“Reading the description, and seeing the pictures this would be a beautiful and perfect place, However.”
... This is a house riddled with damp! Every external wall had signs of mould. In most cases this appears to have been cleaned up however in the small bedroom it had been ignored. When we first saw the mould on the wall alongside the bed, my wife wiped with her fingers and we both choked on the spores as they were disturbed. In the corners behind the bed the walls were black as was the upper corner around and behind the picture. With my grandchildren arriving in a few hours we decided to clean off the mould from the walls and move the bed away from the external wall. It took about 30 minutes to rid the room of the black spores but the house should never have been let out in this condition. There is nowhere on this review to show pictures but disgusting and unhealthy describe this adequately. In our pre-arrival brief, we were advised that "it is an old house" and " could get damp" therefore we were requested and (dutifully complied) to, run the fans after shower and open bedroom windows daily. This is probably the owners way of getting around this but showering and sleeping, is not the cause of the damp in this house. The underfloor heating is set on all day which compensated for this a bit and we left all the room doors open during our stay to allow air to circulate throughout the house. In the front double with the west facing side wall there were patches of what looked like slime on the wall. I didn't clean this off as it appeared to be bubbling the paint and was afraid that trying to remove this would take the paint off the wall. Mould on solid surfaces such as window frames can be easily removed but not sure if the cleaner even considers this, particularly as it looks like they never get cleaned. The shower has been removed from the main bathroom and this was not highlighted either by the owner or Sykes. With only one shower in a 4 bedroomed house to accommodate 7 guests there is quite a challenge in the morning with everyone queuing to use the only shower in the master bedroom en-suite. Had we known this, we would never have booked this house for our needs with 4 adults and 2 teenagers. In places, some aspects of the house cleaning is questionable. The marks and soiling in the microwave, plates in the cupboard , tea coffee & sugar canisters, and the greasy surface of the cooker hood made us question how much time is spent on preparation for guests. I'm 6'2" and the thick dust on the top of the washer in the downstairs closet caught my eye every time I went in there, not to mention the dead flies on the window cill. The brewery has been closed since last year and everything around is a mess with empty beer barrells strewn all over the place. The outside and back of the house area is a tip. There is a half full drum of CIP100 which is a very corrosive chemical sitting in front of the brewery. That needs to be disposed of by a specialist chemical disposal company and at least stored securely until then. If I apply the blinkers and ignore the above, this house is in a very peaceful location, has great interior space and an owner with impeccable taste for furnishings and interior design . The WiFi is great and is the only way to use your tech. If you want to get away from the world, there is no mobile signal from either EE, O2 or Vodafone at the house. It is with the blinkers removed that we feel compelled to say we could not recommend Hollins due to the damp and mould, only having one shower, the attention to preparation cleaning, and the untidy area around the brewery.
