been walking past the leaked sewage with the bacteria remaining on our shoes/pram wheels. We were constantly worrying about washing hands relentlessly and making sure nothing dropped on the floor for the rest of our stay. I have taken a video of the leaking for reference and will be happy to send on if you can provide a number / email I can forward to. On the last night (Sunday evening) of our stay, whilst preparing our dinner, the whole electricity within the lodge went out. No lights, no power. This was around 6pm (on the bright side, handy that it was before the sun had fully gone down and everything was in complete darkness). We searched the lodge manual and both the booking confirmation for an emergency number and had no luck managing to find one. There was no-way of contacting the owners or Sykes Cottages quickly for assistance. My husband walked up to the Park's reception (nobody there because of the time on a Sunday evening) but managed to speak to the Night Manager and explained what had happened. He came down to the lodge and managed to trip the power back on via an external box round the side of the lodge. However, for us this was not clearly shown nor explained anywhere for us to sort ourselves. I would suggest either an emergency contact number or a 'what to do if' FAQ section is included to detail this for future renters. As mentioned the lodge is beautiful and a great location on site and we cannot fault the overall stay and interiors. But the raw sewage is a huge red flag and we are just thankful that none of us were unwell, hence the low cleanliness rating. Along with the electrics, very inconvenient, but we understand these things happen, but for there to be no emergency contact or information on how to rectify is a problem. I look forward to receiving a response to the above. Best wishes, Jessica
Thank you for your feedback.
We were disappointed to learn about the issues with the toilet.
We had no idea about the soil pipe and arranged to have the issue addressed as soon as possible.
The reason for the issue:
Apparently, when the lodge was first connected the Park’s team used cable ties to fasten the soil pipe to the underneath of the lodge.
The soil pipe was blocked with excessive amounts of toilet roll, which had blocked and became heavy, this weight caused the cable ties to snap and the soil pipe became disconnected.
Unfortunately, some of our guests do not respect our lodge and we have had some rather unpleasant issues to deal with.
We own the lodge and the decking, we rent the pitch from the Park. Anything below the lodge belongs to the Park including the main gas and electricity supply. The installation was their responsibility.
The Park have reconnected the soil pipe and sanitised the area.
The electrics on a lodge have a lower amperage than a regular house and cannot cope if it has too many electrical items and appliances switched on at once. The mains switch will turn off, if the circuit becomes overloaded.
We bought the lodge in August 2021 and changed the lights from halogen to LED and request that electric vehicles are not charged at the lodge, to prevent the electrics being overloaded.
We are upto date with our electrical tests and pay the Park to carry out the annual PAT tests on all our appliances.
Another reason why the power may have tripped could be a plug brought in by guests, such as, phone chargers, play stations, hair straighteners, hair dryers and changing cables for computers. Loose wires in the plugs can cause the power to trip.
As far as I am aware, this is the first time the electrics have tripped and because the night warden was able to switch them on without any issues, it is likely that the circuit had been overloaded.
I am sorry to hear that there were no staff on site, unfortunately, this is the Park’s responsibility. They are meant to staff the Park 24/7. Please contact Parkdean regarding this matter.
I contacted Sykes and they have nothing on the system regarding these issues. If you had contacted them, they would have contacted me and I would have been able to address any issues at the time.
Thank you again for advising us about the issue and I am glad it did not affect your holiday too much.
Property Owner
