Big Cottages & Group Accommodation in Ayrshire

Reviews

What our customers say about their holidays

• Sarah - Verified booking

  The site is really nice do thought this place would be good.

  But disappointment hit us on going through the door. Firstly it smelled really musty then we came to realise how basic / stingy it was equipment wise and also how old much of it was going back to original features like the spa bath. Plastics were yellow to orange with age, some fittings were rusty and grubby. Headboards looked unhygienic and one wobbled backwards and forwards by 2 feet or more. Quilts / pillows were inappropriate - very thin or extremely old ( sheets good). Mare minimum of cutlery and crockery in kitchen. No point having dishwasher if only have 6 knives etc. It just shows lake of awareness of what is needed - more like what was the bare minimum needed. No instructions or welcome pack. There is no en-suite as described. There are just 2 toilets. Pull chords were filthy and bathroom / kitchen blinds dusty and rusty. No bath mat to stop from slipping, shower an ancient electric shower that was extremely weak. Shower screen creaked like mad, so did the bath. Found what I thought was a loose cable only to find out that worked the spa bath. But who would enjoy the experience in an environment in such a horrible bathroom. Door battered about and in need of a paint, lock dodgy - got stuck in it. Need I go on. Oh also main light in main bedroom didn’t work and another in sitting room. One bed light between 2 beds only. On a positive note the sofas were good. We were supposed to stay 4 nights and had paid good money but we only stayed one night as it was such a depressing experience. We had just come from a wonderful other holiday let so couldn’t believe this one. Site facilities were good if we had stayed and used them but this was no way up to the standards expected these days, was soulless, dirty, old and pretty depressing.

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• Paul - Verified booking

  We enjoyed our stay at the Garden House, the cottage is generally good, but there are some easily resolved minor issues which could have improved our stay.

  There are garden benches located within the walled garden right outside the sitting room & kitchen windows, people were sat on those benches, looking straight into the cottage rooms, we asked a gardener if they could be moved a little so that our privacy wasn't compromised but they were not moved during our stay. Photographs online of the rooms showed pictures on the walls, but these had been hung with self adhesive fastening and I can only assume had fallen down, and were stored in cupboards instead of being rehung, this made the lounge area feel somewhat bare/stark without the pictures which was a shame as they looked nice! Also a footstool shown in the photographs was not there. There were no logs for the fire, nor were there any fire tools or gloves, which could prove to be dangerous if someone brought their own logs. There was no door mat. Also we had a sleepless night caused by the film crew who were on site leaving their generator & flood lights on all night by our cottage, we went out to look but no one was working, this was reported to the office the next day and did not re occur. Despite the above we enjoyed our stay, Culzean is a lovely estate, and the cottage was warm, clean & reasonably well equipped, a few more items of crockery and cutlery would be good.

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• Jane - Verified booking

  Dear Staff of Sykes Cottages, Unfortunately, we only spent one night at this cottage (paid for three nights).

  There were several items that were not up to standard that I will highlight later, however the main issue was no hot water, this is quite unacceptable. I called reception twice to ascertain the location of the hot water immersion switch and was informed that it was either located behind the living room door, or in the kitchen. After switching every switch on in both locations, to no avail, there was still no hot water. I understand that it's a basic requirement to have this when renting a cottage. The kitchen: Only five dinner knives supplied. (we were a party of six) No operating instruction left for the appliances i.e., cooker oven /dishwasher. Bedrooms: Single bed under the window, (right hand side facing front of cottage) the bed sheets were damp. On putting on heater in the bedroom to try and dry it out, I was text alarmed by Brunston Castle to remind me of the rising electricity costs. Main Bathroom: black mould around the bath is not acceptable. Very poor performance from the shower. All in all, it was not a pleasant experience, I would have expected at bare minimum a guest information book containing all information relating to the cottage, this is standard practice in all cottages that I have rented from in the past. Regards.

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• Carolyn - Verified booking

  Bungalow cood gave been a lot cleaner.

  Thick cobwebs above curtains and corner of floors and behind bed,which we had to move to get access to switch socket. Found 3 lge spiders. Door to lge bathroom door handle was so loose I got locked in as lock mechanism wdnt work. No label on switch to let you know which to use for hot water in kitchen. Bedroom closest to toilet, curtains had 4 missing hooks so didn't block out daylight in mornings. Pool was nice but cood av been warmer. Two of our Grandkids ended up with bad coughs by end of hols. Food choice very poor considering no other restaurant for miles. At 5pm only 2 types of paninis and pizza available . None of the above spoiled holiday but need rectified for next tenant.

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• Carolyn - Verified booking

  Bungalow cood gave been a lot cleaner.

  Thick cobwebs above curtains and corner of floors and behind bed,which we had to move to get access to switch socket. Found 3 lge spiders. Door to lge bathroom door handle was so loose I got locked in as lock mechanism wdnt work. No label on switch to let you know which to use for hot water in kitchen. Bedroom closest to toilet, curtains had 4 missing hooks so didn't block out daylight in mornings. Pool was nice but cood av been warmer. Two of our Grandkids ended up with bad coughs by end of hols. Food choice very poor considering no other restaurant for miles. At 5pm only 2 types of paninis and pizza available . None of the above spoiled holiday but need rectified for next tenant.

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